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B. & H. A. T. N. is a group of state registered art therapists that has been established to provide information & access to art therapy in the Brighton & Hove area. The group’s members work with a wide range of different client groups in Health, Social, Education & Prison services. The Network can be contacted at the address below.
The Art Therapy Profession: Art therapy originated in the 1930’s when there was a new interest in Art & Mental Health & in the concept of art as ‘healing’. It was first used in sanatoriums for tuberculosis patients. Around the time of the Second World War the emphasis of art therapy was in large open studios in Psychiatric hospitals. More recently the art therapy profession has drawn on various schools of psychoanalytic thought while maintaining central importance on the art image & the creative process.
Art therapy is a post-graduate training & art therapists are state registered with the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine & belong to the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) & abide by a strict code of practice.
This takes place in a boundaried space with an emphasis on confidentiality & continuity of time & place. A variety of materials are available including clay, paint & drawing materials. The client does not need to be ‘good’ at art, as emphasis is placed on expression & exploration of the materials available.
The treatment can be thought of in terms of a triangular relationship between therapist, client & the art object. The art therapist works with transference, counter-transference, individual & group dynamics.
The art activity, as a non-verbal process, can allow thought & feelings that may be difficult to verbalise, to be expressed & communicated & it can be seen as a vehicle for exploring & expressing thoughts & feelings. The art object has the benefit of being a tangible record that can act as a memory & be returned to at a later date.
The art therapist can use interpretation to form a dialogue between client, therapist & artwork. Art therapy treatment can help clients to develop a renewed self-confidence & self-esteem as well as offer the potential for self-awareness & personal change.
For more information, please contact:
Brighton & Hove Art Therapists Network: bahaatn@rya-online.net
Other Contacts:
British Association of Art Therapists,
Mary Ward House,
5, Tavistock Place,
London, WC1 9SN
Tel. 020 7383 3774
The Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine,
Park House,
184, Kennington Park Road,
London, SE11 4
Tel. 020 7582 0866.