Judith A. Rubin implements art-based questions to gain insight related to the development of adolescents. Through meeting with individuals one-on-one and showing curiosity about the art as well as the individual, Judy uncovers situational, transitional, and environmental factors underlying their behavior.
Interviewing adolescents in this way, with adequate training, can aid professional counselors and the counseling profession as a whole by offering art as a safe space for discussion of sensitive topics. One interview is with a boy of 17 and is an intake session where the art therapist was asked to provide an assessment of the youngster as well as recommendations for the treatment team at the outpatient clinic where he was seen. The client is offered a free choice of materials and topic, and ends up creating a powerful painting during which he is also helped to talk about the reasons why he agreed to try therapy.
The other interview is with a girl of 16 who is asked to develop an image from a scribble drawing, and who then reflects on the image and its meanings for her. Both youngsters are articulate, yet it is clear that a great deal is revealed in their drawings and associations that they would have been unlikely to discuss or disclose spontaneously, supporting the hypothesis that images can disclose unconscious material that has not yet risen to consciousness in a relatively non-threatening manner.
This video was formerly included in the Expressive Media Arts Therapies Films Collection distributed by Expressive Media Inc.
