You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Black Rhomb was 20 years old when I proposed art interpreting therapy.
Six months earlier I had had her hospitalized in a psychiatric ward because of an acute paranoid psychosis. After a two months' stay the hospital wanted me to take over the treatment. Her psychosis was well controlled, she had received anti-psychotic drug treatment as well as regular supportive counselling.
I had meetings with her parents where we discussed her situation and I agreed to start weekly therapy sessions with their daughter. I reduced her medication to a minimum.
After a few therapy sessions, Black Rhomb was still in a severely depressed state. She stayed at home, isolated and apathetic. She felt sad and dejected and did not think that our therapy sessions had improved her situation.
Her mother despaired over her daughter's situation — she just stayed at home, resigned, completely lacking initiative.
Her father thought that the situation was getting worse — “she is obviously suffering, she is totally unsocial, can't bring herself to go out and see people, can't get started in the job I have found for her.”
Black Rhomb was the older of two children, her brother was 4 years younger. Her mother thought that “he always had been more affectionate” — he was a happy and healthy senior high student.
After 12 supportive sessions, I found the time ripe to end her drug treatment and begin art interpreting therapy — we agreed on 1 to 2 sessions a week until the summer — about 10 sessions and a summing up with the possibility of continuing when summer was over.
When she arrives for her first session, she insists that she can neither paint nor draw. Previously she has drawn some pictures for me using colored pencils and I show her these drawings. The sketches are the results of her efforts to draw naturalistic human figures. The figures are simple stereotypes. It is clear to both of