Malchíodi, Cathy Ann 1953–

PERSONAL: Born 1953. Education: Tufts University, B.F.A., 1975; College of Notre Dame, M.A., 1980.

ADDRESSES: Office—University of Utah, AAC 161, Department of Art Therapy, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.

CAREER: Palo Alto School District, Palo Alto, CA, art therapist, 1978–80; Women in Jeopardy Program, Salt Lake City, UT, therapeutic program director, 1980–84; Massachusetts Department of Social Services, Boston, art therapist, 1984–86; University of Utah, Salt Lake City, director of art therapy graduate studies, beginning 1986. Massachusetts Cultural Collaborative, Boston, artist-in-residence, 1984–86; Utah Arts Council, Salt Lake City, artist-in-residence, 1987–89; visiting professor to colleges and universities. Director, Institute for the Arts and Health, Salt Lake City, UT; member of advisory board, National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. Speaker at numerous conferences in United States and worldwide.

MEMBER: American Association for Protecting Children, American Association for the Care of Children's Health, Art Therapy Association, Rocky Mountain Art Therapy Association (founder).

AWARDS, HONORS: Special recognition award, Hong Kong Department of Social Services, 1987; special recognition award, China Fund for the Handicapped, 1987; achievement award, Four Corners Art Therapists, 1990.

WRITINGS:

Breaking the Silence: Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes, Brunner/Mazel (New York, NY), 1990, second revised and expanded edition, 1997.

The Art Therapy Sourcebook, Lowell House (Los Angeles, CA), 1998.

Understanding Children's Drawings, Guilford Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(Author of commentary) Susan R. Makin, Therapeutic Art Directives and Resources: Initiatives for Individuals and Groups, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.

Art Therapy and Computer Technology: A Virtual Studio of Possibilities, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.

The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers for Health and Well-Being, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 2002.

Handbook of Art Therapy, Guilford Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(Editor) Expressive Therapies, Guilford Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor, Integrative Approaches to Family Art Therapy, second edition, edited by Shirley Riley, Magnolia Street Publishers (Chicago, IL), 2004. Contributor to professional journals. Member of editorial board, Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

SIDELIGHTS: While Cathy Ann Malchíodi is best known for her books on art therapy for traumatized or mentally ill children, in works such as Expressive Therapies and The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers for Health and Well-Being she offers general readers ways in which to enhance their lives through artistic endeavors. These art projects need not be visual, but can include writing in journals, creating healing spaces, and taking breaks to enjoy others' art works. In her profession as an art therapist, wrote Christopher A. Lamps in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in his review of Understanding Children's Drawings, Malchíodi uses a "broad approach that addresses not just the content of art and how that enhances the therapist's understanding of a child, but also the process of art therapy as it contributes to the therapeutic relationship through enhanced communication."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2002, Whitney Scott, review of The Soul's Palette: Drawing on Art's Transformative Powers for Health and Well-Being, p. 371.

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, November, 1998, John V. Scialli, review of Breaking the Silence: Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes, p. 1232; July, 1999, Christopher A. Lamps, review of Understanding Children's Drawings, p. 936.