Copying and attunement: the search for creativity in a secure setting^*

* This work is a submission for The Art Therapy New Practitioners Essay Prize.

ABSTRACT

This article suggests the way in which copying may develop attunement in the therapeutic relationship. Parallels and discrepancies were drawn between the chosen image and the copied image which related to the experience of the patient. Through collaborative art making I realised that my style was attuned to his, an indication that I had understood the patient’s experience through the act of recasting. This was evident in the discussion and progression of the therapeutic alliance.

KEYWORDS:

• Copying
• attunement
• low secure unit
• creativity
• self-realisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Sian Stott qualified as an art therapist in 2016. Throughout her training Sian worked with children in mainstream education and adults in a forensic low secure unit. Sian is interested in mindfulness, meditation and altered states of consciousness, integrating aspects of these into her personal art practice.

Notes

* This work is a submission for The Art Therapy New Practitioners Essay Prize.