I am pleased to announce our two new sections of the Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal (CATAJ): Art Therapy in Practice and Art Therapy Approaches. In addition, I wish to welcome Pamela Whitaker as our new Chief Editor effective January 2017. She brings much experience and knowledge to the position and has created a helpful writer's lounge found on the CATA website. I wish to thank the journal for my involvement as Guest Chief Editor—it has been an interesting learning experience, and I thank Haley Toll and the staff of Taylor & Francis for their support in carrying out editorial duties.
This issue of the CATA Journal brings forth the many contexts in which art therapists engage with and empower others. Art therapy began in Canada in long-term psychiatric hospital care. Today, our managed care systems support acute short-term stays on psychiatric units, requiring art therapists to employ more group-based treatments. Gonzalez-Dolginko's article, “Assigning Meaning to Art to Optimize the Patient Experience in Short-Term Psychiatry,” outlines three different art therapy group approaches useful to short-term care, while taking into consideration the common backgrounds of trauma and addictions. She reports increased containment for patients through the art therapy process that empowers clients toward increased personal insight and awareness.
The efforts of art therapists working in institutions can be enhanced or limited by the parameters set by its management and the cooperation of colleagues. The study by Keinan, Snir, and Regev, “Homeroom Teachers’ Perceptions of Art Therapy as Applied in School Settings in Israel,” demonstrated the value of art therapy in school settings from the perspective of teachers. Their recommendation is for professional collaboration and coordination among team professionals, within the school system that is supported by administration. Such cooperation empowers students, therapists, and educators in achieving therapy goals.
Art therapy has proven its value in long-term care facilities. Bookbinder, Freud, Greenall, Penny, and Savoie advocate for art therapy in “Empowerment and Art Therapy With Marginalized Populations in Long-Term Care: A Team Perspective.” They encourage the reader to view long-term marginalized patients as unique individuals, differing in age and health issues, and affected by the power differentials between healthcare providers and patients. Art therapy interventions and practices act as anti-oppressive agents to provide opportunity for patient empowerment, increased autonomy, and living with dignity.
Work places often dictate what art materials are available and how they might be accessed. How many art therapists have held sessions on a bedside table, in family homes, in spaces with no available water, or conducted a workshop of 100 participants, all painting and working with clay? There is no end to the permutations of the art therapy environment. In addition to navigating environments such as found in a variety of institutions, there is the job of choosing art materials, techniques, and theoretical approaches best suited to client profiles. Partridge's article, “Access to Art and Materials: Considerations for Art Therapists,” considers how client realities and lived experiences affect the choice and use of art materials, as well as access to art environments such as museums. She describes how work environments can make negative assumptions when evaluating client behaviors in regard to choice and use of art materials. Assumptions occur when the client's history and present circumstances and context are not considered.
Art therapists often look for new techniques and materials that assist clients to externalize, communicate, and problem-solve. Bookbinder's article, “Fusion of a Community Using Art Therapy in Long-Term Care,” focused on the use of fusible quilting as an art media to create multi-layered textile images while Hennick's article, “Captured in Layers: Encaustic as a Tool to Reduce Stress,” focused on the use of encaustic painting to reduce stress. In order to make use of fabric or wax as therapeutic materials, art therapists bring materials that can be used successfully in their current work and client environment. Bookbinder's fusible fabric lends itself to clients with moderate skill level such as developmentally delayed adults, or those with mental illness, addictions, or chronic illness. She suggests small groups and two facilitators. Hennick provides a history of encaustic technique, outlines the encaustic process, and supports its present-day use for externalization of thought, feeling, and emotion. She values the flexibility of this medium for helping clients let go of outcomes, to be in the moment, and to “allow things to happen instead of forcing them.” The four clients in her study experienced reduction in stress as a result of encaustic art therapy.
As art therapists progress in experience, knowledge of materials, and interventions, there are many stories to tell about the various contexts in which they find themselves. We live in an exciting time where art therapy is making its way into a variety of therapeutic, educational, occupational, and community settings, increasing in its value and recognition. Research in these areas supports what art therapists know to be true—it is successful across populations, cultures, health conditions, life experiences, and environments, and it is valuable for personal, professional, and community growth and empowerment.