Even before the publication of their first article on the subject in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Wilkinson and Chilton (2013) were the faces of positive art therapy – associated with the teaching, supervision, and promotion of positive psychology in the field of art therapy. The first published reference to their work on the integration of art therapy and positive psychology is from 2009 (Chilton & Wilkinson, 2009), and their more than 10 years of expertise is keenly demonstrated in this well-conceptualized, thoroughly researched, and engagingly written book. The writing is particularly engaging because the authors’ personal and professional reactions to the theory of positive psychology and the practice of positive art therapy inform each chapter; these personal reflections bring the information to life. The book also is enlivened by 19 color illustrations of client artwork, and the authors’ own images are included to exemplify positive art therapy principles and techniques. Personally revealing writing can be difficult to master, being seen by some as too informal, but Wilkinson and Chilton use the style effectively to draw the reader in and to emphasize the depth of their knowledge about positive psychology, art therapy, and the many ways that the two fields overlap. The first four chapters showcase the authors’ knowledge of the history and current practice of art therapy, positive psychology, and the literature on wellbeing and happiness. In the latter chapter, they show their awareness and effectively address criticisms of the positive psychology approach. Wilkinson and Chilton explain that positive psychology is part of a fourth force transcending many health fields that focuses on client strengths and virtues, rather than on pathology. They explain that positive psychology was purposefully founded by Martin Seligman and his colleagues who wanted to reduce the usual focus in psychology on fixing what is wrong with people and to emphasize instead building what is strong with them. Wilkinson and Chilton use Seligman’s concept of PERMA (Seligman, 2011) to create a foundation for the merging of information on positive psychology and art therapy. The acronym PERMA stands for Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment, the elements of wellbeing that have been researched and demonstrated to contribute significantly to optimal health. The authors reveal in chapters on creativity, flow, emotion regulation, relationships, meaning, meaning and perspective, and accomplishment how the philosophy of positive art therapy can enrich the work of practitioners from any theoretical background, working with clients of all types and ages, in numerous settings. The authors offer examples of directives that showcase a positive philosophy but the focus in on understanding the theory rather than learning a set of techniques. Positive Art Therapy Theory and Practice is divided into 13 chapters, each of which ends with a list of discussion questions, making it well suited for use as a textbook in a semester-long graduate class in positive art therapy. However, this is much more than a textbook. It is a comprehensive exploration of the ways that a positive approach to art therapy can enrich the personal and professional lives of practitioners from every theoretical orientation and stage of career. The book is supplemented with a glossary of terms, and three other appendices containing positive art therapy directives, a list of strengths, and a list of values. In addition, it contains an “interlude” which is a “Positive Art Therapy Manifesto” that not only defines and describes positive art therapy and what it gains from positive psychology, but equally focuses on what art therapy can add to the field of positive psychology. This point perfectly illustrates a strengths-based approach to positive art therapy: Art therapy does not merely fit in well with positive psychology, but uniquely augments it. The authors explain that positive psychology values creativity and the creative arts therapies for their contributions to wellbeing and optimal health. The chapters on creativity and flow contain comprehensive examinations of the benefits of these states relative to art therapy, as well as detailed explorations of the circumstances conducive to them. The authors’ ability to seamlessly describe the integration of positive psychology and art therapy shines in these chapters describing creativity and flow, and also in the chapters on emotion regulation, relationships, meaning, perspective, and accomplishment. Wilkinson and Chilton point out multiple instances where art therapy has always had a positive disposition. Art therapy allows for the development of positive emotions such as satisfaction, pride, and self-confidence; it creates avenues for emotional expression and regulation.

中文翻译：

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《积极艺术治疗理论与实践：积极心理学与艺术治疗相结合》述评

甚至在《艺术​​治疗：美国艺术治疗协会杂志》发表他们关于该主题的第一篇文章之前，威尔金森和奇尔顿 (2013) 就是积极艺术治疗的面孔——与积极心理学的教学、监督和促进有关艺术治疗领域。他们在艺术治疗和积极心理学整合方面的工作首次发表参考文献是从 2009 年开始的 (Chilton & Wilkinson, 2009)，他们 10 多年的专业知识在这本概念化、深入研究和引人入胜的著作中得到了敏锐的展示书。写作特别引人入胜，因为作者对积极心理学理论和积极艺术治疗实践的个人和专业反应为每一章提供了信息；这些个人反映使信息栩栩如生。这本书还通过 19 幅客户艺术作品的彩色插图生动活泼，其中包括作者自己的图像，以举例说明积极的艺术治疗原则和技术。个人揭示写作可能难以掌握，被一些人视为过于非正式，但威尔金森和奇尔顿有效地利用这种风格来吸引读者，并强调他们对积极心理学、艺术疗法以及许多方法的知识深度两个领域重叠。前四章展示了作者对艺术治疗、积极心理学以及有关幸福和幸福的文献的历史和当前实践的知识。在后一章中，他们展示了他们的意识并有效地解决了对积极心理学方法的批评。威尔金森和奇尔顿解释说，积极心理学是超越许多健康领域的第四股力量的一部分，这些力量侧重于客户的优势和美德，而不是病理学。他们解释说，积极心理学是 Martin Seligman 和他的同事有目的地创立的，他们希望减少心理学中通常对解决人们问题的关注，而是强调建立他们强大的东西。威尔金森和奇尔顿使用塞利格曼的 PERMA 概念（塞利格曼，2011 年）为合并积极心理学和艺术治疗的信息奠定了基础。首字母缩写词 PERMA 代表积极情绪、参与、关系、意义和成就，这些幸福元素已被研究并证明对最佳健康有重大贡献。作者在关于创造力、流动、情绪调节、关系、意义、意义和视角以及成就的章节中揭示了积极艺术治疗的哲学如何丰富来自任何理论背景的从业者的工作，与所有类型和年龄的客户合作，在众多设置中。作者提供了展示积极哲学的指令示例，但重点是理解理论而不是学习一套技术。积极艺术治疗理论与实践分为 13 章，每一章都以一系列讨论问题结束，使其非常适合作为一学期积极艺术治疗研究生班的教科书。然而，这不仅仅是一本教科书。它全面探索了积极的艺术治疗方法可以从各个理论方向和职业阶段丰富从业者的个人和职业生活的方式。本书补充有术语表和其他三个附录，其中包含积极的艺术治疗指导、优势列表和价值观列表。此外，它还包含一个“插曲”，即“积极艺术疗法宣言”，它不仅定义和描述了积极艺术疗法及其从积极心理学中获得的收益，而且同样关注艺术疗法可以为积极心理学领域增添什么. 这一点完美地说明了一种基于优势的积极艺术疗法方法：艺术疗法不仅适合积极心理学，而且独特地增强了它。作者解释说，积极心理学重视创造力和创造性艺术疗法，因为它们对幸福和最佳健康的贡献。关于创造力和心流的章节包含对这些状态相对于艺术治疗的好处的全面检查，以及对有利于它们的环境的详细探索。作者无缝描述积极心理学和艺术治疗整合的能力在这些描述创造力和流动的章节中以及关于情绪调节、关系、意义、观点和成就的章节中都大放异彩。威尔金森和奇尔顿指出了艺术治疗一直具有积极倾向的多个例子。艺术疗法可以培养积极的情绪，如满足、自豪和自信；