Barry Marc Cohen

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Barry Marc Cohen (born November 1954) is an American art therapist, scholar, event producer, and art collector. He is known for his contribution to the theory and practice of art therapy, both in originating and researching a new assessment technique (the Diagnostic Drawing Series) and in understanding the art of people diagnosed with dissociative disorders. These endeavors have garnered him awards from the American Art Therapy Association and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

Contents

Scholar

In 1991, Cohen co-authored Multiple Personality Disorder From the Inside Out, personal accounts of what it means to live with the disorder written by people with the diagnosis. [1] Cohen and his co-authors Esther Giller and Lynn W. were given the Distinguished Service Award by the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation (now, the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation) in 1991 for creating a widely read book for the general audience on a misunderstood disorder.

The Diagnostic Drawing Series

The Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) was developed by Barry Cohen and art therapy colleagues [2] (Cohen, Hammer, & Singer, 1988). In 1983, Cohen and his colleagues Shira Singer and Anna Reyner were awarded the annual Research Award of the American Art Therapy Association in recognition of the multi-site research design of the DDS. [3] As an assessment tool, the DDS significantly differs from traditional methods of art-based interpretations that have dominated in previous decades (Cohen, Hammer, & Singer, 1988). The development of the DDS has purposefully shifted away from interpretive, subjective approaches in hopes of creating a more empirically-based assessment and research tool. In doing so, Cohen and colleagues have demonstrated a relationship between art elements and psychiatric diagnoses. [4] Cohen is the Director of the DDS Project, an international network of mental health professionals who use the Diagnostic Drawing Series clinically and in research. More than 65 studies related to the Diagnostic Drawing Series have been completed, and many are widely cited in peer-reviewed journals. Studies often address the graphic profiles of groups of subjects diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders—that is, how this group tends to draw which distinguishes them from all other groups. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Cohen established the Diagnostic Drawing Series Archive near Washington, DC as a resource for researchers. [10]

Art therapist, conference producer, executive director

As a teenaged artist, Cohen was mentored by Charles "Li" Hidley, [11] an expressionist painter who trained in New York and Mexico City. Cohen received a masters degree in art therapy at the University of Louisville in 1979, where his primary influence was pioneer gestalt art therapist Janie Rhyne.

In 1989, Cohen founded the Eastern Regional Conference on Trauma (also known as the Eastern Regional Conference on Abuse and Multiple Personality and the Eastern Regional Conference on Abuse, Trauma, and Dissociation), which he chaired and managed in Virginia for its seven-year duration. Two inpatient psychiatric units for the treatment of survivors of trauma, particularly those who were highly dissociative, were co-founded by Cohen and his partners. [12] In 1995, he co-authored Telling Without Talking: Art as a Window into the World of Multiple Personality Disorder with Carol T. Cox, [13] and the workbook Managing Traumatic Stress Through Art: Drawing from The Center with Mary Barnes and Anita Rankin. [14]

From 2008 through 2021, Barry M. Cohen served as the Executive Director of Expressive Media Inc., a non-profit organization established by Judith A. Rubin and Eleanor C. Irwin dedicated to producing and distributing training films and videos on the expressive arts therapies. In 2010, he convened the annual Expressive Therapies Summit in New York City as a training opportunity for expressive therapists and other mental health professionals, which also functions to promote the educational efforts of Expressive Media Inc. In 2013, with Eliana Gil, he co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Play Therapy Training Institute, an annual conference promoting the integration of the expressive arts with play therapy, held just outside of Washington, DC. In 2017, with Ping Ho, Founder/Director of UCLArts & Healing, he launched and co-chaired the annual Expressive Therapies Summit:LA. After moving the Summits online in November 2020, a monthly training format was added, Singular Sessions from the Summit. As of 2022, Cohen continues his work as Executive Director of the Expressive Therapies Summits.

