Sondra Geller: Making Art in the Presence of the Analyst
Art therapy uses fundamental art techniques to help the client gain access to deeply seated unconscious material, very much like the work with dreams Jung talks about so much. So art therapy is a way in, a way in to the dream time.
The client is guided into that process. The other aspect of that that is very important is that the art therapist analyst serves as the guide, the witness, to the process. I could go on for hours talking about how important that is, and what it’s like - especially if it’s an adult seeking Jungian art therapy - what it’s like to draw in the presence of another. When do we have an opportunity to do something like that? Probably not since childhood. And there are dynamics that arise between analyst and client from being the one to being in the position of being observed. It replicates often the early parent child relationship and the analyst is able to hold the client symbolically in the eyes, the caring eyes, of the other.