Abstract

By creating a therapeutic outlet for self-expression and processing trauma, art therapy can play a powerful role in assisting people with a brain injury or neurological condition to adjust to living with altered abilities and ways of thinking.

Bringing together a wealth of expertise from specialists working with a range of conditions including epilepsy, dementia, acquired brain injury, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis, this book describes both the effects of the conditions and the ways in which art therapy has helped in the rehabilitation process. The book includes work with groups and individuals and with a wide range of settings and age groups, from children to older adults, and discusses the implications of research from neuroscience and neuropsychology.

This will be essential reading for art therapists and students working with neurological conditions. Other professionals working with people with neurological conditions such as psychotherapists and counsellors, doctors, nurses and complementary therapists will also find it of interest.

It's high time the value of art therapy is more generally recognized, not just for stroke survivors, but for all types of brain injury, as well as dementia and mental health problems. This inspiring book looks at the science behind art therapy as well as offering case studies. It should be given a wide circulation.
From the foreword by Jackie Ashley, journalist and broadcaster, President-Elect, Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge

If anyone needs confirmation that art therapy is the approach to use in the treatment and recovery of neurological conditions this is the book to read. Within these chapters the author practitioners convey the extraordinary range and adaptation of interventions available that enable increased access to therapy for patients, carers and public services considering employing art therapists.
I was transfixed throughout both by the compassion of the case studies but also the authority of knowledge embedded in each chapter.

A truly pioneering work, showing how the development of art therapy knowledge and expertise has risen to a sophisticated level of authority in delivery and awareness of the therapeutic contribution it can make to such a complex subject.

Kate Rothwell, Art Psychotherapist, Head of Arts Therapies in the Forensic Directorate of the East London Foundation NHS Trust, Art Psychotherapist H.M.P Grendon
This book should be read by everyone who is interested in the interface between art therapy and neurology. It presents the underpinnings of what could develop in to a new theory of art therapy.
Frances F. Kaplan, DA, ATR-BC, Art Therapist, Teacher of Graduate Art Therapy Courses, Marylhurst University, and author of Art, Science and Art Therapy
In dealing with the diverse aspects of art therapy, the making, thinking about and working with imagery and tangible and symbolic processing, this inspired and inspiring book shows how successfully art therapists adapt their practice for people with many different neurological conditions in a variety of clinical and community settings. It will be an invaluable resource for art therapists and other professionals in this field, and a vital source of information and insight for trainee art therapists.
Deborah Gibson, MA Art Therapy Research, PG Dip Art Therapy, RATh, Art therapist, supervisor and lecturer