Creative manuals

Abstract

The debate surrounding treatment manuals for psychological therapies has raged for decades. On one hand manuals are presented as useful tools for research and teaching purposes; on the other they are seen as reductive recipe books, anathema to creativity and individuality. This article asks whether it is possible to produce creative manuals that reflect rather than prescribe the art therapy process. The British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) has issued a protocol for publishing BAAT-approved special interest group guidelines. Guidelines such as these are potentially a good starting point for a range of manuals aimed at specific conditions or client groups. A brief review of the literature and a closer look at two existing manuals demonstrates the potential to produce psychotherapy manuals that provide useful descriptions and guidelines to enhance treatment fidelity without stifling the therapist's creativity and flexibility or sacrificing clinical richness.

Keywords:

• Manual
• art therapy
• creativity
• flexibility
• research

Funding

This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Taylor Buck

Biographical details

Elizabeth Taylor Buck is a qualified, registered, art therapist. She has been working with children, young people and families for the last 17 years, initially for the NSPCC, and subsequently within a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. In 2009, she was awarded an NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship from National Institute of Health Research. Her doctoral research, which is hosted by the University of Sheffield, is exploring the practice of dyadic art psychotherapy. Email: [email protected]

Kim Dent-Brown

Kim Dent-Brown trained as a Dramatherapist and a practitioner of Cognitive Analytic Therapy. He worked in the UK National Health Service for 24 years, winning a doctoral Fellowship to research a dramatherapy storymaking technique. He has worked at the University of Sheffield as a psychological services researcher and now teaches MSc students as a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Hull.