Susan Buchalter – författare

It can be difficult to be spontaneous during every art therapy group. It is helpful to have a resource full of creative and inspiring ideas that can be utilized as needed. This broad-ranging collection of projects injects variety into art therapy sessions. A Practical Art Therapy is written in an easy-to-read format that is filled with practical creative experiences for therapists to use with individuals and groups.Chapters cover various media and methods, including murals, collages, sculpture and drawing, making it easily accessible for even the busiest therapist. Susan Buchalter includes practical art projects using everyday objects, and follows them through with a list of materials needed, a procedure plan and aims of the project.The creative exercises draw on situations and ideas that children and adults can relate to - for example, drawing wishes and goals, sculpting their own stress and creating a collage self-portrait. The author suggests ways of expanding art-making activities, such as drawing to music and creating personal logos. This book is suitable for those new to the arts therapies field, practising art therapists, counselors and social workers.

Art Therapy Techniques and Applications contains an original composite of therapeutic goals and evocative ideas that can be used with a wide variety of clients. This book is filled with innovative suggestions and plans that are easily implemented: from brief warm-ups to stretch the imagination, and collage and mask creations to assist the expression of mood, to guidance on combining modalities such as art, metaphors and movement, mindfulness exercises, and using computer programs to enhance art therapy projects. Clear and concise, this is an indispensable reference guide for the therapist who wants to improve focus, develop problem-solving skills, and add creativity to their group work. This book will appeal to art therapists, art therapy students and professors, counselors, and social workers.

Art and the therapeutic uses of art provide older adults with valuable ways in which to express and share their feelings, needs and fears, and with a resource for coping with life's major changes. This practical book is filled with step-by-step exercises for art therapists and other professionals to use in work with older adults, either individually or in groups.The author provides brief, imaginative warm-ups, which encourage participants to become more at ease expressing themselves creatively. She offers ideas for engaging and innovative creative projects across a range of media, including art, music, movement, poetry and creative writing, all of which can be adapted, personalised or combined to meet the particular needs of individual participants. Points to consider when working with this client group are explored, and case study examples, with participants' artwork, are included throughout.Appropriate for use with all relatively able older adults, including those with depression, anxiety or in the early stages of dementia, this will be an invaluable tool for art therapists as well as counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers and carers.

Mandalas are important therapeutic tools promoting focusing, wholeness and healing. This book introduces nearly two hundred different techniques for designing mandalas and adapts mandala creation for the purpose of eliciting thoughts, feelings and concerns about pertinent therapeutic issues such as depression, anxiety, relationships and goals. Therapists can use the many practical mandala exercises outlined within to enable a wide range of clients to enhance self-awareness and explore issues in a non-threatening way. Mandala design is presented in a variety of creative ways with different media, allowing the therapist the flexibility to gear sessions towards clients' specific needs and capabilities.This will be a valuable and unique addition to the therapist's library and will be of particular interest to art therapists, counsellors, psychologists and professionals looking for innovative therapeutic approaches that build on traditional practices.

Self-esteem is the building block of therapy and wellness and is crucial in overcoming depression and anxiety and in leading a fulfilling, functional life. Filled with hundreds of practical activities to help clients build their self-esteem as they become increasingly mindful and self-aware, this book contains a rich assortment of approaches from art therapy, dialectical behavioral and cognitive behavioral therapy. The innovative and established methods examined in the book are based on sound, evidence-based techniques, illustrated with real client experiences, to help therapists gain a greater understanding of how the approaches take effect. This is an essential resource of activities for all art therapists, as well as counsellors, psychologists, other mental health professionals and social workers interested in using art therapy techniques in their work. It is appropriate for use with a wide variety of clients and patients, including those suffering from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.