Drawing the Line: Art Therapy with the Difficult Client

Art has its own power to tap into a basic part of the human psyche, opening a nonverbal line of communication between artist and viewer, or client and therapist. In some cases where language is a limiting factor, art-making has great potential for therapeutic progress by giving the client another means of expression. Drawing the Line: Art Therapy with the Difficult Client introduces mental health professionals of all backgrounds and experience levels to the power of art and its use with your clients.

What defines "the difficult client"? Each therapist may give a different answer: the child who refuses to talk, the rapist who denies responsibility for his actions, the adult victim of psychotic hallucinations, to name just a few possibilities. Drawing the Line covers both relevant theoretical constructs of psychotherapy and practical solutions for assessment and treatment. Yet what really brings the text alive are the numerous case history reviews—including many sample artworks—taken from the author's sixteen years of practice.

Drawing the Line also features:

• Coverage of a wide spectrum of "difficult" clients, from children and adolescents through adults