Читать книгу The Creative Arts in Counseling - Samuel Gladding T., Samuel T. Gladding - Страница 33

When have you seen the arts misused therapeutically? How can you prevent abuse of the creative arts in your work with clients?

The opposite side of this coin, but with the same result, is the tendency of clients to avoid artistic enterprises because of an irrational fear that they will become too involved. Such a response is typical of someone with loose ego boundaries and obsessive-compulsive behavior, but it is also found in many other people. Some artists, such as Mozart, are reported to have worked at the expense of their health and that of their families. People who avoid the arts in counseling fear being placed in a situation with potential liabilities as well as possibilities.

A fourth drawback to including the arts in one’s repertoire of counseling skills is that the techniques used may become arts and crafts, which is often seen as a much more mechanical and structured activity than the procedures used in helping and healing. It should be stressed that arts and crafts as typically practiced in therapeutic settings have limited goals and may be seen as busy work. Few problem-solving skills and innovative factors are used in arts and crafts as opposed to the creative arts. For example, crafts in counseling are usually associated with putting things together, such as assembling a basket, whereas the creative arts promote the production of something new and different. Crafts, on the one hand, usually do not require much thinking. Instead, participants are instructed to follow directions. The creative arts, on the other hand, involve the full use of one’s imagination and often bring to the forefront concerns that can be addressed or alleviated for the betterment of the individual’s mental health.

Arts and Crafts	Creative Arts in Counseling
The primary goal is to create a product; few skills are required.	The primary goal is to intentionally use the arts to foster insight and psychological change.
The facilitator may influence the creation of the artwork through verbal or behavioral means, such as instructions.	The work produced is not as important as the process involved.
The product produced may be assessed for artistic form or function.	The product produced is a catalyst for examining personal concerns.

A fifth limitation of using the arts in counseling is that, by so doing, clients may become too introspective, passive, or overcritical of themselves or situations. Such a posture leads to paralysis and inhibits growth borne out of involvement. It is just the opposite of the active mental and physical involvement that Siegel (1986) described as an essential part of self-healing.

A sixth drawback to the use of the arts in counseling is that they may be used in nontherapeutic ways. Many art forms promote the expression of feelings and help persons get beyond mere intellectual acknowledgment of situations. In helping clients recognize and express their feelings, especially the big four—anger, sadness, joy, and fear (Meier & Davis, 2019)—the counselor must therapeutically channel the release of emotions if clients are to realize more fully their own humanity (B. Warren, 1993). Catharsis in and of itself is of limited usefulness and may be detrimental to the health and well-being of individuals.

A final drawback to using the arts in counseling is that they may be used in nonscientific ways. The arts and sciences share four common attributes: “honesty, parsimony, duality, and insight” (Burke, 1989, p. 27). Honesty implies genuineness, authenticity, and openness of one’s work. Parsimony is conciseness and straightforward simplicity. Duality is the ability to be simultaneously sensitive and tough-minded. Insight, as alluded to earlier, deals with the ability to understand old material in a new way. Whenever the arts are used in counseling without adherence to this common bond with science, practitioners face the danger that the results will not be therapeutic.