Projective drawings between the intersection of diagnosis & dialogics: The birth of a new allied domain - Part 2

When the two terms dialogics and diagnostics are brought together into the arena of Analytic Art Therapy (AAT), they constitute a new allied domain known as dialogic-diagnostic art therapy (DDAT), which is strictly speaking, not AT per se. To elaborate further, DDAT involves a combination of projective drawings done by a client during a dialogic session (counseling) and a follow-up analysis/evaluation of the drawings at four different levels A, B, C and D that constitute the Cognition-Conation-Affect-Sensation (CCAS) framework used in educational therapy. The specialty program of DDAT has since evolved to include new topics with case studies involving administration of different projective drawing measures (especially DaP, HTP and KFD). It has incorporated Gerard Egan’s (2002) Skilled Helper Model of eclectically based counseling to provide a structured and solution focused basis for counsellors and therapist. It is a three-stage model where each state consists of specific skills that a therapist uses to help a client move forwards. The counseling model has empowered counselors and therapists to increase their efficiency and structure their work in a more logical way, and so helping their clients in a more consistent manner and being less reliant upon their fluctuating ‘therapeutic inspiration’. Many of the DDAT graduates have done their own research, presented their DDAT practice at webinars, seminars and conferences, wrote and published articles on DDAT in social media, newsletters and journals.