Making Visible: Art Therapy and Intersubjectivity

Abstract

This article argues that art often takes second place to the verbal in our conceptualising of art therapy, and that this may be because of an adherence to psychoanalytic thinking which splits subject and object, or combines notions of inter-subjectivity with the idea of an individual psyche. This article returns to the origins of the concept of intersubjectivity in philosophy, and explores the significance for art therapy of Merleau-Pontys idea of the body as expression and speech. By embracing intersubjectivity in art and in therapeutic relationships, art-making in art therapy may be made more visible. These ideas are explored in relation to art therapy practice in groups.