The emergence of the ‘Interactive Square’ as an approach to art therapy with children on the autistic spectrum

This paper remodels Schaverien's (2000) 'triangle of art therapy' into the concept of the 'Interactive Square'. The concept embodies an intersubjective, phenomenological approach to art therapy. It introduces a fourth element to Schaverien's equation of the art therapy dynamic, that of the therapist's artwork produced within the therapy session creating visual, non-verbal dialogue between the therapist and client. The concept and approach emerged whilst working with children diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. Beyond conceptualising a particular approach, the Interactive Square became the means of formatting the art therapy case study into a practical, predominantly visual, form according to identified interactive components. Keywords: Art therapyintersubjectivephenomenologycase studychildautismmethodology Acknowledgements Research for this article was conducted by Anita Bragge and Patricia Fenner whilst the first author was on placement at a government 'special school' in Australia. It provided the substance for a final thesis in the Master of Art Therapy degree at La Trobe University (Bragge, Citation2005), under the supervision of the second author. Dr Carl Parsons, at the placement site, supervised the research in terms of participant selection, ethics and the validation of research methods.