‘If anyone needs confirmation that art therapy is the approach to use in the treatment and recovery of neurological conditions this is the book to read. Within these chapters the author practitioners convey the extraordinary range and adaptation of interventions available that enable increased access to therapy for patients, carers and public services considering employing art therapists. I was transfixed throughout both by the compassion of the case studies but also the authority of knowledge embedded in each chapter. A truly pioneering work, showing how the development of art therapy knowledge and expertise has risen to a sophisticated level of authority in delivery and awareness of the therapeutic contribution it can make to such a complex subject.’ – Kate Rothwell, Art Psychotherapist, Head of Arts Therapies in the Forensic Directorate of the East London Foundation NHS Trust, Art Psychotherapist H.M.P Grendon ‘Art Therapy with Neurological Conditions is an interesting book, ambitious in its aim as it covers diverse and complex clinical areas, giving moving personal stories throughout and emphasizing the importance of relationships to recovery. Connecting much of the work are the links between neurological, emotional and cognitive aspects of art therapy, in particular the ability of art and images to activate “functional plasticity”, the capacity to recover by adaptation and offer a chance to emotionally heal. Some of the chapters cover topics which have had little or nothing written about them previously, such as epilepsy and learning disability (Chapter 9). Other areas of clinical work note the lack of psychological input for example in stroke rehabilitation (Chapter 6). The book acknowledges the need for more research and views the writing as initiating this through the sharing of clinical practice.’ – Diane Eagles, Art Psychotherapist and Older Adult Mental Health Arts Therapies Manager for CNWL (Central North West London) NHS Foundation Trust ‘In dealing with the diverse aspects of art therapy, the making, thinking about and working with imagery and tangible and symbolic processing, this inspired and inspiring book shows how successfully art therapists adapt their practice for people with many different neurological conditions in a variety of clinical and community settings. It will be an invaluable resource for art therapists and other professionals in this field, and a vital source of information and insight for trainee art therapists.’ – Deborah Gibson, MA Art Therapy Research, PG Dip Art Therapy, RATh, Art therapist, Supervisor and Lecturer ‘This book should be read by everyone who is interested in the interface between art therapy and neurology. It presents the underpinnings of what could develop into a new theory of art therapy.’  – Frances F. Kaplan, DA, ATR-BC, Art Therapist, Teacher of Graduate Art Therapy Courses, Marylhurst University, and author of Art, Science and Art Therapy Art Therapy with Neurological Conditions companion volume Art Therapy with Physical Conditions Edited by Marian Liebmann and Sally Weston ISBN 978 1 84905 349 5 eISBN 978 0 85700 911 1 of related interest Art Therapy and Anger Edited by Marian Liebmann ISBN 978 1 84310 425 4 eISBN 978 1 84642 810 4 Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience Edited by Noah Hass-Cohen and Richard Carr ISBN 978 1 84310 868 9 eISBN 978 1 84642 839 5 Assessment and Outcomes in the Arts Therapies A Person-Centred Approach Edited by Caroline Miller ISBN 978 1 84905 414 0 eISBN 978 0 85700 788 9 Neuroscience for Counsellors Practical Applications for Counsellors, Therapists and Mental Health Practitioners Rachal Zara Wilson ISBN 978 1 84905 488 1 eISBN 978 0 85700 894 7 Art Therapy with Neurological Conditions Edited by Sally Weston and Marian Liebmann Foreword by Jackie Ashley Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia Excerpt on page 101 from Jan Phillips (2010) God is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Act is reproduced with kind permission of Quest Books. First published in 2015 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers 73 Collier Street London N1 9BE, UK and 400 Market Street, Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA www.jkp.com Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2015 Foreword copyright © Jackie Ashley 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher. Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 84905 348 8 eISBN 978 0 85700 912 8 Printed and bound in the United States Contents Foreword by Jackie Ashley 11 Preface 13 Introduction and Emerging Themes 15 Sally Weston and Marian Liebmann ADULTS Part I Setting the Scene Chapter 1 Neurology and Art Therapy 39 Debbie Michaels Chapter 2 Beyond Limits: Art Therapy with People with Severe Physical Limitations 62 Simon Bell Chapter 3 The Janus Response: Coming to Terms with Changes Due to Brain Injury or Other Neurological Condition 76 Iris von Sass Hyde Part II Acquired Brain Injury Chapter 4 Who Am I Now? Art Therapy, Identity and Adjustment after Acquired Brain Injury 99 Carole Connelly Chapter 5 Art Therapy at a Rehabilitation Day Centre for Adults and Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injury 115 Anna Knight Chapter 6 A Glimpse Beneath the Surface of Organisational Life: Art Therapy in Brain Injury and Stroke Services 135 Debbie Michaels Chapter 7 Art Therapy and Insight and Awareness after Brain Injury 152 Sally Weston Part III Epilepsy Chapter 8 Art Therapy after Acquiring Seizures in Adulthood 173 Quentin Bruckland Chapter 9 ‘This is my Dream World’: Art Therapy with Young Adults with Epilepsy and Learning Disabilities 187 Andrea Gregg Part IV Dementia Chapter 10 Reframing and Reconnecting: An Art Therapy Group for People with Dementia 203 Elizabeth Ashby Chapter 11 ‘My Coat or Yours?’ Generating Peer Support and Interpersonal Relationships through Art Therapy for Minority Ethnic People Experiencing Early Onset Dementia Living at Home 220 Melody Golebiowski Part V Other Neurological Conditions Chapter 12 Have We Met Before? Images as an Aide-mémoire to Restructure Self-identity with a Man with Korsakoff’s Syndrome 241 Jenny Wood Chapter 13 What has Colour Got to do With It? Art Therapy and Motor Neurone Disease: An Anthroposophical Approach 256 Marion Green with Christopher Day CHILDREN Chapter 14 Art Therapy and Encephalitis 279 Mark Wheeler Chapter 15 Art Therapy with a Boy Living with a Life-threatening Illness 298 Judith Ducker PERSONAL REFLECTIONS Chapter 16 Art Therapist, Heal Thyself! 317 Mark Wheeler Glossary 334 The Contributors 341 Subject Index 344 Author Index 350 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Evolutionary structure of the brain. 44 Figure 1.2 The two cerebral hemispheres and lobes (top view). 46 Figure 1.3 Lobes of the brain (side view). 46 Figure 1.4 Structure of a neuron. 47 Figure 2.1 Spiral exercise. 70 Figure 2.2 In conversation. 71 Figure 2.3 Memories and reflections. 72 Figures 2.4 and 2.5 Energy and emergence of form. 73 Figures 2.6 and 2.7 Growth and transformation. 73 Figure 3.1 The sanctuary of boyhood. 82 Figure 3.2 First holiday in the Austrian Alps. 83 Figure 3.3 A stallion called Diamond Dancer. 84 Figure 3.4 The unopenable yoghurt pot. 86 Figure 3.5 Poster paint open vista by male patient with MS. 87 Figure 3.6 Foam roller brush hillsides by female patient with MS. 87 Figure 3.7 Pastel sketch of seascape by patient with head injury. 88 Figure 3.8 Poster paint image by patient with head injury. 88 Figure 3.9 Pushed out of the apartment window. 90 Figure 3.10 Looking at life without drugs. 91 Figure 3.11 Death of a significant other. 92 Figure 3.12 Addiction: An elephant never forgets. 93 Figure 3.13 Present hopes and future dreams. 94 Figure 4.1a Cut-down tree. 106 Figure 4.1b Scraping. 106 Figure 4.2 Walking through the forest of buildings. 107 Figure 4.3 Womb. 109 Figure 4.4 Burning tree. 110 Figure 4.5 Rosette. 112 Figure 5.1 The effects of disability. 116 Figure 5.2 Rebirth. 123 Figure 5.3 Ben: painting within a frame. 124 Figure 5.4 Ben: collage cards of cars. 125 Figure 5.5 A client’s mind map. 129 Figure 6.1 Shattered self. 137 Figure 6.2 Ambivalence. 139 Figure 6.3 Hope. 141 Figure 6.4 Anger and despair. 147 Figure 7.1 Shelf in art therapy room, with ram’s horn. 158 Figure 7.2 Tree and ram’s horn. (The outside world.) 164 Figure 7.3 First head and worked clay. 165 Figure 7.4 Clay heads together. 165