Contemporary Art Therapy with Adolescents
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The Appendix is reprinted with permission from the American Art Therapy
Association, Inc. It was originally published in Art Therapy: Journal of the
American Art Therapy Association, 14 (1) 1997.
All rights reserved. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,
copied or transmitted save with written permission of the Copyright Act 1956
(as amended), or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-34 Alfred Place, London WC1E
7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The right of Shirley Riley to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
First published in the United Kingdom in 1999 by
Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd,
116 Pentonville Road,
London N1 9JB, England
and
325 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.
www.jkp.com
Copyright © 1999 Shirley Riley
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Art therapy with adolescents / Shirley Riley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1 85302 636 0 (hbk.: alk. paper). ISBN 1 85302 637 9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Art therapy for teenagers. 2. Child psychotherapy. I. Title.
RJ505.A7R55 1999
616.89'1656'0835dc21
98-45881
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Contemporary art therapy with adolescents
1. Art therapy for teenagers
I.Title
616.8'91656'0835
ISBN 1 85302 636 0 hb
ISBN 1 85302 637 9 pb
Printed and Bound in Great Britain by
Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
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Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Foreword 7
Gerald D. Oster
Foreword 11
Cathy A. Malchiodi
Introduction 17
1. Integrating Developmental Theories with Art 27
Expressions
2. Adolescent Group Treatment 66
3. Adolescence Depression, and the Impact of Societal 115
Issues
4. Severely Damaged Adolescents in Residential and 153
Therapeutic School Settings
5. Adolescents and Their Families 193
6. How Therapists Get Tangled Up in Adolescent Treatment 218
7. Short-Term, Solution Focused, Art Therapy Treatment 237
Appendix: Social Constructionism: The Narrative Approach 257
and Clinical Art Therapy
References 267
Further Reading 274
Subject Index 277
Author Index 284
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Acknowledgements
There are many people and influences that have had impact on this
journey of discussing adolescent treatment, but one person took the
entire trip with me and held my hand all the way: my husband. He
taught me computereez, proofread every chapter, praised my
books, and lived with me through my 'crises'. I needed all his help
many times and I am enormously grateful.
My second powerful influence is my friend and admired colleague,
Cathy Malchiodi. She originally pushed me to publish my work,
has continued to be a constant inspiration, and helped me laugh at
human foibles, all through this latest adventure.
I most gratefully thank Gerry Oster for his illuminating foreword. I
leaned on his expertise through reading his books, long before I
started my own. Jessica Kingsley has been wonderfully supportive
and reassuring in every aspect of the publication and she calmed
my inner adolescent when I regressed into self-doubt.
Jean Noble read and edited, Aimee Loth and Roberta Lengua
contributed their valuable experiences, Robert Saldana worked
many hours on the photographs of the client's artwork, and Rita
Coufal listened to me when I needed an ear, to each of them I give
my appreciation.
Lastly I thank my sons for being fine men and choosing wonderful
wives. Together they have produced such excellent children that
my faith in the next generation gave me balance when the youths I
encountered daily seemed in such a hopeless state. Without all of
you this book would not have come into existence.
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Foreword
Gerald D. Oster
Adolescence is a very confusing time, even for the most well-
adjusted teenagers. It is a time for excitement and adventure, yet is
fraught with countless pitfalls. These short, but ever so critical,
years produce conflicting demands from peers, school, parents and
society. There are also rapid internal changes occurring as the
developing teenage body emerges into adulthood. Add to the mix
the potential of family conflict, variable moods and longer periods
of depression, and possible learning problems, and you have a
volatile concoction that is bound to give rise to at least minor
explosions. One day up, the next day down may be the norm. For
the adolescent who is struggling and for those caregivers and
caretakers attempting to provide nurturance, this instability may be
just too much and professional intervention may be required.
Through my own clinical work with adolescents, I have had the
opportunity to interact with a diversity of problems and
populations. I have been confronted with sad and sullen teens, as
well as highly defiant ones. I have sat with teenagers from all walks
of life youths from the inner city, children in government officials,
and adolescents witnessing their families perish in wars. With each
of these teens, I have admired their resilience and their ability to
express their pain and their anger, both in verbal and non-verbal
ways.
