
I’ve been devouring books lately…nothing quite like curling up in a blanket and diving into a good book when it’s freezing outside.
Over the past few years I’ve amassed a growing personal library of books that I couldn’t do without. I’ve received a few questions about which books I might recommend for someone who is interested in art therapy. Below is a starting list of books that I’ve found really informative, insightful, and inspirational. I’ve divided them into the categories of art therapy, mental illness, creativity & art, and spirituality.
Hope you enjoy!
Art Therapy
Approaches to Art Therapy: Theory & Technique, Judith Rubin
Handbook of Art Therapy, Cathy Malchiodi (a new edition is coming out soon!)
Creative Arts Therapies Approaches in Adoption and Foster Care: Contemporary Strategies for Working with Individuals and Families, Donna Betts
The Secret World of Drawings: A Jungian Approach to Healing Through Art,
Gregg Furth
Studio Art Therapy: Cultivating the Artist Identity in the Art Therapist, Catherine Hyland Moon
Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul, Shaun McNiff
Existential Art Therapy: The Canvas Mirror, Bruce Moon
The Artist as Therapist, Arthur Robbins
Art is a Way of Knowing, Pat Allen
Art Therapy for Groups, Marian Liebmann
Books on the Creative Process/Art
Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, David Bayles & Ted Orland
Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go, Shaun McNiff
The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
Books on Psychology and Psychotherapy
Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought, Stephen Mitchell & Margaret Black
Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow, Judith Viorst
Attachment in Psychotherapy, David Wallin
Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process, Nancy McWilliams
The Magic Years: Understanding and Handling the Problems of Early Childhood, Selma Fraiberg
Books on Mental Illness
The Buddha & The Borderline, Kiera Van Gelder
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness, Kay Redfield Jamison
Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, Kay Redfield Jamison
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, Joanne Greenberg
Books on Spirituality & Mindfulnes
The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, & Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Translucent Revolution: How People Just Like You Are Waking Up and Changing the World, Arjuna Ardagh
A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life, Jack Kornfield
Autobiography of a Yogi,
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Paramahansa Yogananda
The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield
The Bhagavad Gita, Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood
(there are many translation versions – I happen to like this one)
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
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