Art as Medicine : Creating a Therapy of the Imagination

Internationally renowned art therapist Shaun McNiff outlines in this fascinating book his approach to art theory which I found to be both holistic and highly original. The author sees art therapy as a process in which the soul reveals itself to the inquiring individual and the group surrounding him or her. In fact, while he admits that art therapy can exceptionally be a solitary process, the author favors the group therapy approach as it is conducive to soul revelation and spiritual growth.There are several methods the author discusses in his book, and that are the work processes his therapy seminars are composed of. It is first of all making paintings, then to respond to them by meditative dialogue, and finally orchestrating them in a shamanic setting where the body takes over the meditative talk, and finally dreaming about them, and continue the art process by considering to weave the dream images into the fabric of the entire process.Finally, the entire last part of the book entitled 'Demonstration' is devoted to dialoguing directly with the images, letting visual elements talk to the painter or to each other, including houses, objects, animals, and humans. This part of the book may be difficult to read and digest for some as it requires a high level of imagination to follow these dialogues.The book is written in fluent style and contains a wealth of hints to 'real' art and fine details from the lives of famous artists; it also shows the imbeddedness of the therapeutic approach in psychoanalysis. I have been greatly enriched by the book and would recommend it to each and everybody who seeks to expand his or her soul life, and make their lives richer and more meaningful overall.Read the quotes taken from the book:[...]

Quick delivery, good condition

I have found many easy lessons in this book to help me work with Alzhimer patients. I teach watercolors each week with elderly students and have found many great ideas.

Bought this for grad school. Great! Source of information

I love everything McNiff writes. This one is a little dry, but I still love it.

The best book I could possibly read my senior year in a fine arts major!

Excellent, met my expectations

Although I learned a great deal about using art as a way to locate the soul and mind, Mcniff seems to sling a lot of idealistic and unrealistic mentalities that make him seem (for lack of a better word) like a hippie, and I got tired of this. I appreciated his years of experience that were reasons for me to believe his writings but I had a hard time letting each idea resonate because of the up-in-the-clouds way of presenting. I enjoyed his references to philosophers, poets and other noted writers; this added depth to his writing. I would have to conclude that I did learn a great deal from Mcniff's Art as Medicine, but I'd never read it again.