The Colors of Rage and Love: The Process of Change in Psychotherapy Elucidated by the Patient’s Own Drawings: A Picture Book of Internal Events by Marie Naevestad (review)

Books 169 ever, they do not seem to me, in spite of their appeal to new technological developments, to have really abandoned traditional approaches to aesthetics, and, therefore, they should not leave out the significanceof museums, historic sights and leisure-time activities of those who live in cities. Furthermore, they are primarily concerned with architects and urban designers , rather than with those who work in the visual or plastic arts, as regards the 'programming of the behavior of individuals '. Critically minded teachers of architecture and of urban design will find this controversial book useful as supplementary reading by their students, for it will provoke lively discussions. Physics and the Sound of Music. John S. Rigden. John Wiley, New York, 1977. 286 pp., illus. Paper. In the Preface of this textbook the author writes: 'The subject of musical acoustics is interdisciplinary, as it embraces physics, music, psychology, physiology, neurology, and architecture. This book is written for students who want to learn about musical sound.' He adds that 'Although the subject is technical , no specifictechnical background is assumed. A reader who is familiar with the science and mathematics typically studied in high school should have no difficulty understanding the material . .. Some musical background such as piano lessons would be useful; however, it is not essential.' One gets an overview of the book by considering its structure. There are four consecutive parts dealing with: (1) a pure tone, (2) two pure tones together, (3) complex tones (strings, tubes and membranes) and (4) the whole orchestra (musical instruments). Each of these parts consists of three chapters treating: (1) the origination of sound, (2) sound transmission and environment and (3) tone or music perception . The discussion on musical environment is a brief introduction to room acoustics. The chapter on music perception includes an explanation of musical scales. Another part is devoted to sound reproduction systems and their environments . The final part concerns the production of electronic music by means of a synthesizer. The Colors of Rage and Love: The Process of Change in Psychotherapy Elucidated by the Patient's Own Drawings: A Picture Book of Internal Events. Marie Naevestad. Universitetsforlaget , Oslo, Norway, 1979. 273 pp., illus. Nkr 149.00. Reviewed by G. W. Granger" As Naevestad reminds one in the Preface, with few exceptions , 'it is the therapist who tells the story of a psychotherapy '. What is claimed to be novel about this book is that 'it is the patient who tells'. Moreover, she ('Marion') issupposed to 'speak' through some of the drawings she made during a course of psychotherapy for a depressive illness. From 700 drawings produced over 2112 years and a further 525made over a period of nine months, following a subsequent relapse eight years later, Naevestad has selected 110 for presentation (the criteria are not disclosed). The drawings are alleged to provide 'concrete pictorial evidence' (p. 9) 'visible to every eye' (p. 263) in support of the 'superstructure of psychoanalytic theories' (p. 9). Regarded strictly as a picture book, 110of its 273pages are commendable for the high quality of the artwork based on Kaare Porsboell's photographs of 'Marion's' intriguing drawings. But as a 'piece of clinical research' (p. 9) the work as a whole is a dismal failure. Despite her promise, Naevestad, the therapist, does not allow the patient to tell her own story but inserts large chunks of psychoanalytic commentary and interpretation between the drawings. Maybe this is because Naevestad doubts whether, unaided, the visual images projected from 'Marion's' preconscious can be relied upon to tell a convincing Freudian tale? Unfortunately, for the psychoanalytic cause, the hints that she "Dept. of Psychology, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, England. drops are either too obscure and esoteric or too biased to be taken seriously by critical readers. Certainly observers with normal colour vision willsee that the crayon marks in the lower left-hand corner of the drawing on page 29 are orange in hue but, unless they also have firm psychoanalytic convictions, it seems improbable that they will 'see' what Naevestad means when she writes,'the orange "me" is the birth or rebirth of a libidinal core of selfhood, perhaps the first appearance of the "true self' in...