THE THERAPY

ITSELF
 Preparation before starting an
art therapy studio practice
• Getting the required education and
training
• Planning the structure of your studio
practice
• Setting up the studio of meeting place
• Advertisement
• Selection and categorization of clients
Steps in starting an art therapy class
• The therapist must be at the venue on time to set
up the place
• When all clients are seated the therapist must lead
the clients to introduce themselves(lead client to
familiarize themselves with a name game pg 75).
 Name game
Name game
1st person =Akosua
2nd person= Akosua, Ama
3rd person= Akosua, Ama, Adwoa
4th person= Akosua, Ama, Adwoa, Kwaku
5th person= Akosua, Ama, Adwoa, Kwaku, Kofi
 Guidelines for interpreting clients
human figure drawing
• To generate hypotheses (assumptions)
• Several factors affect the quality of the work
• Do not generalize interpretations unnecessarily

Two things are involved

a. Overall impressions of drawings
b. Omissions in the drawing
1. Overall impressions of drawings
Things that help to deduce impressions about a
drawing.
a) subject matter (moods and emotional) Eg.
strong, weak, dull, friendly etc
b) use of colour
c) size of drawing
d) placement of drawing
Types of colours
Meaning of colours
Psychology of colours
Application of colours
Application of colours
Application of colours
Application of colours
 b) Uses of colour
Fine the use of colours for the following children
• Depressed clients…….
• Traumatised children…….
• Outgoing children…….
• Introverts……
c) Size of the people drawn

• Small human figure ( 1 to 3 inches high) by

children suggest timidity, shyness, insecurity,
withdrawn
c) Size of the people drawn
Meaning of sizes of images…………
 d) Placement on the page

Placement at or near the lower edge of the paper

indicates:
• Feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, need for support
• Depressive tendencies, relatively stable personality.
d) Placement on the page

• Placement at upper half of the page

suggest: optimism and fantasy

• Drawings that slant by 15 degrees or more

imply imbalance and a lack of a secure
footing.
2. Omissions in the drawing
Find out the meaning of the following;
• Omitting the mouth
• Omitting the nose
• Omitted eyes suggests
• Omitted
• Omitted legs