David Gussak

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David E. Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC is chairperson for the Florida State University's Department of Art Education and professor of its art therapy program. He is the author of Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases, co-editor of the 84- chapter The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy with his colleague, Dr. Marcia Rosal, and has developed and writes a blog for Psychology Today, "Art on Trial: Confessions of a Serial Art Therapist". He has, through his research, national and international presentations and publications, become one of the leading authorities on art therapy in forensic and correctional settings.

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Biography

David Gussak grew up in NY. He received his BA in Art with a minor in Psychology from the California State University in Long Beach in 1989 and his MA in Art Therapy from Vermont College in 1991. During his 9 month internship he established an art therapy program at the Alpine Convalescent Center in Alpine, CA where he delivered individual and group therapy services for adults in a long-term psychiatric facility. Upon graduating in 1991, he obtained a position as an art therapist/rehabilitation therapist at the Correctional Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA. providing services for an acute psychiatric unit in the adult male prison. He received his Art Therapy Registration (ATR) credential in 1994 and his Board Certification (ATR-BC) one year later through the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). During these years, Gussak provided a number of weekend courses and workshops for a variety of art therapy programs across the United States, including College of Notre Dame in CA, College of New Rochelle in NY, and Mt. Mary College in Wisconsin.

In 1998, Gussak joined the art therapy faculty in the Psychology and Special Education Department at Emporia State University (ESU) in Emporia, Kansas. He began as an instructor, and later became an assistant professor and Director of its program for the 4 years he taught there. Simultaneously, Gussak pursued his doctoral degree. While there, Gussak supervised the art therapy practicum interns, including establishing prison and jail internship sites, and advised theses and masters projects. He was awarded his Ph.D. from ESU upon successfully defending his dissertation "The Work of the Art Therapist: An Interactionist Perspective" on September 11, 2001.

Gussak began teaching at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, FL in 2002 as an Assistant Professor for the g raduate art therapy program in the Department of Art Education. He became tenured and Associate Professor in 2007, was appointed as the Department Chair of Art Education in 2008, and was promoted to Professor in 2013. He continues to live in Tallahassee, FL with his wife and family.

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Art therapy in correctional settings

While Gussak had experience working with aggressive populations prior to receiving his graduate degree, he first began working as an art therapist in prison in 1991. This was when he began his work at the Correctional Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA through the Department of Mental Health. Recognizing there was not much literature available which to draw from, he first began presenting his theories on the benefits of art therapy at the American Art Therapy Association national conference in 1994, a precursor of many other paper and panel presentations on the topic. This experience culminated in the development and publication of his first book, with the late Dr. Evelyn Virshup, Drawing Time: Art Therapy in Prisons and Other Correctional Settings (1997). In this book, Gussak first proposed that, given the difficulties in providing art therapy services in an environment that takes advantage of the vulnerable, art therapy holds specific benefits and art therapy:

has the advantage of bypassing rigid defenses, including pervasive dishonesty
promotes inadvertent unconscious disclosure, even while the client is not compelled to discuss therapeutic issues verbally, which might leave him vulnerable
takes advantage of the greater creativity inherent in the prison society, due to the intense need for diversion and escape
does not require that the inmate/patient know, admit or discuss what he has disclosed. Since the environment is already so dangerous, any unintended disclosure of insight can be more threatening
permits the inmate/patient to express himself in a manner acceptable to both the inside AND outside culture
can produce mitigation of symptoms without verbal interpretation
is especially helpful in this environment, given the severe disabilities of this population, such as low levels of education and/or illiteracy, organicity, and other obstacles to verbal communication

These advantages have evolved over the years through numerous publications and presentations [cite].

Shortly after beginning his teaching position at Emporia State University, he began working with Accessible Arts, Inc., in Kansas City, Mo, 1998 to provide grant-funded services as an Arts Therapy-based Program Director for an the Jackson County Department of Juvenile Justice in Kansas City, MO. For the following 7 months, Gussak provided art therapy services to adolescents in several juvenile detention facilities in the Kansas City area.

