Thomas Houlihan

Celebrating the Artistic Touch in Therapeutic Interventions Thomas Houlihan

What is noticeably absent in the scientific-based, mental health professional literature is any recognition of the art in their craft. An artistic touch in the mental health field consists of a person who takes some actions that are outside of the standard professional interventions of their craft. Their artistic touch's actions pull together and unify the skills of the professional's craft with the efforts of everyone involved in the treatment process. Their therapeutic results often far exceed most people's expectations and sometimes they are special, extraordinary and unique. Artistic touches are not precisely definable entities; rather, they reveal more about themselves within the context of their specific situations. Thus, short stories can provide a much greater understanding and appreciation for artistic touches. This book contains twenty-eight short stories of actual events, and each story highlights various aspects of artistic touches. Every story is followed by the author's comments. These stories and comments sections are separated in case the reader prefers to enjoy each story and draw their own inferences. Either way that a person chooses to read these stories, the two objectives of this book are to celebrate the art within some therapeutic interventions and to inspire every reader to recall those special moments of risk and artistry within their own life's work and experiences, their own artistic touches!