Between water and words: Reflective self-awareness and symbol formation in art therapy

Abstract

This article explores the development of symbols in art therapy. It is particularly interested in the moment when art materials are lifted up from their concrete materiality and acquire symbolic significance in the context of the therapeutic relationship. This investigation into symbol formation is explored by comparing two individuals' different uses of water. The first is based on Helen Keller's encounter with water as described in her autobiography The Story of My Life (1903). This account is then compared to the use of water by an adolescent boy with profound autism, in an art therapy session. The theoretical perspectives of art therapy theory and developmental psychology are used to examine the particular interpersonal and intrapersonal conditions that may be required for the development of reflective self-awareness and the emergence of symbol formation. Some implications for practice are explored towards the end of the article.

Keywords:

• Helen Keller
• symbol formation
• reflective self-awareness
• visual joint attention
• autistic spectrum disorder
• theory of mind

Notes

1. See Herzog's documentary ‘Land of Silence and Darkness’ (1971) for a further exploration of experiences of people who are both deaf and blind.

2. To aid comprehension, the term ‘mother’ is used to refer to the infant's primary care provider. Similarly, the masculine pronoun is used when referring to the infant.

3. For a detailed discussion on the difference between declarative and imperative pointing, see Leung and Rheingold (1981).

4. It is possible to speculate that Helen's formation of this capacity was established in her earlier relationship with her primary carer but that this was lost or forgotten due to her illness, which appears to have left her in a highly regressed state.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonathan Isserow

Jonathan Isserow is a state registered art therapist who has worked extensively within child, adolescent and family psychiatry. He has an MA in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies from the Tavistock Clinic and is currently a PhD candidate at UCL. He is the Programme Convenor for the MA Art Psychotherapy Programme at University of Roehampton, London.

Email: [email protected]