Soon after obtaining a position at The Florida State University Graduate Art Therapy program he became its Clinical Coordinator. Through this position, he created several practicum placements for art therapy students at local prisons and various other correctional settings. With the help of these students and through encouragement and support by the Florida Department of Corrections, Gussak implemented several empirical studies and collected data (from 2003-2009) in various men and women prisons throughout North Florida to determine if art therapy was indeed effective in providing support for prison inmates. Throughout all of these studies, the emerging data supported the notions that art therapy:

decreased depression with male and female inmates
increased locus of control in male and female inmates
facilitated appropriate socialization and problem solving in male and female inmates

It was also revealed that female inmates had a greater change in mood and locus of control than their male counterparts. Upon further investigation, he realized that the reason it seemed that women benefited more was because they began with lower numeric scores. They began as more depressed with a greater external locus of control than the men, but that both men and women ended comparatively similar in regards to these variables

In 2007, he was asked to help create, develop and co-chair (with Leslie Neal of ArtSprings, Inc) the Florida Arts in Corrections program by the then Deputy Secretary of the Department of Corrections Dr. Laura Bedard. Since the program ended, the Inmate Mural Arts Program (IMAP) remained for several years. Through IMAP, Gussak worked with graduate students and alumni to complete large scale murals with prison and jail inmates, including one that was completed with inmates from the Miller County Jail, on the side of a building in downtown Colquitt, GA.

Gussak continues to work with the Florida Department of Corrections to establish various arts programming throughout the state, and to establish practicum internship experiences for the Florida State University program. He has also been asked to consult and advise for arts and art therapy programs in correctional settings throughout the country.

In 2006, Gussak's focus shifted slightly to another end of the forensic spectrum, when he was asked to provide expert witness testimony for a capital murder case. He was asked to testify on the art of a man who murdered one of his children. This experience was comprehensively chronicled and evaluated in the 2013 book Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases, detailed below.

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Presentation history

Gussak has presented regionally, nationally, and internationally about art therapy in forensic settings and working with aggressive clients. Along with his numerous peer-reviewed paper presentations, he has been invited to present for a number of venues, including several plenary panels, and to provide the Keynote Address for various state and national conferences, including the Illinois Art Therapy Association, the Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association, the Oklahoma Art Therapy Association and the Florida Art Therapy Association. He has also developed a burgeoning international presence. He presented his first international paper on art therapy in prison in Budapest, Hungary for the 1st Annual Art Therapy World Congress. His articles have since been published in several different countries, including Slovakia, Russia, and South Korea. In 2009, he was invited to provide the Keynote Address and a weekend workshop for the Annual Conference of the Korean Art Therapy Association in Daegu, South Korea. He will also be presenting the Keynote Address for the Canadian Art Therapy Association in 2016.

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Major publications

Gussak has published many articles and book chapters for edited volumes, generally focusing on art therapy within the correctional milieu and working with aggressive and violent clients. A great many of his publications focused on his empirical research on the effectiveness of art therapy in prison.

Gussak is also the author and editor of several full-length books. As indicated, Gussak is the co-editor, along with Dr. Evelyn Virshup, and contributing author of Drawing Time: Art Therapy in Prisons and Other Correctional Settings, published in 1997 by Magnolia Street Publishing. This book includes chapters from a variety of art therapists and professionals in different correctional arenas. This volume was the first one in the United States that presented the focus of art therapy in prisons. The other chapters explore the arts and art therapy from juvenile justice settings, to jails, to prison geriatric care.

In 2006, Gussak was asked to be an expert witness for a capital murder trial; he eventually provided testimony in 2009. This became the focus of his 2013 publication Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases, released by Columbia University Press.

His most recent full length publication is The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy, co-edited by his colleague and friend, Dr. Marcia L. Rosal. It has 84 chapters, written by 90 of the field's most distinguished and innovative authors from all over the world. The handbook is a collection of the current and innovative clinical, theoretical and research approaches in the field.

Along with his books and articles, Gussak was asked by the magazine Psychology Today in 2013 to provide an ongoing blog for its online site. It was then that he created "Art on Trial: Confessions of Serial Art Therapist" where he explores art therapy in forensic settings.

