Thought Train to Pusan

I come to read a book on with grief through creative arts therapies at a time wherein I face the impending death of a family member. And I am restless. Being a fidgety person to begin with, I can’t keep my hands still when my mind is full of all kinds of thoughts: preparing for courses in school, learning about grief for an upcoming class, dealing with loss and grief myself, and all other kinds of things. And so I draw. My hands take what I am feeling and put a part of me on a page. And I am not entirely okay, but I also don’t feel like I’m drowning like I have felt all too much recently for far too many reasons. But enough about me… The Art of Grief: The Use of Expressive Arts in a Grief Support Group is predominantly set up as a guide to running bereavement support groups that utilize the expressive arts as a process of healing and working through grief. Different practitioners with a variety of creative and therapeutic backgrounds contribute ideas and sessions that are set u...

This is a misleading little textbook in terms of how long it actually takes to get through it. I thought, “oh it’s so small compared to my other books, this will be easy!” But no. The writing is compact and while there is a lot of dialogue in the presented case studies to make things interesting, overall it is quite dry and I found it hard to focus on what I was reading. That is not to say that it wasn’t informative! But as compared to the other two textbooks I’ve read so far this year, it’s been the most difficult to get through. In this book, Gerald Corey presents the hypothetical counseling case of “Ruth”, and provides information that might be acquired during an intake interview. Corey then invites counselors from a variety of different theoretical perspectives to describe what their style of counseling might involve when working with someone like Ruth. There is also an inclusion at the end of each chapter with discussion on what Corey’s process would be with Ruth within eac...

Achilles: No wonder the sky is so gray today, bro. Patroclus: Why, bro? Achilles: Because all the blue is in your eyes. Patroclus: Bro. There are a number of different interpretations as to what the exact nature of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus was in Greek Mythology. I mean, we know that they loved each other. For real. But was it a brothers-in-arms kind of deal? Nah. It’s pretty widely accepted that they were in fact lovers. Yet Patroclus is often seen as little more than a side-character in the Illiad , despite the fact that his death has such an effect on the outcome of the war. And so, Madeline Miller chose to write The Song of Achilles from Patroclus’ point of view, which largely focuses on the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. Patroclus is a great narrator for the tale, and you begin to feel for him even before he becomes entwined in the myth of the great hero, Achilles. Because how much do we hear about his life before the war in a...

The concluding novel in James Dashner’s “Maze Runner” trilogy has a similar, helpless and not really know what the heck is going on feeling as the preceding two novels of the series. Yet being unsure and running around just trying to figure things out fell a little flat in this book, and almost seemed redundant and like they were treading water for far too long, until a hasty (though reasonably good) showdown near the end. I am glad to have gotten to the end and to finally have at least some answers as to what the maze and everything was about, though a few things still seem to be up in the air… and I don’t know if I’m entirely satisfied. The first book of the trilogy ( The Maze Runner ) is very strong and interesting, and leaves you with so many questions that you just want answered. The second book ( The Scorch Trials ) were difficult for me to get through, and I found them tedious and not nearly as intriguing as the first novel, and even though it ended on a cliff-hanger, I f...

When I tell people that I am studying art therapy they often say things like: “so if I showed you one of my drawings you’d be able to tell me what’s wrong with me?” Um… no. That’s not how it works. Everyone approaches artwork from their own experiences with their own perspectives, and therefore often interpret pieces very differently from one another. Sometimes they aren’t even close to what the artist themselves intended. But whatever comes from the artist through their creative expression is an extension of the self, and can possibly provide some clues, cues, or ideas that may be further explored, but as guided by the client’s needs (and not hasty therapist interpretations which may end up being misleading). Yet there are some simple drawing tasks that have been developed that can act as basic assessment tests. Presented in this book are the Silver Drawing Test, which assesses cognitive and emotional development, and the Draw a Story assessment which may be used to predict dep...

In preparation for an upcoming course on issues of professional practice in art therapy, I read this book on postmodernism and art therapy, as edited by Helene Burt. The book itself is comprised of a number of different author’s contributions, who are practicing or researching art therapists themselves. The focus of the chapters vary, based on the practitioner’s area of personal research or practice. They include areas such as: language differences between clients and therapists, working with a diversity of culture in certain areas, feminist theory and art therapy, and working with transient youth populations. The one string that ties everything together, however, is the fact that the ideas presented all fall into what would be considered postmodernism ideas. The one problem I found, however, was that how each author understands postmodernism is not specifically defined by them. In a book that emphasizes individual differences and the individual experience, it would make sense f...

Oh Amelia Bedelia. She can either be seen as the most terrifying character ever due to the way she takes things so literally, or as a reminder that not everyone understands things in the same way, and sometimes we need to adjust or learn to communicate in new ways in order to facilitate different ways of thinking/people and how they are. In fact, at the end of the first Amelia Bedelia book, her employer Mr. Rogers makes a point of saying he will learn to say things in new ways for her to better understand and so that Amelia can keep working for him. Because what Amelia does well, she does VERY well, and it’s clear she is always just trying to please everyone as best as she can, even if she doesn’t always get what she’s doing or why. The 50 th anniversary library contains three Amelia Bedelia stories. The first is “Amelia Bedelia,” the original story written about the literal-minded housekeeper on her first day working for the Rogers. The collection also includes two of Peggy ...