Self Psychology & Object Relations Applied to Expressive Arts Therapy

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This advanced workshop is based on the theories of H. Kohut, D. Stern and C. Bollas – three of the leading theoretician in Self Psychology.

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Relying on D. Winnicott and M. Klein, these contemporary theories enable us understand how human beings develop emotions, dependency, friendships, hostility and many other human relationships and feelings.

In Clinical Expressive Arts Therapy, the creating of an "Artistic Product" is done in a "Triple Psychodynamic Space": (1) The Client- artist, (2) The Participant Observer -Therapist and (3) the Artistic Product. Expressive Arts therapy is mostly a pre-verbal experience which regresses the client into non-verbal memories in early childhood. Therefore Clinical Expressive Arts Therapy, in Self Psychological terms, creates a domain for the reconstruction of the Self. This experiential workshop deepens our understandings of the psychodynamic process held in Expressive Arts Therapy in terms of Object relations and Self cohesiveness.