"The educational constituency for the arts is rapidly expanding beyond the conventional school setting to include the wider community. Cultivating the Habit of Art in Education and Therapy brings together the latest research on human empathy and creativity to reposition the arts as central to the effective initiation and management of change in contemporary society. The book integrates traditional Chinese Five Element Theory, also known as The Five Phases of Change, with contemporary Western psychological and cultural studies, to form a new Syncretic Model of creative artistic practice. The Syncretic Model is explored and validated through an analysis of interviews with practising, successful artists, and in a comprehensive review of the latest neuro-scientific research into human consciousness and emotion. Finally, the book addresses the well-documented difficulties experienced by arts teachers and therapists in intervening in and supporting the creative development of individual students and clients with the Syncretic Model. This much needed textbook will be of significant interest to trainee arts teachers, arts therapists and community artists. With the demand for their services growing and pressure to demonstrate effectiveness mounting, the arts therapy community is looking to build bridges between the different therapies and across national boundaries. This book offers a coherent, co-ordinating framework for a comprehensive reflective practice"-- Provided by publisher.