Skov Vibeke - Integrative Art Therapy and Depression

Integrative Art Therapy and Depression

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Integrative Art Therapy and Depression

A Transformative Approach

Vibeke Skov

Foreword by Arthur Robbins

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in 2015

by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright Vibeke Skov 2015

Foreword copyright Arthur Robbins 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84905 577 2

eISBN 978 1 78450 020 7

Contents

Tables

Figures

Figure 9.11 Masculine and feminine in clay

Colour Plate

Foreword

A kaleidoscopic vision of Vibeke Skovs enchanted castle floats into consciousness. Each summer I became a visiting workshop leader in her training program. Memories of my first year are particularly clear in my vision. This enchanted castle holds the mystery and enticement of a fresh and different perspective to training. In approaching the castle, I hear the drumbeats of 50 students playing as one on their Djembes. I cross the moat and enter the castle and discover enormous space and possibilities for artistic expression. Outside, lean-tos are dotted around the campus and invite the students to paint at their leisure. Inside the castle, art and sculpture pour out from every corner of each room. The atmosphere becomes charged with energy as an aesthetic excitement literally takes hold over the landscape. Students spend all night painting. In the morning they share their dreams in a community meeting and participate in meditative exercises. In this setting, Vibeke Skovs persona literally comes to life. The students are low in terms of professional experience, but high in their ability to be open and in willingness to learn. This landscape describes Vibeke Skov: powerful, dramatic, aesthetic, brimming with metaphors and symbolism that inundate her very being.

During the day, I offer seminars in diagnosis and conflict theory, as well as the work of transference and countertransference investigation. These forces are highlighted in the students artwork, and serve as an opening for a lively discussion. I am impressed as to how much risk-taking occurs and the vulnerability each art therapist exposes. Next door, I can hear Vibeke starting a new medium, glass making, with its complex colors and lights sparkling and emanating throughout the studio. In the confluence of creation, light and aesthetics, a deep spiritual energy epitomizes the entire setting.

In this text, Vibeke presents research in the area of depression and the important avenues that art opens up in the treatment of this very complex problem. Depression is but a description of the outside package of a psychic phenomenon. Inside, the range is extensive. We can view very early depression stemming from a motherchild deprivation. We also can observe issues of depression of a psychic soul trapped in the symbiosis, being unable to individuate. In addition, there are those who struggle with omnipotent helplessness that tie them up in depression and despair. These are a few examples of the different levels of depression. Vibeke, in the study, chooses to work with mild to moderately depressed individuals and employs art as a bridge between the verbal and nonverbal. We can observe how art in and of itself can become a healing agent. We also observe how art creates a bridge between different levels of consciousness. Most importantly, artwork becomes the start of transitional space flowing from inside to the outside of the patients world. We observe the inevitable play of transference and countertransference and intrapsychic and interpersonal conflicts.

In this brilliant and depth-oriented exposition of the treatment of depression, she offers guidelines and landmarks that demonstrate how art can be used as both a healing agent and a bridge to communication. She wisely emphasizes the intrapsychic structure within a patient, as well as the complexities of the therapeutic relationship. We also see how the self struggles for release from an imprisonment of shame and guilt.

Upon reading this text, the reader embarks on a journey that witnesses a master therapist at work. She is a pioneer in her profession throughout Denmark, and now has the opportunity to share her original thinking with mental health professionals outside the country. Vibeke Skov recognizes herself as a Jungian, though the scope of her work goes far beyond any one framework. She incorporates the biological and psychological, as well as the social and spiritual domains of existence. The reader can also discern an acute awareness of transformative learning and change. This text makes an important contribution to the field of art therapy and becomes a major landmark in the field of mental health literature.

Arthur Robbins, PhD
New York, 2014

Acknowledgments

I would like to give some special thanks to those who have contributed or supported me during the process of writing this book.