Aesthetic Counseling
Aesthetic Counseling
aesthetic - adjective
aes·​thet·​ic | \ es-ˈthe-tik , is-, British usually ēs- \
1. concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty.
"The patient's aesthetic was one the therapist could not help, but to admire."
Thus, art, whether in therapy or a concert hall, requires both left and right brain mentation.
This reminds us, first of all, that art always includes technique. One can never play music unless some form of technique has been previously assimilated. Any attempt to be in the context of art without having learned sufficient technique can only lead to free-associative muddle.
In therapy, "experiential approaches" are sometimes interpreted to mean a gushing out of unconscious process.
This is not art.
At the same time, an emphasis on technique without out regard for the more encompassing aesthetic patterns leads to a mechanical, sterile performance. Such is the case with "strategic approaches" which may ignore any aesthetic base and focus on a purposeful, chess-like punctuation of therapy gamesmanship.
This is also not art.
[Aesthetic Counseling] emerges when head and heart become parts of a cybernetic system capable of ecological self-correction.
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