Is there anyone out there developing art therapy software?

[June Gerteisen]

I am a professional web designer and web developer. I have worked as an art therapist and published an article in the last American Art Therapy Journal. I am interested in proposing to my employer that we develop an online Art Therapy software program for commercial use and I am seeking feedback and ideas. Anything going on in this area? How do you see this working? Aren't there any more current books out there than from Cathy M.?

[Sairalyn Ansano Thong, MA, ATR-BC]

As far as I know there are no more current books out there aside from Cathy Malchiodi's but I hear Penelope Or and Brian Austin are currently working on one.

I am currently working with a master's student whose is developing a flash based program to be used by art and music therapists in session (as well as individuals to be able to access it to create images at their leisure) as her thesis project. Once it goes live, I will let you know more about it. Until then I cannot.

[Kaia Niambi]

an online art therapy software?
how will it work?
what will it do?

[Sairalyn Ansano Thong, MA, ATR-BC]

The software I'm helping to develop will be a cross between Flying Colors, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator to be used in session with a therapist (preferably) or independently at home. The goal of this particular software is to give Flying Colors' ease of learning and speed of creation a more adult shell and the flexibility of Adobe's software so that clients of all ages and frustration levels can become engaged with the medium.

A survey will be posted within the next week to help the developer tweek the elements most important to therapists when it comes to working with digital art.

[Devorah Samet Canter]

An on-line interactive/ community drawing, painting, animation and sound software product would be interesting for group work.
There are many exciting drawing, animation and sound tools today, although the sophistication has limits in an hour setting for therapy and can as well be discouraging to first time students, adolescences or adults. Would love to see a prototype if someone has ideas. Group, networked, digital art therapy has some interesting possibilities.

Devorah Canter