Understanding Children's Drawings

This practical resource demonstrates how all clinicians can broaden an d enhance their work with children by integrating drawing into therapy . The book enables therapists to address the multidimensional aspects of children's art without resorting to simplistic explanations. Approa ching drawing as a springboard for communication and change, Malchiodi offers a wealth of guidelines for understanding the intricate message s embedded in children's drawings and in the artmaking process itself. Topics covered include how to assist children in making art, what que stions to ask and when, and how to motivate children who are initially resistant to drawing. Assimilating extensive research and clinical ex perience, the book includes over 100 examples of children's work.

Cathy A. Malchiodi, MA, ATR, LPAT, LPCC, is Director of the Institute for the Arts & Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Editor of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. She has authored or coauthored three previous books and has published and lectured widely on topics including the use of art therapy with trauma, child physical and sexual abuse, and medical problems.