Art and antiques

As an art collector, Cohen has loaned artworks to museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (1987), the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk Art (1990), The Athenaeum in Alexandria, VA (1991), the Kentucky Folk Life Museum (1995), and the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia (1996). Works from his collection, including those by Red Grooms, Justin McCarthy, Harold Geesaman, Caroline Goe, and Thornton Dial have been published in art catalogues and books. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

As an entrepreneur, Cohen created, produced, and promoted antiques fairs from 1994-2008, including: the York Tailgate Antiques Show/York County Classic Antiques Show (York, PA), [20] [21] the Center City Antiques Show (Philadelphia, PA), [22] Antiques Manhattan (New York, NY), [23] and the Historic Indian & World Tribal Arts show (Santa Fe, NM). [24] [25]

Books

Selected papers and reports

Selected interviews

Selected art exhibitions

Related Research Articles

Dissociative identity disorder (DID), also known as multiple personality disorder, split personality disorder or dissociative personality disorder, is a member of the family of dissociative disorders classified by the DSM-5, DSM-5-TR, ICD-10, ICD-11, and Merck Manual for diagnosis. It remains a controversial diagnosis.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a person's life or well-being. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in the way a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response. These symptoms last for more than a month after the event. Young children are less likely to show distress, but instead may express their memories through play. A person with PTSD is at a higher risk of suicide and intentional self-harm.

In psychology, false memory syndrome (FMS) is a proposed condition in which a person's identity and relationships are affected by what are believed to be false memories of psychological trauma, recollections which are strongly believed but factually contested by the accused. Peter J. Freyd originated the term partly to explain what he said was a false accusation of sexual abuse made against him by his daughter Jennifer Freyd and his False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) subsequently popularized the concept. The principle that individuals can hold false memories and the role that outside influence can play in their formation is widely accepted by scientists, but there is debate over whether this effect can lead to the kinds of detailed memories of repeated sexual abuse and significant personality changes typical of cases that FMS has historically been applied to. However FMS has not been recognized as a psychiatric illness in any medical manuals including the ICD-10, ICD-11, or the DSM-5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dialectical behavior therapy</span> Psychotherapy for emotional dysregulation

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that began with efforts to treat personality disorders and interpersonal conflicts. Evidence suggests that DBT can be useful in treating mood disorders and suicidal ideation as well as for changing behavioral patterns such as self-harm and substance use. DBT evolved into a process in which the therapist and client work with acceptance and change-oriented strategies and ultimately balance and synthesize them—comparable to the philosophical dialectical process of thesis and antithesis, followed by synthesis.

Dissociation is a concept that has been developed over time and which concerns a wide array of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from the immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a false perception of reality as in psychosis.

Psychological trauma is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences, with extreme examples being violence, rape, or a terrorist attack. The event must be understood by the affected person as directly threatening the affected person or their loved ones with death, severe bodily injury, or sexual violence; indirect exposure, such as from watching television news, may be extremely distressing and can produce an involuntary and possibly overwhelming physiological stress response, but does not produce trauma per se.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy that is controversial within the psychological community. It was devised by Francine Shapiro in 1987 and originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The expressive therapies are the use of the creative arts as a form of therapy, including the distinct disciplines expressive arts therapy and the creative arts therapies. The expressive therapies are based on the assumption that people can heal through the various forms of creative expression. Expressive therapists share the belief that through creative expression and the tapping of the imagination, people can examine their body, feelings, emotions, and thought process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art therapy</span> Creation of art to improve mental health

Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art therapy encourages creative expression through painting, drawing, or modelling. It may work by providing a person with a safe space to express their feelings and allow them to feel more in control over their life.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a form of alternative therapy aimed at treating trauma and stress-related disorders, such as PTSD. The primary goal of SE is to modify the trauma-related stress response through bottom-up processing. The client's attention is directed toward internal sensations,, rather than to cognitive or emotional experiences. The method was developed by Peter A. Levine.

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Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is a stress-related mental disorder generally occurring in response to complex traumas, i.e., commonly prolonged or repetitive exposures to a series of traumatic events, within which individuals perceive little or no chance to escape.

