The examination of literature and art has been one of psychotherapy's most powerful ways of explicating its theories and disseminating its concepts. In this study, I have explored various concepts of family psychotherapy by applying them to three works of imaginative literature, and one work of sculpture: Luigi Pirandello's play, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Franz Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis, Robinson Jeffers' poem, "The Purse-Seine," and the ancient Roman sculpture, the Laocoon. / Ph. D.

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Much has been written about the effectiveness of speculative fiction, especially utopian works. In this thesis I will examine the source of fear in Margaret Artwood’s works The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake using Sigmund Freud’s “The Uncanny” to illustrate the terror of doubles as they appear in the novels. The terror in The Handmaid’s Tale comes from the descriptions of distorted physical environments, while the horror in Oryx and Crake emanates from the familiar yet twisted animals and characters found inside the corporate compounds. Through the recognition of these doubles as uncanny, Atwood’s work moves readers to cognition and social action. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

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This thesis explores art therapy with patients experiencing psychosis who also identify as ‘artists’, and arose from encounters in a psychiatric setting. It is argued that these patients struggle with art therapy in a way that is different from other non-artist patients and they may appear to have difficulties relating to the emergence of emotional aspects in their own or others’ artwork. This poses a potential problem for the art therapist who hopes to evoke insight for the patient, based on their artwork as self-expression. This dilemma and the countertransference phenomena specific to this problem are, with one exception, unacknowledged in art therapy literature. This thesis reviews art therapy literature to explore possible defence mechanisms as used by patients experiencing psychosis who identify as artists in art therapy. Four case studies of artist patients who undertook art therapy with the author are then presented. The psychological issues contributing to the artists’ experience and the issues facing the art therapist are investigated. This is complemented by comments made by other art therapists from a questionnaire based on this area of enquiry. Finally the thesis addresses the topic with reference to art therapy practice providing strategies to work with patients experiencing psychosis who also identify as artists. The case studies revealed that patients were more receptive to using art to express emotions when art therapy was experienced as containing and the research found that art therapy was generally supportive for artists when their defences were viewed as appropriate coping strategies. / Master of Arts (Hons)

In psychoanalytic literature, psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott defines 'potential space' as the space between 'inner world' - creation of the unconscious fantasy, a private replica of the world and objects around us - and 'outer world' - the actual world, objects and people around us - where intimate relationships and creativity occur. Converged around spatial design and psychological concepts, and developing an understanding of the importance between both, I intend to explore the possibility of bringing the 'potential space' notion into the constructed environment. Highlighting, thus, the human condition of architecture where the designer is not a separate entity from the built environment but an intimate part of it through the design process. This investigation concerns how a psychoanalytic approach can be used to establish a background research which provides a foundation from which new ways of understanding one's own design processes can be launched: a way of moving towards the design practice through a 'self' inner sense.