powering aspect of materials in family therapy, where the family group might undertake a specific artistic project in the therapeutic setting and in the process reveal patterns of interaction as well as opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Miller's (1998) use of simple art materials and a structured mini-course in art history and Old Masters techniques for mentally ill outpatients reportedly enables them to improve their concentration and relaxation by focusing on the project of manipulating media, which in turn enables them to express feelings that would remain otherwise hidden. Art has long been understood as having the effect of opening up feelings and hidden thoughts. As Kenneth Clark (1969, p. 243) says in a comment about opera, "what is too subtle to be said, or too deeply felt, or too revealing or too mysterious--these things can also be sung and only be sung." The same process operates in the plastic arts as well. That is, the materials and their use may offer the practitioner a way in.
Media choice has become wide indeed in recent years
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