Intersections and inroads: Art therapy's contribution to visual methods

Abstract

This paper is written in the belief that art therapists will be interested to hear about contemporary developments within the social sciences (especially in anthropology and ethnography) that may contribute both to the development of art therapy and to the synthesis of the two practices.

Keywords:

• Visual research methods
• interdisciplinary
• research tool
• ontological status of imagination
• visual anthropology

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the anonymous readers for being so positive and enthusiastic about this article, and both made very useful remarks which have been incorporated into the text.

Notes

1. We are assuming that our readership will understand that art therapy is an interdisciplinary practice. See ‘Healing Arts: The History of Art Therapy’ (Hogan, 2001) for a detailed historical analysis of the disciplinary influences upon the emergence of art therapy.

2. See www.representing-ageing.com