A letter about Art Therapy in Time Out NY

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

This is the letter that was printed in Time Out NY today as the letter of the week. Because they shortened it in the magazine, I preferred that you have the full version, and you won't have to look for the magazine. The shortened version is also OK, but I prefer this one. In any case, I hope it helps us all.

Giora Carmi

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Lower the Wacky Factor (re: Definition of Art Therapy in "Get Sane" issue of 1/24/08-1/28/08)

The description of art therapy in your "City Counsel" section was better than most other public media descriptions. Indeed there are many other ways, which were not described, to do art therapy. But you gave it a high "wacky factor". I wonder why and would like to respond to this.

When considering therapy, it is important for the patient to know that it is impossible to be healed without getting into a deeper state than the state in which the problem was created.

The arts are a very good vehicle, much better than talking, to get into this state, which is like being in meditation. The language of the subconscious is metaphoric, like in dreams. It also speaks with compositional features, like space, rhythm, connections, oppositions, similarities, differences etc, All of which indeed comprises the language of art.

An extra benefit of art therapy is that the patient’s work remain on paper, or in another material, for the patient and the therapist to see anytime they want. When working with all other therapeutic methods, it is always possible to say: "Have I really done this? Did this really happen?" An artwork is a testimonial that cannot be denied.

These qualities and some others, make art therapy a full and effective therapeutic method – better than most people think.

I suggest you lower the "wacky factor".

Sincerely,

Giora Carmi, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT

[Guest guest]

Giora and all,I appreciate your letter because even though the article was a very flattering piece about all the creative art therapies, I also had objections to the word " wacky " and all the negative connotations that go along with that word. Though I actually think " wacky " was intended to suggest how rigid and traditional, or fun and expressive a modality is, I agree that it brings into question the effectiveness of creative arts therapies by suggesting that these modalities can be taken less seriously than others. Strangely, I almost had the sense that the article was trying to be complementary by saying that the creative art therapies are a " wacky, fun " way to work out emotional problems, as opposed to " stuffy, rigid, traditional " modalities. Unfortunately, I think that gives a number of false impressions about what we do, and the therapeutic process in general. I'm curious to see how much they shortened of your letter and which parts.

-Jonathon Borah

Dear friends,

This is the letter that was printed in Time Out NY today as the letter of the week. Because they shortened it in the magazine, I preferred that you have the full version, and you won't have to look for the magazine. The shortened version is also OK, but I prefer this one. In any case, I hope it helps us all.

Giora Carmi

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lower the Wacky Factor (re: Definition of Art Therapy in " Get Sane " issue of 1/24/08-1/28/08)

The description of art therapy in your " City Counsel " section was better than most other public media descriptions. Indeed there are many other ways, which were not described, to do art therapy. But you gave it a high " wacky factor " . I wonder why and would like to respond to this.

When considering therapy, it is important for the patient to know that it is impossible to be healed without getting into a deeper state than the state in which the problem was created.

The arts are a very good vehicle, much better than talking, to get into this state, which is like being in meditation. The language of the subconscious is metaphoric, like in dreams. It also speaks with compositional features, like space, rhythm, connections, oppositions, similarities, differences etc, All of which indeed comprises the language of art.

An extra benefit of art therapy is that the patient's work remain on paper, or in another material, for the patient and the therapist to see anytime they want. When working with all other therapeutic methods, it is always possible to say: " Have I really done this? Did this really happen? " An artwork is a testimonial that cannot be denied.

These qualities and some others, make art therapy a full and effective therapeutic method – better than most people think.

I suggest you lower the " wacky factor " .

Sincerely,

Giora Carmi, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT