Abstract

This research seeks to answer the question: What is archetypal art therapy and how can it be applied in an art therapy context with adolescent clientele? An archetypal approach to art therapy is grounded in the theories of archetypal psychology, a post-Jungian school of thought founded by James Hillman. It approaches questions of psychology through imagination and the image. Three important ideas to practicing archetypal art therapy are the image’s structure and content, an imaginal approach, and metaphorical and poetic language. This research addresses the need for a recent, accessible survey of archetypal art therapy, and discusses how to utilize this approach with adolescent clientele. The findings of this paper can be applied to the creation of a new art therapy framework for working with adolescent clientele which addresses aspects of the soul and an understanding of experience that does not rely on development models or isolated pathologies.