Art PsychotherapyArt as a TherapyVS

Malgorzata Jasinski

“Art, in itself, is an attempt

to bring order out of chaos”

Steven Sondheim

Margaret Naumburg was born in 1890 in New York City. She was a psychologist, educator, artist, author, and most significantly, the theoretician of art therapy. She graduated Columbia University with John Dewey, and while in Italy, she studied with Maria Montessori. When Naumburg returned to the United States, she facilitated the first Montessori class in New York City, and in 1915, she founded her own school, known as the Walden School. She worked there with her sister, Florence Cane, and introduced her scribble drawing method into her teaching.In her book ''The Child and the World,'' published in 1928, Naumburg set forth her educational ideas, philosophies, and methods. In the 1930's, she started her work and research in art therapy, working primarily with children at the New York Psychiatric Institute. Her approach called Dynamic Oriented Art Therapy was based on Freudian theory, Jungian's universal symbolism, and Sullivan”s ideas about interpersonal psychiatry. She was the author of five books, where she employed the techniques of teaching free, non-structured art expression, incorporated art, and music into her teaching methods, breaking away from a formal book-centered education. Naumburg's work influenced the nation's educational philosophy.

CLASH OF THE

Margaret Naumburg

AP Release—Today at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Conference, fierce controversy arose between rival psychotherapists and famed authors, Margaret Naumburg, noted for her deeply emotional art psychotherapy, and colleague, Edith Kramer, famous for her revolutionary “third hand” therapy.!

Naumburg closely aligns her methods with the beliefs of the famous Austrian psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, who developed the concepts of dream therapy, transference and sublimation to explain human behaviors. Naumburg employs Freud’s theory of transference to draw closer to the person with whom there is conflict. The reenactment of the fears of the client though art provides a natural bond and development of trust between therapist and client. Namuburg stated, “I believe that delving into the intense hidden fears of the patient and exploring those obstacles creates a strong connection between patient and therapist. This bond is vital to the healing process”. !

In contrast, Edith Kramer called the difference in methods the great “historical rift”. Kramer, author of Art Therapy in Children’s Therapy, used both her background as an art teacher, artist and therapist to help children reveal their dreams, concerns, and fears by allowing the patients to confront their conflicts in safe and natural environment. Although Kramer also has her roots in Freud’s methodology, her treatment plan vastly differs from the techniques used by rival Naumburg. Kramer stated, “Interpretation has little, if any, importance”. Instead she upholds that art as a product and process are one. In this new and controversial method, Kramer and other

Kramer was born in Vienna ,Austria, in 1916, into an artistic family. Her first teacher was Friedl Dicker, an artist and art teacher associated with the Bauhaus. At age 18, she follows Dicker to Praque to study and also to help with children whose parents were political refugees. In 1938, Kramer left the country and traveled to New York City as a political refugee. She worked for three years teaching sculpture and worked at the machine shop. At that time, she became interested in psychoanalytic theory, and became a follower of Sigmund Freud, especially his concept of sublimation. She was hired at Wiltwyck School where she works with disturbed boys, It was this experience that led her to develop her ideas and she gets, by accident, the title of “art therapist”. In 1958, Kramer published Art Therapy in Children's Community and she simultaneously worked at the hospital in the children's psychiatric ward. In 1976, with help of Dr. Laurie Wilson, Kramer founded the graduate program, Art Therapy, at New York University, where she created, perhaps her most important method of the program, and called it “the Art Therapist third hand intervention”. She taught at university and colleges, published books, remained a working artist--she painted, etched, and sculpted, while working as an art therapist with children and adolescents. Kramer eventually returned to Austria where she died in 2014 at age of 97.

TITANS!

Edith Kramer

therapists guide the child with a third hand to assist in the creation of art while engaging in gentle conversation to uncover concerns and promote healing.!

The two pillars of art therapy in the psychiatric world faced off in a lengthy and heated panel debate. The discussion proved to be a huge draw to the distinguished psychiatrists in attendance at the conference. The debate sparked the interest of keynote speaker, Carl Jung. Art therapy is a relatively new technique in the field of psychiatry, and many therapists are drawn to its diverse possibilities and broad success. Jung stated, “Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable.”!

The debate opened with Naumburg explaining her theories and process of treatment through Art Psychotherapy. She drew upon her noted success by discussing her decade of research and citing specific examples of past cases using Art Psychotherapy. Her scribble drawing technique allows analysis of the patient’s deep inner thoughts and emotions. Objections to her noted theories were centered on the most severe cases and what options therapists have when transference of emotion fails and a bond between therapist and client does not develop. This method, while proven, maintains reservations among therapists who question the extreme connection that must be formed between the therapist and the patient through intense transference of life events.

Kramer countered Naumburg’s methods with an expression of concern that the bond created in intensive Art Psychotherapy may present danger to the therapist as well as upset the patient beyond control making the entire situation volatile and controversial. Kramer discussed the paradigm shift created by her ”third hand therapy”. The third hand allows the therapist to guide the child patient in exploration of emotions using art and gentle conversations building trust to delve into the conflicts torturing the patient. Through this reassuring approach, the shift to a new era of therapy has begun.!

In her final statements, Naumburg insisted, “Art Psychotherapy has a success measured by the many healthy patients who have benefitted from its approach. Kramer responded with the comment, “!

While there is no denying the former success of Art Psychotherapy, there remains a number of patients for whom this method is not successful and is, in fact, harmful. By utilizing a broader range of treatment and employing a gentler technique, such as in Art as Therapy, therapists may slowly aid the healing process and ultimate recovery of their patients.”!

“It’s time for a new protocol,” concluded Kramer. “Therapists require more options to treat children.” !

“Art therapy fulfills the purpose of assisting traumatized children, the goal of all therapists--healthy clients,” reminded Naumburg. “Art therapy is an undeniably successful program that will be at the forefront of psychiatry for many years to come.”∞ !

CO/Malgorzata Jasinski

Malgorzata Jasinski

“Art is the creation of forms

symbolic of human feeling”

Susanne Langer

CO/Malgorzata Jasinski