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Book reviews and critical acclaim

Book Review

Van Der Vennet (2014) reviewed Gussak's book, Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases. The review gave credit to Gussak for bringing notoriety to the art therapy field as well as moving forensics to the forefront of the art therapy field internally. Gussak is also given acknowledgment for becoming an expert witness as an art therapist on a capital murder trial. Using ethical and legal protocol as prescribed by the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB), Gussak was able to compete at an equal competence level as other qualified mental health professionals.

Gussak used standardized instruments to measure defendant Kevin Ward's (pseudonym) artwork by way of Person Picking an Apple from a Tree (PPAT), which was later assessed by the standardized Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS). Both the PPAT and FEATS were used as tools to properly furnish a mental health diagnosis of a schizophrenia related disorder for the accused. Ward was on trial for killing his child and attempting to murder his other child, also known as filicide. Gussak was commissioned as an expert witness to help Ward stay off of death row and receive a lesser sentence. Through Ward's art collection of roughly 100 images, ranging nearly 15 years; Gussak was able to humanize Ward's standing before the court and unknowingly come to the same diagnosis as the psychiatrist and psychologist appointed to the case.

Critical Acclaim

"Art on Trial is a testament to the potent power of art as evidence. David Gussak's masterful presentation of the case, the client, and the art explains the role and value of art therapy in a court of law. His book is a triumph for art as evidence, expounding the value of art therapists as expert witnesses in legal proceedings as well as the advantages that art therapy offers."

-Marcia Liebman, Drexel University

"David Gussak has written a fascinating and important first-person account demonstrating the value of art therapy in the courtroom. His book represents an extraordinary interdisciplinary effort and will surely become a must-read for professionals in the fields of art therapy, criminology, and abnormal psychology."

-Jack Levin, Northeastern University, author of Serial Killers and Sadistic Murderers: Up Close and Personal and, with Gordana Rabrenovic, Why We Hate

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Selected bibliography

Gussak, D. (2013). Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases. New York: Columbia University Press.
Breiner, M., Tuomisto, L., Beuyea, E., Gussak, D. & Aufderheide, D.(2011). Creating an art therapy anger management (ATAM) protocol for male inmates through a collaborative relationship. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 56(7), 1124-1143.
Anderson, T., Gussak, D., Hallmark, K & Paul, A. (eds.). (2010). Art Education and Social Justice, Reston, VA: NAEA.
Gussak, D. (2009). Comparing the effectiveness of art therapy on Depression and Locus of Control of male and female inmates, The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36 (4), 202-207
Argue, J., Bennett, J. & Gussak, D. (2009). Transformation through negotiation: Initiating the Inmate Mural Arts Program. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36, 313-319.
Gussak, D. (2008). An interactionist perspective on understanding gender identity in art therapy. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 25(2), 64-69[2]
Gussak, D. (2007). The effectiveness of art therapy in reducing depression in prison populations. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 5(4). 444-460
Gussak, D. (2006). Symbolic Interactionism, aggression and therapy. In F. Kaplan (Ed.), Art Therapy and Social Action (pp. 142-156). London: Jessica Kingsley, Publishers.
Gussak, D. (2006). The effects of art therapy with prison inmates: A follow-up study. The Arts In Psychotherapy, 33, pp. 188-198.
Fenner, L. & Gussak, D. (2006). Therapeutic boundaries in a prison setting: A dialogue between an intern and her supervisor. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33.414-421.
Gussak, D. (2004). as kreslit': Arteterapia vo väzení.[Drawing time: Art therapy in prison] Arteterapeutické Listy [Art Therapy Letters (Slovakian Journal)],3(4), pp. 7-11.
Gussak, D. (2004). Art therapy with prison inmates: A pilot study. The Arts In Psychotherapy, 31(4), pp. 245-259.
Gussak, D. & Virshup E. (Eds.). (1997). Drawing Time: Art Therapy In Prisons and Other Correctional Settings. Chicago, IL: Magnolia Street Publishers.