The Therapeutic Process of Interactive Drawing Therapy.

Abstract

As clients move step-by-step through their psychological processes of addressing and adapting to significant conflicts or opportunities, their words, the images they use, and their behaviours can be seen to change in quite distinct and characteristic ways. These processes have a predictability that forms the basis for the Interactive Drawing Therapy (IDT) therapeutic schema. On the basis of therapist observations of client processes, seven primary stages of change have been mapped, each reflecting a shift in a client's condition and capabilities, each bringing a different set of therapeutic tasks for client and counsellor to attend to, and each requiring a different type of therapeutic alliance and way of working. This schema provides a new framework for recognising clients' conditions and for shaping stage-appropriate interventions. In addition, because it identifies stage-specific client attributes, it also has value as a research framework for investigating clients' experiences, processes, and mechanisms of therapeutic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)