I don't know about you but I just love a well written reference book! This one is a great intro to arts therapies for someone who wants an overview of the different philosophical/psychological foundations, and practical applications of arts therapies, in each of the areas of art (visual art) therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, drama therapy etc (I think that's it actually, from memory but I haven't finished it so I might be missing something). It is written in an accessible style, each chapter writen about one of the types of arts therapy (music, etc) by an author who works in the field. Each chapter acts as an overview, introducing the historical origins of the artforms use in western psychological/therapeutic practice, the various schools or approaches, the various applications, and typically drawns on some case studies or examples to ilustrate the potential effects of the theraputic approach at hand. So I like the book because it is clear and well structured (ooh I do like some god structure) but also because the stories are so heartwarming. To me, it makes a compelling case of the value of arts therapies, especially in the many situations where people aren't able to access 'talking cures', and where connection and expression are paramount to a person's healing / restoring wellbeing. For example in the chapter on music therapy they talk about a case study where a man went into neonatal wards to play classial/improvised music to accomodate and work with the (high levels of) background noise on the ward, and how he concentrated on extending calm and support and love for the staff and for the babies the staff were caring for. The staff were interviewed before and after about noise and stress and the intervention was found to successfully reduce stress levels on the ward. Other examples of music intervientions for premature babies suggest that the rhythmic quality of some music encourages very premature babies to suckle, when they have trouble doing this. Also in the chapter on music therapy was an example where a therapist worked with an elderly lady with dimentia and schizophrenia who had for a long time been living homeless and very isolated from contact with people. At the time of the music therapy she was in care but did not speak and was very non-responsive. Through a series of music therapy sessions the therapist used old songs and snippets of songs with her native language in it, as well as mirrorring the woman's tapping motions, encouraging her to sing along. The woman smiled, and sometimes sang along and even made comments, as the therapy progressed. I got all teary reading this book at several of these types of stories, which seemed to be about therapists offering such a lovely gesture of care. The tone also appeals to me, as the styles described are generally less dogmatic and rigorously 'scientific' than some of the more cognitive approaches to therapy (noting of course that these therapies are used within many different paradigms of care, for example visual arts therapies can be used in combination with CBT to help identify responses and alternative responses), and is very open about the central role of the therapist and their emotional connection with the patient.
I like the approach because it seems to work on many levels - physical, cognitive, emotional, and can offer many pathways for the 'patient' (and therapist) to transform. there also seem to be lots of examples of efective arts therapies working with traumatised children/adults, developmentally delayed children/adults etc. Anyway, that's just my top of head recollection, without the book here to quote to you from, but if you're interested in this general topic, it would probably be a useful reference book or an introductory read which will point you to other texts that might be useful for the specific areas you're interested in.
