Diana Milia is an adjunct instructor at New York University, where she gained her MA in 1995. A registered art therapist, she practises at the IHB Day Treatment Center at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, based in New York.

Discusses the use of art therapy with self-mutilating clients, with reference to the function of self-mutilation as a ritual act. In her introduction, the author describes awareness of self-mutilation in Western society and considers whether to view such an act with sympathy. Drawing on the ritual self-mutilation practices of other cultures, and on some performance practices in Western culture, she argues that individual acts of self-mutilation can be understood as part of a creative process intended to achieve a transformation of the self, which have counterparts in rituals of sacrifice. She outlines the theoretical basis for her work in this area, positioning self-mutilation as part of a process of self-healing through cycles of creation and destruction. She vies the task of the art therapist as to guide the client away from ritualistic self-mutilationtowards creative acts in which aesthetic expression becomes the medium for symbolic self-transformation.

• Introduction. 1.Sacrificial and aesthetic aspects of body modification. 2. Psychological perspectives on self-mutilation. 3. Transformation and self-assertion in the case of Mary. 4. Merging and differentation in the case of Kate. 5. Sacrifice to symbolism in the case of Eric. 6. Art therapy proceses with self-mutliating clients. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

Diana Milia is an adjunct instructor at New York University, where she gained her MA in 1995. A registered art therapist, she practises at the IHB Day Treatment Center at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, based in New York.

Discusses the use of art therapy with self-mutilating clients, with reference to the function of self-mutilation as a ritual act. In her introduction, the author describes awareness of self-mutilation in Western society and considers whether to view such an act with sympathy. Drawing on the ritual self-mutilation practices of other cultures, and on some performance practices in Western culture, she argues that individual acts of self-mutilation can be understood as part of a creative process intended to achieve a transformation of the self, which have counterparts in rituals of sacrifice. She outlines the theoretical basis for her work in this area, positioning self-mutilation as part of a process of self-healing through cycles of creation and destruction. She vies the task of the art therapist as to guide the client away from ritualistic self-mutilationtowards creative acts in which aesthetic expression becomes the medium for symbolic self-transformation.

• Introduction. 1.Sacrificial and aesthetic aspects of body modification. 2. Psychological perspectives on self-mutilation. 3. Transformation and self-assertion in the case of Mary. 4. Merging and differentation in the case of Kate. 5. Sacrifice to symbolism in the case of Eric. 6. Art therapy proceses with self-mutliating clients. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

Diana Milia is an adjunct instructor at New York University, where she gained her MA in 1995. A registered art therapist, she practises at the IHB Day Treatment Center at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, based in New York.

Discusses the use of art therapy with self-mutilating clients, with reference to the function of self-mutilation as a ritual act. In her introduction, the author describes awareness of self-mutilation in Western society and considers whether to view such an act with sympathy. Drawing on the ritual self-mutilation practices of other cultures, and on some performance practices in Western culture, she argues that individual acts of self-mutilation can be understood as part of a creative process intended to achieve a transformation of the self, which have counterparts in rituals of sacrifice. She outlines the theoretical basis for her work in this area, positioning self-mutilation as part of a process of self-healing through cycles of creation and destruction. She vies the task of the art therapist as to guide the client away from ritualistic self-mutilationtowards creative acts in which aesthetic expression becomes the medium for symbolic self-transformation.

• Introduction. 1.Sacrificial and aesthetic aspects of body modification. 2. Psychological perspectives on self-mutilation. 3. Transformation and self-assertion in the case of Mary. 4. Merging and differentation in the case of Kate. 5. Sacrifice to symbolism in the case of Eric. 6. Art therapy proceses with self-mutliating clients. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.