The Revealing Image

Schaverien painstakingly describes and defines "processes which have so far only been intuitively known to art therapists" (p6) by introducing and elaborating the psychoanalytical concepts of transference and countertransference in relation to the use of visual art objects. The authors stated intention in this book is "to attempt to bridge the perceived gap between the practice of art therapy and analytical forms of psychotherapy..."(p 229) The epistemological base of this venture includes the fields of philosophy, anthropology, and aesthetics, as well as psychoanalysis.

Schaverien suggests that analytical art psychotherapy is a way of working analytically with patients who are unsuitable, or unready, for psychotherapy, giving examples of psychotic and borderline patients, children, and patients in psychiatric settings.

This is primarily a book about an analytical approach within art therapy, which may be of interest in itself. The material also raises issues of intere