FLORENCE - AN ABUSE SURVIVOR WITH MULTIPLE PHYSICAL COMPLAINTS

This case study discusses art therapy over a 6-month period with Flore nce (pseudonym), a woman who had been physically and psychologically a bused in childhood by her adoptive mother. She was diagnosed with Soma tization Disorder (SD) because of her multiple physical complaints. Th e theoretical framework of this article is that of Heinz Kohut's self- psychology, which holds that a cohesive and stable self-concept result s from positive ''mirroring'' by parental figures back to the child.