December 29, 2002

               Neela Sakaria: Please tell us about the title of your book. What does "art@tudes"
                  mean?

               Sharon Heath: An art@tude is about mastering attitudes using art processes to accept
                  oneself and learn the difference between responding and reacting to life's situations.

™ (art’ at tude), n. pl. ™     1.  A personal awareness of approaches and attitudes towards life through art experiences     2.  The personal ability to control and adjust an attitude with regards to a situation, event or person     3.  An internal emotions thermostat which regulates reactions and responses in life     4.  A visual language of profound personal insights which integrates the ego and heart     5.  Creative thinking skills for the transformation of life challenges into workable solutions     6. The ability to recognize and release limiting fears and gain a new perspective     7.  To see the big picture through creatively stepping out of the opinionated box      8.  Being the artisan of one’s soul

               SH: I have been an art therapist since 1990 and have been fortunate to utilize my skills in an
                  array of settings to include inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care, drug rehab, public
                  school systems, university courses, workshops, conferences, consultation services, individual
                  and group therapy in a private practice setting. Art therapy is a graduate level human service
                  profession which combines the traditional theories of counseling with visual art. An art
                  therapist acts as a guide for the client in both art making and verbal processing. Art therapy
                  strives to promote new levels of perceptual organization that involves shifts in energy
                  patterns. Art therapy is nationally recognized through the American Art Therapy Association
                  and regulated by the Art Therapy Credentialing Board.

                  There are two schools of thought in art therapy, art as process and art as product. In art as
                  process the primary emphasis is not on art but rather the insights gained through the client's
                  verbal associations and interpretation of their art work. The images produced are seen as a
                  communication tool between therapist and client which constitutes a symbolic form of
                  speech. The art is used as an enhancement to traditional verbal therapy.

                  In art as product, the process of art making is viewed as therapeutic. Internal conflicts can
                  be experienced and re-experienced through art making and resolution and integration of
                  internal conflicts are achieved by the art making and finished product.

                  In non-directive art therapy, the art therapist offers a wide selection of material and allows
                  the client to chose the theme. In directive art therapy, a specific media and theme is chosen
                  by the art therapist. Either way, clients engage in direct interaction with art materials and
                  discover alternative choices are possible, decisions have direct results, mistakes can be a
                  source for learning and fresh attempts can be developed to resolve problems. Non-verbal
                  means for communication are also be developed as clients express conscious and unconscious
                  thoughts and feelings. The art therapist helps the client to consider use of space, size,
                  symbols, representation of self and with others, color intensity, lack of color, organization of
                  the art, abstract vs. representational themes, appropriateness of subject matter, mood and
                  choice of art medium when reviewing the art. The client learns to translate their own visual
                  dialogue.

                  I initially was a public school art teacher and learned about the field through an
                  advertisement for art therapy coursework through School Arts magazine. I attended an art
                  therapy conference sponsored by the Art Therapy Association of Oklahoma and knew then
                  that art therapy was the field I had been looking for. I enrolled in a graduate program and
                  took the necessary coursework, post graduate hours, practicum, internship and supervision to
                  become a ATR (Registered Art Therapist). I then became board certified (ATR-BC) in 1995.

               NS: You write about the idea that people will go to greater lengths to avoid pain
                  that to gain pleasure. What do you mean by that, and why is that the case?

               SH: If you think about it history has a way of repeating itself and often it is not in a
                  pleasurable way. Wanting to avoid pain over seeking pleasure is based on unresolved internal
                  conflicts and lack of acceptance of past experiences and the need for control in current
                  situations which somehow simulate the past. It is immersed in negative emotions and people
                  will do anything to avoid the associated pain. It is ego based and internally driven by fear.
                  Generally, the fears are illusions determined by the "what if?" questions. Avoiding pain is
                  about staying inside the confines of rigid beliefs and thinking that stepping out of the
                  confines of these beliefs is a dangerous risk. Over time people adapt their way of life and self
                  to compensate for the avoidance of pain.