Through drawings and other media, teenagers have the opportunity
to use a different, yet natural vehicle of communication that can
become a catalyst for change. Artwork becomes a format that can
increase discussion and enhance the possibilities for insight. It
helps break the ice when faced with teenagers who are anticipating
yet another adult attempting to interrogate their private lives. By
using alternative, non-verbal techniques, clinicians can assist
traumatized youngsters
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reveal inner thoughts or secrets that they would otherwise have
difficulty revealing. Drawings and other artwork can become
personal and unique statements that words alone cannot otherwise
identify. These graphic images also create permanent records that
do indeed speak 'thousands' of words. And these creative
expressions become a bridge from within to help close the gap
between themselves and the clinicians who are trying to find a way
to enter and understand their world.
Mental health professionals from all disciplines naturally want to
enhance their understanding of adolescent behavior. Drawings and
other related artwork allow for interpretations at a deeper level
through visual and graphic representation. Offering teenagers the
opportunity to communicate through non-verbal means is a strategy
that should be part of every clinician's repertoire because of its
versatility and impact on the therapeutic process. Directing
teenagers in artwork provides a modality through which both the
client and therapist witness emotions, events, and ideas not easily
or accurately expressed through words alone. By understanding the
process and the product more clearly, clinicians can help their teens
clients to quickly communicate relevant issues and problems, thus
expediting assessment and treatment.
Therapists face many difficult situations, especially with troubled
teenagers, or families in crises. Enhancing self-expression through
artwork has the potential to convey in very dramatic ways the
complexities of these painful emotions and unspoken problems. In
order to effectively use artwork in teenagers in different settings,
therapists must gain the skills necessary to help them understand
their clients' expressions, implore assessment strategies that can
enlighten them toward a workable diagnosis, and add creative
procedures that make sense to them and to their clients in order to
help overcome therapeutic resistance and emotional hurdles.
In this book, Shirley Riley draws upon her many productive
clinical experiences and teachings to share creative approaches that
work to engage troubled adolescents. In understandable prose, she
is able to integrate theory with practical suggestions, to explain
how she connects with teenagers who may be resistant or
provocative. She is able to offer many possibilities that can work in
various settings and she provides
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many case illustrations that show how the process unfolds. With
clarity and conviction, she presents why artwork can be so valuable
in determining diagnoses and treatment direction.
This book will greatly enhance your understanding of the teenage
years and how therapists using creative media can intervene
efficiently and effectively in this process. It will provide the reader
with added skills, insights, and directions that can assist both the
beginner and more experienced clinician amplify their work. A
comprehensive range of timely issues are discussed that only a
caring and sensitive therapist such as Shirley Riley can provide.
This book will undoubtedly become a valued resource that many
clinicians will have on their bookshelves in order to access its
stimulating and creative ideas.
GERALD D. OSTER, Ph.D.
CLINICAL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL SCHOOL
Page 11
Foreword
Cathy A. Malchiodi
When I first read this book, I was immediately reminded of my first
work as a therapist with adolescents almost twenty years ago when
I was still somewhat of an adolescent myself. I vividly remembered
all my struggles, and as Riley describes in this book, my
entanglements. Luckily, most of the adolescents I encountered had
support from parents or extended family. Art expression served as a
potent way for them to communicate conflicting emotions and
confusing questions of identity, to tap their natural creative
potentials to problem solve, to restore and repair the self, and to
forge a meaningful therapeutic connection with me through their
images.
Most therapists working with adolescents are not quite as fortunate
as I was to work with young people who had relatively supportive
parents and families; they generally may see adolescents who come
from impoverished families, crime-ridden environments, or violent
neighborhoods. Recently, I have returned to working with
adolescents and am confronted with a caseload of teens troubled by
broken homes, family violence, and the impact of gangs, crime,
and drugs in their neighborhoods. The adolescents with whom I
work are homeless, receiving art therapy and other services through
a drop-in center in an urban setting. All of these adolescents live on
the streets, some choosing to leave home and family and others
neglected or abandoned by parents or caretakers. They invariably
reflect the predominate issues of today's youth drug abuse, gangs,
crime, sexuality, and social problems.
Many of the earlier writings on adolescent development and
treatment that I found useful during my first experiences with
young people are no longer practical in addressing the problems I
see before me each week. Luckily, Shirley Riley has synthesized
her vast clinical
