Group
Art Therapy
Shaun A. McNiff
e-Book 2016 International Psychotherapy Institute
From The Psychotherapy Guidebook edited by Richie Herink and Paul R. Herink
All Rights Reserved
Created in the United States of America
Copyright © 2012 by Richie Herink and Paul Richard Herink
Table of Contents
DEFINITION
HISTORY
TECHNIQUE
APPLICATIONS
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Group Art Therapy
Shaun A. McNiff
DEFINITION
Group Art Therapy is a process that combines the healing/therapeutic
qualities of art with group psychotherapy.
HISTORY
As the practice of Art Therapy has developed over the past thirty years,
art has been introduced to the various modes of therapy — individual, group,
milieu, and family. Although the pioneering work of art therapist Margaret
Naumburg in the 1930s and 1940s was psychoanalytically oriented,
philosophical approaches to Art Therapy have paralleled the multiplicity of
viewpoints in the general mental health field. Psychotherapists have
introduced the arts into group therapy sessions because of their interest in
providing alternatives to verbal communication. The alternatives allow for
the expression of feelings that cannot be completely revealed in words or the
revelation of feelings that are too threatening to verbalize.
TECHNIQUE
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Virtually every manifestation of Group Art Therapy involves
participants in the basic process of making art and sharing their work with
others. For the most part, art is made during the group session, although
therapists will often encourage clients to make art individually outside of the
group session and bring in their work for discussion. The sessions tend to run
from one to three hours, and group members discuss their work with each
other both during and after the process of production. The discussion that
follows the production of art allows for more formal and focused analysis of
feelings. Art works can provide the opportunity for the sharing of the artist’s
motives; the analysis and sharpening of visual perception; the projection of
repressed conflicts and emotions; and as a means of provoking associations to
past experiences. In addition, art activity is inherently therapeutic in and of
itself. Thus, group discussion often focuses on the healing power of art, with
participants sharing how they are personally affected by the artistic process.
This orientation to art therapy is encouraged in situations where it is
important for clients to be involved in creative activity for its own sake.
Practitioners of Group Art Therapy have observed that the sharing of art
works and the object orientation of artistic activity take away a great deal of
the fear that many clients have of discussing their feelings directly. In this
respect, artistic activity helps in the early stages of a group in developing
trust, mutual respect, and a sense of purpose.
Although most of the literature on Group Art Therapy describes the use
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of drawing materials, paint, and clay, virtually any art medium can be
introduced to a therapy group, depending on the purpose of the group, its
structure, and available space. There is also a growing interest in the
integration of the arts (dance, drama, music, poetry, and the visual arts) in
therapy. Analytically oriented group leaders will generally limit the
availability of materials with the goal of developing a sense of continuity from
session to session and to minimize distractions. Within this context, art is
perceived as a tool in furthering the process of group therapy. Other
approaches are more art oriented and make the broadest range of creative
activities accessible to participants — from simple line drawings to stone and
wood sculpture, to the construction of environments, to the artistic use of
photography, videotapes, and so on. The art-oriented group may also place an
emphasis on the artistic development of the person, because of the positive
effects that this may have on the whole personality.
The structure of Group Art Therapy can again be extended along a
continuum, running in this case from small, closed group sessions stressing
intimacy and private sharing to the more open studio approach where
individuals may work within the same space on individual projects and come
together from time to time to discuss their work. It is generally agreed among
group therapy leaders that a combination of both approaches is needed to
maximize opportunities for creative expression. Structure in the sense of a
common activity and a common artistic theme can also help a group to focus
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itself on personal issues. For example, if fear happens to be an important
theme in a group, each individual might be asked to deal with the feeling of
fear in an art work. In this way each individual is given the opportunity to
intensely focus on his personal concern. When the art is shared by the group,
similarities and differences in experiences are discovered. On the other hand,
more nondirective approaches to art activity and group discussion can give
the more independent and self-sufficient group the space needed to bring
personal feelings and concerns into the group experience.
APPLICATIONS
It is generally true that young children cannot sustain formal discussion
of their art for more than a few minutes — especially if the children are
afflicted by severe emotional disorders. Practitioners have discovered that
behaviorally disordered children tend to function best in a structured
environment where limits are clearly set. Children are also apt to show needs
for accomplishment in their art and consequently, Group Art Therapy activity
with children tends to be more “product” oriented than group sessions with
adults. Although adults often have similar needs for pleasing “products,” the
literature on Group Art Therapy indicates more of a concern with the process
of artistic activity and the role that art can play in furthering personal
reflection, sharing, and interpersonal learning.
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