Attachment theory and art therapy : indications of attachment in the art therapy of two children with disruptive behavior disorders

Linking art therapy to attachment theory, this paper hypothesizes that children reenact, and have the opportunity to repair, their attachment styles in art therapy through the art materials and their artistic process. Children's art in art therapy provides tangible indicators of their attachment styles. The focus is on two insecure ways of attaching, which are the avoidant and resistant/ambivalent attachment styles. Establishing a secure base in art therapy is explored; the therapist does this through the art materials and how he/she responds to the client. Providing a secure base enables the art therapist to help children repair insecure attachment styles. Certain art materials and/or activities are described as indicating attachment because they have qualities that symbolically relate to attaching and detaching, which are attachment behaviors. These behaviors are explored through the acts of taping, gluing, tying, stapling, and cutting. The paper finishes by drawing conclusions regarding which art activities seem to relate to the children's hypothesized attachment styles