Art Therapy Connection - Encouraging Troubled Youth to Stay in School and Succeed

Oct 15, 2026

This article describes the theory and practice of Art Therapy Connection (ATC), a yearlong school art therapy program in Chicago for students identified as being at risk of failing grades 3–12. The program addresses mental health needs in impoverished communities and supports students facing constant daily threats. Using an Adlerian approach, ATC emphasizes group identity, cohesion, and cooperation to foster social interest, belonging, and trust, encouraging students to stay in school and succeed. It outlines goals, objectives, typical art directives, and informal outcomes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Program purpose and context

Adlerian theory and therapeutic mechanisms

Art Therapy Connection: Encouraging Troubled Youth to Stay in School and Succeed Judy Sutherland, Gwenn Waldman, and Carolyn Collins, Chicago, IL Abstract This article describes the theory and practice of Art Therapy Connection (ATC), an inner city, yearlong school art therapy program in Chicago, IL, for students identified as being at risk of failing grades 3–12. The ATC program helps to address the mental health needs of students living in impoverished communities and the constant threats they experience on a daily basis. It utilizes an Adlerian art therapy approach, with an emphasis on developing group identity, group cohesion, and cooperation. In turn, a feeling of belonging and trust can be established through social interest so that students feel encouraged to stay in school and succeed. This article explains the program’s goals and objectives, typical art directives, and informal outcomes. Introduction Chicago inner-city schools lack the necessary psychological support services to provide for the overwhelming number of children who need mental healthcare. According to the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Task Force (2003), 70% to 80% of Chicago Public Schools children in need of help do not receive appropriate and necessary mental health services. Many students with emotional, behavioral, or social interaction problems dropout of school before graduation. Art Therapy Connection (ATC) was co-founded by the first author as a nonprofit organization that was created to meet the mental health needs of these students and to encourage them to stay in school. Since its inception in 2002, ATC has served over 1,000 students in the Chicago Public Schools district. ATC therapists use a supportive, Adlerian approach to art therapy that helps to develop social skills, such as group identity, group cohesion, and cooperation. Adler theorized that the feeling of belonging could only be won by being involved in life, and by cooperating and being useful to others (as cited in Lemberger & Milliren, 2008) . Self-esteem and self-confidence emerge from this feeling of belonging. It was with the goal of encouraging social interest that ATC Editor’s Note: Judy Sutherland, PhD, ATR-BC, LCPC, is Professor Emerita of the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL. Gwenn Waldman, MA, ATR-BC, LCPC, and Carolyn Collins, MA, ATR-BC, LCPC, are executive directors of Art Therapy Connection and the 2008 recipients of the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago Outstanding Alumni Award in recognition of their dedicated community leadership and commitment to social justice. Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to the authors at [info@arttherapyconnection.org](info@arttherapyconnection.org) therapists designed a program that not only would meet the mental health needs of troubled youth but would also enhance these students’ feelings of belonging, and thus encourage them to stay in school and succeed. Although Adler generally is not identified in the literature of school counseling with troubled youth, his theories of child development and education are well known (Lemberger & Nash, 2008) . In 1914, Adler opened a child guidance clinic in Vienna for the purpose of helping parents and teachers, a model that is still relevant to the work of educators, parents, and therapists (Froeschle & Riney, 2008) . Rudolf Dreikurs, a close associate of Adler, founded the Alfred Adler Institute (now the Adler School of Professional Psychology) in Chicago. His wife, Sadie“Tee” Dreikurs (1986) lived and worked at Jane Addams Hull House in Chicago for many years, where she designed ways to use art making with delinquent children. Ansbacher (1992) wrote that gemeinschaftsgefühl (community feeling) is an Adlerian concept defined as an all-encompassing feeling toward others and the self, inanimate objects, the present and future, and the community of humankind. When action and progress benefit humankind, they are soci

FAQs

What is Art Therapy Connection (ATC)?

ATC is a yearlong inner-city school art therapy program in Chicago designed for students at risk of failing grades 3–12.

How does ATC support students’ mental health needs?

It uses a supportive Adlerian approach that emphasizes group identity, group cohesion, and cooperation to strengthen belonging, trust, and social interest.

What outcomes does the article discuss for ATC?

The article explains the program’s goals and objectives, describes typical art directives, and reports informal outcomes that encourage students to stay in school and succeed.

Oct 15, 2026

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