Longterm creative therapy with a borderline psychotic boy

Journal/Book: Amer J Art Ther. 1995; 34: Vermont Coll of Norwich Univ, Montpelier, VT 05602. Amer J Art Therapy. 43-49.

Abstract: Art therapists who work with children must sometimes satisfy their clients' immediate requirements by using modalities other than art, thus adopting a creative arts approach. Although art remained the primary medium during 3 years of therapy with a borderline psychotic boy, crucial moments of contact, focus, and sublimation were also achieved through music, play, and puppetry. The boy harbored memories of maternal deprivation during infancy; his mother was widowed and subsequently became depressed. His father was killed in the Yom Kippur War shortly before his birth in 1973 and his mother's unresolved bereavement prevented readjustment to normal family life. Therapy was terminated when the child achieved the transition from a fantasy world of fears and assumed identities to one in which he could relate to his peers and enter a normal school environment.

Note: Article L Steinhardt, POB 16, IL-47100 Ramat Hasharon, Israel

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