The central tenet of an inter-modal approach to arts therapy

At the heart of any client- centred therapeutic approach is the client-therapist relationship (Wampold & Imel, 2015). The intersubjective space between client and therapist offers a sense of relationally and attunement (Wampold & Imel, 2015). Above the employment of a psychotherapeutic framework (such as CBT, humanistic, etc.) the therapeutic connection, rapport, and empathy developed between therapist and client are what ultimately determine whether or not therapy is successful (Wampold & Imel, 2015). As part of the introspective dialogue on the artwork, an empathic art therapist uses their own creativity to develop an intersubjective relationship with the client (Holmqvist et al., 2019). To prevent confirmation bias, the AT must be conscious of their own cognitive biases and beliefs. When preselecting modalities for a client, the AT must acknowledge the manner their cognitive biases influence their choice (Rolling, 2017). Similarly, bracketing out, the first phase of the phenomenological technique, requires the therapist to resist from imposing any predetermined prejudices, concepts, or thoughts on the client's artwork (Spinelli, 2005). This justifies an honest assessment of the inner emotional narrative of the artwork, since the AT does not manipulate the interpretation artwork to match a certain theory or preconceived notion of the client's problems (Rolling, 2017; Spinelli, 2005).

References:

Holmqvist, G., Roxberg, Å., Larsson, I., & Lundqvist-Persson, C. (2019). Expressions of vitality affects and basic affects during art therapy and their meaning for inner change. International Journal of Art Therapy, 24(1), 30-39.

Rolling, J. R. (2017). Art as Therapy. Art Education. 70(5), 4-5.

Spinelli, E. (2005). The phenomenological method. In The interpreted world: an introduction to phenomenological psychology (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Wampold, B. E., & Imel, Z. E. (2015). The Great psychotherapy debate: The evidence for what makes psychotherapy work. (2nd ed.). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

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An Inter-modal Approach to Arts Therapy

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