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References

  1. ↑ Cohen, B. & Giller, E. W. L. (1991). Multiple personality disorder from the inside out. Lutherville, MD: The Sidran Press. p. 245. ISBN   0-9629164-0-4.
  2. ↑ Cohen, Barry M.; Hammer, J.; Singer, S. (1988). "The Diagnostic Drawing Series: A systematic approach to art therapy evaluation and research". The Arts in Psychotherapy. 15 (1): 11–21. doi:10.1016/0197-4556(88)90048-2.
  3. ↑ "Evaluation Tools". American Art Therapy Association. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ Mills, A. (2003). "The Diagnostic Drawing Series". In Malchiodi, C. A. (ed.). Handbook of Art Therapy (1st ed.). New York: Guilford. pp. 401–409. ISBN   1-57230-809-5.
  5. ↑ Mills, A. (1989). A statistical study of the formal aspects of the Diagnostic Drawing Series of Borderline Personality disordered patients, and its context in contemporary art therapy. Concordia University.
  6. ↑ Yahnke, L. (2000). Diagnostic Drawing Series as an assessment for children who have witnessed marital violence. Minnesota School of Professional Psychology.
  7. ↑ Fowler, Jon P; Ardon, Angelique M (2001). "Diagnostic Drawing Series and dissociative disorders: A Dutch study". The Arts in Psychotherapy. 29 (4): 221–230. doi:10.1016/S0197-4556(02)00171-5.
  8. ↑ Johnson, K. M. (2004). The use of the Diagnostic Drawing Series in the Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Seattle Pacific University.
  9. ↑ Morf, M. (2007). The use of the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) as an Assessment for College Students. Springfield College.
  10. ↑ Brooke, S. L. (2004). "Foreword". Tools of the trade: A therapist's guide to art therapy assessments (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas. pp. v–x. ISBN   0-398-07522-0.
  11. ↑ Jablonski, Joseph (2012). "Surrealism in 2012" (PDF). Surrealism in 2012: Toward the World of the Fifth Sun--An Exhibition of the International Surrealist Movement: 3 & 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  12. ↑ Courtois, C.; Turkus, J. & Cohen, B. (1994). "Development of an inpatient dissociative disorders unit". In Williams, M. B. & Summer, J. F. (eds.). Handbook of post-traumatic therapy (1st ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. pp. 463–473.
  13. ↑ Cohen, B. & Cox, C. T. (1995). Telling without talking: Art as a window into the world of multiple personality. New York: W. W. Norton. p. 314. ISBN   0-393-70196-4.
  14. ↑ Cohen, B.; Barnes, M. & Rankin, A. (1995). Managing traumatic stress through art: Drawing from The Center. Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press. p. 137. ISBN   0-9629164-7-1.
  15. ↑ Logan, L. & Harrod, J. (1995). Slow time: The works of Charley, Noah, and Hazel Kinney. Kentucky Folk Art Center/Morehead State University.
  16. ↑ Stein, J. E. (1986). Red Grooms: A Retrospective, 1956-1984. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
  17. ↑ Sellen, B-C, Johnson, C. (2000). Self Taught Outsider, and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources. McFarland & Company, Inc. Jefferson, NC.
  18. ↑ Simpson, M. (1994). Folk Erotica: Celebrating Centuries of Erotic Americana. HarperCollins. New York, NY.
  19. ↑ "White Columns - Exhibitions". www.whitecolumns.org. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  20. ↑ Cordier, D. (2002). Collector started 'tailgate' as addition to larger show. The Patriot-News. Week of October 25. pp. 18-19.
  21. ↑ Stanton, M. (2011). Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market America. The Penguin Press, New York. p. 118.
  22. ↑ Albertson, K. K. (1998). On antiques. The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine. Friday, April 10. pp. E1-6.
  23. ↑ Bagdade, S. & Bagdade, A. (2002). Back in the Big Apple. Antique Trader. February 20. pp. 48-51.
  24. ↑ Fair, S. S. (2004). Do you know the way to Santa Fe? New York Times. October 10.
  25. ↑ Cohen's Historic Indian Arts show a 'shining new tradition' in Santa Fe. Antiques and The Arts Weekly. October 25, 2002. pp. 104-5.
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