Art Heals How Creativity Cures the Soul [Paperback]

The field of art therapy is discovering that artistic expression can be a powerful means of personal transformation and emotional and spiritual healing. In this book, Shaun McNiff, a leader in expressive arts therapy for more than three decades, reflects on a wide spectrum of activities aimed at reviving art's traditional healing function. In chapters ranging from "Liberating Creativity" and "The Practice of Creativity in the Workplace" to "From Shamanism to Art Therapy," he illuminates some of the most progressive views in the rapidly expanding field of art therapy:

   •  The "practice of imagination" as a powerful force for transformation
   •  A challenge to literal-minded psychological interpretations of artworks ("black colors indicate depression") and the principle that even disturbing images have inherent healing properties
   •  The role of the therapist in promoting an environment conducive to free expression and therapeutic energies
   •  The healing effects of group work, with people creating alongside one another and interacting in the studio
   •  "Total expression," combining arts such as movement, storytelling, and drumming with painting and drawing"Shaun McNiff remains first and foremost an ally of the soul. Here he offers us a stunning array of entry points into the creative process. We learn how to transform the most mundane aspects of life through artistic encounters and to engage with our most painful challenges creatively."—Pat B. Allen, Ph.D., ATR, instructor at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago and author ofArt Is a Way of Knowing

"Art Healsrestores the therapeutic imagination to its central place in human life. The creative energy of this book will be recognized by all those who have been l“Ü