The interchange in art-psychotherapy

Abstract

This paper addresses theories pertaining to what could be said of the state of mind of the creator in the art-making phase of art therapy, by reference to the interchange with the looking/talking phase. I pursue this exploration of the interchange within the concept of the triangular relationship: creator-artwork-viewer, as well as the three ‘waves’ of art therapy theory and practice. I conclude by making use of mathematical abstraction to describe the recursive sequence of art-making and looking/talking about the art, to pose questions about what might be occurring during these processes and which it is hoped could serve as a framework for further investigations from various theoretical standpoints.

Keywords:

• interchange
• art-psychotherapy
• art therapy theory
• triangular relationship
• caesura
• catastrophic change
• information theory
• systems theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).