The Psychology of Art: Madness, Creativity and Healing

Module Rationale
This module will provide both theoretical and experiential elements designed to provide students with an introduction to Art Psychotherapy with a particular emphasis on a Jungian approach. Theory will include a broad outline of the psychology of C.G Jung including areas such as the structure of the unconscious, symbols as the language of the unconscious, the archetypes and the collective unconscious and active imagination. These ideas will also be used for exploring elements of Art Theory especially in respect to the psychopathology of art.

Other psychoanalytical ideas relating to art, and especially those from Sigmund Freud such as Sublimation will also be explored and exemplified through a study of his seminal analysis of Leonardo Da Vinci. This will include a visit to the National Gallery in London to view some of paintings and drawings referred to by Freud. A visit to the Freud Museum will also be included providing students with the opportunity to see where Freud conducted ‘the talking cure’ of psychoanalysis and his famous couch. We will also explore how the developments of contemporaneous art movements, at the time that Freud and Jung were still developing their theories, notably Dada and Surrealism were influences by psychoanalysis – the visit to Tate Modern will include viewing the Surrealism and Dada collection. Further, we will explore how the massive global upheavals during the 20th century such as the First World War influenced the development of psychoanalysis and how art movements such as Dada can be seen as a reaction to this.

This module will also provide extensive Experiential Workshops that will provide students with the opportunity to make their own art and to explore how it might be analysed and understood through a psychoanalytic perspective. Ideas from both Freud and Jung will be introduced but there will be a greater emphasis on using Jungian ideas in respect to both the art making process and how it might provide an opportunity for unconscious expression. There will be an opportunity to focus on Jungian Archetypes such as the ‘Trickster’, the ‘Shadow’ and ‘Anima & Animus’. Accordingly students should be prepared for a certain amount of personal disclosure in these workshops. Emphasis on the boundaries considered important in all forms of psychotherapy, such as confidentiality will be stressed. All art materials will be supplied and students will be able to take their creations with them on completing the course.

Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing this module will be able to:

• Understand basic psychoanalytical concepts.
• Understand ideas concerning the collective unconscious and the archetypes and how these developed and evolved out of Freud’s initial formulations.
• Learn how Art and Psychotherapy might be related.
• Understand ideas from Developmental Psychology that inform the understanding of creativity and how these might be applied in Art Psychotherapy.
• Understand how Art and Psychotherapy might be applied to a wide range of client groups including children and adults, clients diagnosed with specific psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and depression, and those suffering from developmental disorders such as autism.
• Understand how psychoanalysis informs our understanding of the creative process, the psychopathology of art and the relationships between creativity, madness and genius.
• Understand the pivotal influence that Sigmund Freud had on the development of Psychoanalysis in the UK following his move to London in 1938.

This module is designed to provide an initial introduction to the history of the Unconscious and Art and is designed to meet the needs of individuals serving a variety of purposes. For some, completing the course might be in preparation for making an application for a place on a qualifying programme, for example.

Assessment

Students will keep a Reflective Log of their experiences while on the course and will submit a 2.000 word essay summarizing their main learning points towards completion. The Reflective Log itself is not assessed for a variety of reasons but primarily because students will be encouraged to keep a record of their personal psychological journey, including photographs of images they have made in the experiential workshops. As such the Log itself will be a highly personal manuscript. Successful completion of the course requires a minimum attendance of 80% and a satisfactory final essay.

Indicative Bibliography 

Adamson, E. (1984) Art as Healing London: Coventure Press

Arnheim, R. (1966) Toward a Psychology of Art: Collected Essays California: University of California Press

Case, C. and Dalley, T. (1992) The handbook of Art Therapy London: Routledge

Dalley, T. (ed.) (1984) Art as Therapy London: Tavistock

Estes, C. (2008) Women who run with the wolves: contacting the power of the wild Woman (classic edition), Rider and Co

Fordham, M. (1978) Jungian Psychotherapy, A study in analytical psychology, London, Maresfield Library Karnac

Freud, S. (1957) Leonardo Da Vinci A Memory of his Childhood. Ark Paperbacks, London.

Jaffé, A. (1971) From the Life and Work of C.G. Jung, New York, Harper Collins

Jacobi, J (1999) Complex, archetype/ Symbol in the psychology of C.G. Jung, Princeton University Press, USA

Jung, C.G. (1964) Man and his symbols, London: Aldus

Jung, C.G. (1990) The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (2nd Edition), Routledge, London

Milne, M. (1971) On Not Being Able to Paint London: Heinmann

Schavieren, J. (1991) The Revealing Image London: Routledge, reprinted in 1999 by Jessica Kingsley

Segal, H. (1957) Notes on Symbol Formation in The works of Hanna Segal: Delusion and Artistic Creativity and Other psychoanalytic Essays, Free Association Press. London

Winnicott, D. (1971) Playing and Reality. Penguin Books. Harmondsworth