Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis The history of art therapy as a psychotherapeutic practice is inextricably linked with clients suffering from psychosis. Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis traces the evolution of this specialized and innovative treatment in psychiatric and psychotherapeutic settings and offers an overview of current practice. Part I identifies specific clinical issues involved in working with psychosis. The theoretical models applied reflect the influence of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychiatry. Each chapter is written by an experienced practitioner and draws on detailed case material illustrated with examples of clients’ art work. The practices described extend existing theory and develop the application of analytical approaches in art psychotherapy in the treatment of borderline states as well as acute and long-term psychotic illnesses. Part II recounts the historical context of art therapy and psychosis, from the early influence of artists, its origins within psychiatric institutions, to the adaptations which have been made in response to recent legislative changes. Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis represents the creative diversity of current practice. Its new perspectives are essential reading for all those interested in psychotherapeutic approaches to psychosis. Katherine Killick is in private practice as a psychotherapist in St Albans. Joy Schaverien is a Jungian analyst and art psychotherapist in private practice, an Associate Professional Member of the Society of Analytical Psychology and author of The Revealing Image (1991) and Desire and the Female Therapist (1995). Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis Edited by Katherine Killick and Joy Schaverien London and New York First published 1997 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Disclaimer: For copyright reasons, some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the eBook. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1997 Selection and editorial matter Katherine Killick and Joy Schaverien; Individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-43759-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-74583-3 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-13841-8 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-415-13842-6 (pbk) Contents List of illustrations vii Editors ix List of contributors x Acknowledgements xii Introduction 1 Joy Schaverien and Katherine Killick Part I Art, psychotherapy and psychosis 1 Transference and transactional objects in the treatment of psychosis 13 Joy Schaverien 2 Unintegration and containment in acute psychosis 38 Katherine Killick 3 Fear of three dimensionality: clay and plasticine as experimental bodies 52 Fiona Foster 4 Masturbation and painting 72 David Mann 5 Four views of the image 84 Fiona Seth-Smith 6 Psychosis and the maturing ego 106 Helen Greenwood Part II Context and history 7 Has ‘psychotic art’ become extinct? 131 David Maclagan 8 The history of art therapy and psychosis 1938–95 144 Chris Wood vi Contents 9 Art, madness and anti-psychiatry: a memoir 176 John Henzell 10 The forgotten people 198 Claire Skailes 11 Where words fail: a meeting place 217 Sue Morter 12 Art psychotherapy and psychiatric rehabilitation 237 Terry Molloy Index 261 Illustrations 1.1 Alice’s picture 22 1.2 The hand 26 1.3 Arrows 28 1.4 NO! Yes? 30 1.5 Freeze! 31 1.6 Fantasy world 33 1.7 Real world 33 2.1 Sleeping muse 49 3.1 Untitled 1 54 3.2 Speedboat 61 3.3 Pockets of love 63 3.4 Offertory 63 3.5 My father exposing himself 67 3.6 Untitled 2 68 3.7 Untitled 3 69 5.1 ‘I didn’t know’ 98 5.2 Orange squash house 101 6.1 Volcanic exotica 113 6.2 Walking the dog 113 6.3 Surf rider 114 6.4 Growth from decay 116 6.5 Renaissance 117 6.6 Pattern 119 6.7 Sinful pleasure 120 6.8 The ghoul 122 6.9 Chaise longue and old woman 123 7.1 Waldorf-Astooria: Hotel Windsor in New York, 1905. Adolf Wölfli, Kunstmuseum, Bern 132 7.2 Le Pays des Meteores, 1902, Le Voyageur Français, Collection de 1’art Brut, Lausanne 133 7.3 Louis Wain cat pictures, undated, untitled, Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum 136 viii Illustrations 7.4 Train (detail), Aloise Corbaz, Collection de 1’art Brut, Lausanne (photo Claude Bornand) 139 8.1 The Plague, 1903, Max Klinger, The Museum of Modern Art, New York 152 10.1 Janek: the donkey has shed a large tear 208 10.2 The effect of medication: the painting of a patient being treated for depression 210 10.3 The effect of medication: the same patient a week later. There had been a change of medication to treat psychosis 210 10.4 The patient sat in her chair, surrounded by blue space, with the natural world outside 211 11.1 ‘I want to make a monster’ 225 11.2 Crushed can 227 11.3 ‘Galoshing’ 232 11.4 Two horses 234 Editors Katherine Killick is in private practice as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in St Albans, working analytically with individuals. Originally trained as an artist, and then as an art therapist, she is now completing her training as a Jungian analyst with the Society of Analytical Psychology. She worked in adult psychiatry in the National Health Service from 1979–94 and, as head of Art Therapy at Hill End Hospital, she developed an art therapy service which specialised in the treatment of borderline states and psychosis. The principles on which this was based formed the subject of theoretical research which she undertook for her Master’s Degree. She has been teaching on this subject, within the art therapy profession and in related fields for many years and has published a number of papers. Dr Joy Schaverien is a Jungian analyst and art psychotherapist in private practice in Leicestershire. Trained initially at the Slade as a painter, she has worked as an art therapist in the National Health Service, in a therapeutic community, adult psychiatry and out-patient psychotherapy. She was course leader of the Master’s programme in art therapy at the University of Hertfordshire and now lectures widely in Britain and abroad on the links between art and psychotherapy. Among her many publications she is the author of The Revealing Image: Analytical Art Psychotherapy in Theory and Practice (Routledge, 1991) and Desire and the Female Therapist: Engendered Gazes in Psychotherapy and Art Therapy (Routledge, 1995). She is an Associate Professional Member of the Society of Analytical Psychology in London.