A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art [Hardcover]

Ellen G. Horovitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0398070016 | ISBN-13: 978-0398070014

In this new book A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art, Horovitz examines the diverse and convergent roles of the therapist as artist, writer, mother, teacher, and clinician. This new book questions what is essential in art therapy and engages authentic positioning in and out of the therapeutic office. This return to art, or the ³call to art,² changed the author¹s identity and efficacy as a therapist. Artwork, fiction, and clinical work transform as insight occurs. The casework throughout the book provides models for integrating the assessment and intuitive features of art therapy educator and clinician. Horovitz¹ own work and that of her clients is shared without guile. In this book, the myth of clinician neutrality is broken and instead the author¹s focus is on bringing one¹s conscious self to work in order to become more authentic with oneself and one¹s clients. This state of ³elemental play² perpetuates that connection with the patient as another human being on the trajectory towards wellness. The fundamental process of art making that guides personal and professional life is described as ³elemental play.² Play is seen as the intrinsic element of the art making process that offers directions for resolution of conflicts, the evolution of personal growth, and ultimately ³soulution.² This concept of an artistic ³soulution² offers the necessary elements of healing and transformation. For any reader, whether trained in art therapy or not, A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art validates the transcendent aspects of art creativity, and play.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0398070016
• ISBN-13: 978-0398070014
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen G. Horovitz, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LCAT, RYT is Professor and the Director of Graduate Art Therapy at Nazareth College of Rochester. Her newest book, Digital Image Transfer: Creating Art With Your Photography , published by Sterling Publishers- Pixiq is available at Amazon and like vendors. The book encompasses the techniques that she has been using for the last twenty years. It is a digital guide to transferring images into alternative and mixed media art. As well, Dr. Horovitz is Media Editor for the Society for the Arts in Healthcare journal, Arts and Health: Research, Policy and Practice. She is also a registered yoga teacher and yoga therapist and can be found twisting her way through words, images, and life when not blogging at pixiq.com.

(And academic types might be interested in her other books which include: Spiritual Art Therapy: An Alternate Path ; A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art; Art Therapy As Witness: A Sacred Guide, Visually Speaking: Art Therapy and the Deaf, and The Art Therapists' Primer: A Clinical Guide to Writing Assessments, Diagnosis and Treatment.)

To learn more, go to:
http://www.ellenghorovitz.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art, December 30, 1999

By 

David Nez, MFA, ATR (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art (Paperback)

In this book art therapist, artist and writer Ellen Horovitz suggests a return to the art studio and the sources of creativity and transformation inherent in the artistic process. The author writes: "It is time...to embrace the importance of creativity, time to stop 'excusing' the art in art therapy". Horovitz asks some probing and fundamental questions and breaks out of the "therapy box" of conventional clinical notions in often unorthodox and courageous ways. She does this by proposing a humanistic approach to art therapy based on authenticity of expression that embraces self-examination, discovery, intuition, risk taking and inner growth of both client and therapist.

At the core of her understanding of the creative process in both art and art therapy is her concept of "elemental play", a process of creative immersion and flow which "simply allows the art to be the healing agent". As this process of elemental play enters into the therapeutic relationship she writes "I allow my energy to mix with the other. This is not about loss of boundaries but rather it is co-creating, connecting...I am not the healing agent but rather a participant in wellness: mine as well as the other person's...the mixing of forces becomes the 'soulution'".

Adressing the topic of transference Horovitz writes "analytic neutrality is a mythological position of which I am clearly incapable...because, alas, I am human". She interweaves autobiography, artwork and fictional writing about her childhood memories, demonstrating personally the healing power of the creative process. Horovitz writes "Facing one's past leads not only to insight and enhanced self-understanding but also informs the therapist when contemplating the effect of transference and countertransference issues when they arise in treatment...you can't take your patients any further than you have gone yourself".

The author insists that the art therapist can use any creative medium that emerges while working with a client. Several insightful case studies are presented in which media such as photography, animation, computer art and activities such as "walking therapy" and cooking are used effectively with clients along with the traditional art mediums. Other case studies document how the client's discovery of their artistic talent through art therapy dramatically changed the course of their lives. The writer presents art therapy diagnostic assessments of client's artwork along with genograms and psychosocial histories at the beginning of the case studies. Narratives describing individual and family sessions and the client's progress in art therapy accompany each study.

The nature of creativity and the creative process is explored through a series of interviews the author conducts with writers, poets, artists and art therapists. The question "why do we make art?" is explored throughout the book from a plurality of views including writings in art therapy, psychology, neurology and alternative healing such as shamanism. Horovitz examines the similarity between creative and dissociative states proposing that creativity is an altered state- a "healthy dissociation" which leads to individuation.

This book combines both heuristic inquiry and an impassioned and personal testimony to the transformative power of creativity in art, art therapy and life. It presents new models and directions for the evolving field of art therapy. It informed and inspired me as an artist and art therapist and I believe would appeal to anyone interested in the study of creativity and healing.

David Nez, MFA, ATR

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rivoting and Authentic, April 19, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Boulder, Co) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art (Hardcover)

In this book, Horovitz once again takes her reader into spaces that therapists never dare discuss nor reveal. Using her own psychosocial history as a vantage point, Horovitz reveals insights into her own artwork, fiction writing, and background. These revelations seed the groundwork for her theory of "soulution" which "evokes the concept of wedding a humanistic approach to one's work and operating from the heart". (pg.3)

In weaving this position, Horovitz shines through again and models authentic behavior at its best with stunning case studies embedded in fascinating and page-turning research.

A must for any therapist whether art therapist or not. This book, a genuine paradigm shift for Art Therapy, parallels what Freud did for the field of Psychology.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impassioned & intelligent., January 12, 2000

By 

John Domini (Northwestern University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Leap of Faith: The Call to Art (Hardcover)

Since I'm not an art therapist myself, I can't respond to this book at the same kind of length as the previous reviewer. Still, I must say that Horovitz is doing significant work, making sure her colleagues in the field don't lose sight of core notions of spirituality & whole health, as they expand the methodology & the range of the therapeutic project. THE CALL TO ART is thoughtful in the best sense -- the sense that includes the heart & soul as well as mind.