Clay Work and Body Image in Art Therapy Using Metaphor and Symbolism to Heal

Clay Work and Body Image in Art Therapy provides an important addition to resources available in the field of clay work and art therapy, highlighting the unique sensory aspects of the medium and its ability to provide a therapeutic resource for women who experience body image issues.

Chapters offer a comprehensive distillation of current knowledge in the field of body image, clay work, neuroscience, and art therapy, building a theoretical framework around personal narratives. Case studies examine the benefits of exploring body image through clay work within art therapy practice, providing a positive and contained way to find personal acceptance and featuring photographs of clay body image sculptures created by research participants that highlight their individual stories and experiences. As well as offering both clinical and practical implications, the text provides a full protocol for the research and evaluation methods carried out, enabling further replication of the intervention and research methods by other therapists.

This book highlights clay work as a significant resource for art therapists, arts in health practitioners, and counsellors, providing an emotive yet contained approach to the development of personal body image acceptance and self-compassion.

List of Figures; Acknowledgements;Section One: Preparing the Ground - Digging for Clay; Chapter 1. Introduction & Context: Body Image, Art Therapy & Clay Work; Chapter 2. The Distorted Mirror: Body Image, The Critical Mother & Shame; Chapter 3. Making Connections: Metaphor, Evolution & Neuroscience; Section Two: Vignettes & Case Studies – Shaping the Self; Chapter 4: Case Vignettes – Study One, Sessions One, Two, Three & Four; Chapter 5: Case Studies, Study Two: Metaphor, Symbolism & Body Image; Chapter 6: Case Studies, Study Two: Mother’s and Other’s Influence on Body Image; Chapter 7: Case Studies, Study Two: Clay Work as Meaningful Play; Section Three: Protocol, Evaluation Methods & Conclusions – Opening the Kiln; Chapter 8. Intervention Protocol; Chapter 9. Methods of Analysis; Chapter 10. Adding the Glaze: Finding Meaning and Healing through Metaphor & Symbolism; Bibliography, Index.

Trisha Crocker, PhD, is an art therapist working with at-risk children and women in private practice. She runs workshops in clay-making and body image from her pottery in Oxfordshire, England.

Susan M.D. Carr, PhD, is an artist, author, and art therapist in private practice, and currently co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Art Therapy. She has also developed and researched Portrait Therapy.