Art Therapy: The Healing Vision
Robert (“Bob”) E. Ault, MFA, ATR-BC, HLM
This is a grouping of two films featuring Robert Ault, one of the pioneers in art therapy. “Art Therapy: The Healing Vision” was released in 1986 by the Menninger Foundation and is an exquisite and profound film narrated by Ault. Ault presents theoretical underpinnings that guide the art therapist, and pays homage to those upon whose work the field of art therapy began, such as Freud, Jung, Prinzhorn, Naumburg, Kwaitkowska, Lowenfeld, and Kramer. He shares case examples of children, adolescents, adults, and older adults receiving treatment. The film includes a fascinating interview with Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton, whose contour drawings helped her overcome a lifelong battle with depression, and who was befriended and championed by Bob as a living example of the healing power of art.
To Bob, with Love: AATA Memorial Service Film
Judith A. Rubin, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM
This film documents the multiple roles Ault played in his life: family member, artist, art therapist, educator, and pioneer in the field of Art Therapy. Bob was one of the founders of the American Art Therapy Association, serving as its second President and leading the organization with calm and tact during the Association’s tumultuous early years. This lovingly prepared Memorial Service Film is followed by commentary from his former student, Randy Vick, who describes how Bob enveloped people with a kindness and sincerity that is not felt often.
Length of video: 1:02:00
English subtitles available
Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-690-0
Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-690-5
Judith Rubin, a pioneer in the field of art therapy, is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Society & Institute. She is a Registered, Board-Certified Art Therapist and a Licensed Psychologist. Dr. Rubin is the author of five books, including: Child Art Therapy, The Art of Art Therapy, and Art Therapy: An Introduction. She was the "Art Lady" on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in the 1960s.
A past President and Honorary Life Member of the American Art Therapy Association, Dr. Rubin is retired from full-time clinical practice, and is devoting her energies to creating and disseminating films on the arts in therapy through a nonprofit organization, Expressive Media, Inc. Her other films include Beyond Words: Art Therapy with Older Adults (2004), We'll Show You What We're Gonna Do! (art with blind children, 1971), Children & the Arts (all of the arts with children, 1973), and The Green Creature Within (group art-drama therapy with adolescents, 1984). More about Judith Rubin's films and the organization can be found at http://www.expressivemedia.org.