Selected Publications

Byers, J. and Forinash, M. (2004) Educators, Therapists, and Artists on Reflective Practice. New York: Peter Lang Pub.

Byers, J.G. (1996) Children of the stones: Art therapy interventions in the West Bank. Art Therapy. Vol 13(4), pp. 238-243.

Abstract: Reports on art therapy interventions with 4-15 yr old children, families, and mental health workers who were experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the military conflicts in the West Bank and Gaza. Using references to mental health literature regarding art therapy with individuals in war zones, the psychological effects of war and violence on children and their families are identified. The author describes art therapy in 6 mental health clinics. The artwork from participants in group workshops helped to open lines of communication among people enduring attempts at reconstruction and rehabilitation of their society. The article ends by describing follow-up plans to promote empathic dialogue among mental health workers in the different cultures. (Copyright 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)

Byers, J.G. (1991) Suicide as an abortive life stage of development. In Landgarten, Helen B. and Lubbers, Darcy et al. (Eds.) Adult art psychotherapy:Issues and applications. New York: Brunner/Mazel, Inc., pp. 21-48.

Abstract: (from the chapter) explores the relevance of adult developmental theories to the study of suicide through an examination of the image-making process /// the vignettes presented concern individuals facing life-stage transitions and/or developmental stagnation / their "image making" may be seen as an expression syntonic to a sense of identity and self, and also of an actual concretized "image of intent" expressed in the artwork /// stages of adult development [young adulthood, midlife, late adulthood] / suicide as action / art therapy /// portrays how the art therapy process taps into the symbolic meaning of the individual's suicide ideas, threats, or attempts (Copyright 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)