This book, growing out of a research project at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Hospital, conveys the problems of adjustment of six children, aged 4-1/2 to 17. The life history of each child precedes a narrative of how art therapy was adapted to his or her special needs. It includes 100 exemplar illustration.

Margaret Naumberg first gained recognition as a pioneer in progressive education as the Founder and Director of the well-known Walden School. Here she began to make use of her own analytic experience in dealing with the unconscious motivation of children as released through either their free activities or their spontaneous art expression.