Trisha Crocker - Clay Work and Body Image in Art Therapy: Using Metaphor and Symbolism to Heal

Clay Work and Body Image in Art Therapyis an insightful synthesis of womens authentic expressions of body image experience and representation, with extensive theoretical integration and analysis. Trisha Crocker and Susan Carr present, through the art-based vignettes and the authors reflective writing, a lyrical and clinical account of new knowledge in this field, emerging through the clay work sculptures. The book works on a number of levels providing insight into the body image issues women face that echo and enrich our understanding, and how these issues can be passed down through the mother-daughter relationship. Offering new knowledge and a transparent process of analysis, this book is important reading for practicing therapists and students alike and sows the seed for further research in this important field.

Michal Bat-Or,Art therapist, lecturer and researcher at University of Haifa, Israel

This well-researched book draws on the most helpful and influential theories which have become integral to UK art therapy practice: embodiment of emotions, attachment theory and the impact of the socio-cultural context on mental health and in this case, body-image. It elegantly demonstrates how clay has specific attributes which support the exploration of these issues within art therapy. Above all, it is anchored in the authors extensive clinical experience and the stunning visual imagery makes it a much welcome publication which will be of interest to arts therapists, service users and artists in health.

Val Huet, PhD,Director of Research & Development, British Association of Art Therapists

Clay Work and Body Image in Art Therapyprovides 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.

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.

Using Metaphor and Symbolism to Heal

Trisha Crocker
Susan M.D. Carr

First published 2021
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2021 Trisha Crocker and Susan M.D. Carr

The right of Trisha Crocker and Susan M.D. Carr to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Crocker, Trisha, author.