artist talk this Thursday at Ps2

www.pssquared.org

Thursday, 18 November 2010, 6pm @PS²:
art and therapy-
talk and discussion with Dr Caryl Sibbett, Eleen McCourt, Lizzie Devlin, Beth Frazer.
> free

Art and therapy can be traced back at least to Aristotle and his theory of catharsis, the cleansing of the soul through a theatre play.
The same might be true for the visual arts, especially when it centres around self expression.
Art therapy as an academic and professional subject had its beginnings in post-war USA and is now widely established and practised.
Broadly described as a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of communication, art therapy finds its practical use in hospitals, prisons, social welfare institutions and in psychiatry.
Northern Ireland seemed to be slow in adapting art therapy and only in 2002, a three year course at Queen’s University was established, which subsequently created awareness and new posts in institutions and organisations employing methods of psychotherapy.
With the current project ‘Drawing on Illness’ as the backdrop, this talk by art therapists, artists and academics will highlight different aspects of art therapy, its theory, practice and study possibilities and employment specifically in Northern Ireland.