Looking together: Joint attention in art therapy

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of looking together in art therapy. It argues that the triangular relationship – on which much of art therapy theory is premised – takes as a priori the capacity of the patient to look together with the therapist at the art object. This capacity, however, cannot be taken as a given but is based on early childhood development, emerging out of the mother–infant relationship where in ordinary growth, the infant's looking at the mother develops into looking with her. This paper explores the development of joint attention skills in relation to art therapeutic practice drawing together child developmental and psychoanalytic perspectives.

Keywords:

• Joint attention skills
• primary and secondary subjectivity
• blind infants
• triangular relationship
• autistic spectrum disorder
• theory of mind

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Barrie Damarell for his thoughtfulness in helping bring this paper into fruition.

Notes

1. In this article ‘patient’ and ‘client’ are used interchangeably. In addition, pronouns used for client/patient and infant are in the masculine unless referring to a specific individual. Similarly, the feminine pronoun is used for ‘primary care-giver’ and ‘therapist’. This is done to aid comprehension.