"Face-to-Face" With Addiction: The Spontaneous Production of Self-Portraits in Art Therapy

Abstract

In this brief report, two examples are presented of selfportraits spontaneously produced by chemically dependent patients who participated in art therapy while in an acute inpatient psychiatric hospital. The author concludes that selfportraits provide true-to-life representations of the diseased aspects of the self and enable patients to confront their addictive natures.