Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are an often over-looked population. There may be deficits in intellectual and emotional functioning, physical deformities, or an inability to communicate verbally. For these reasons there are often reservations about the benefits of psychotherapy for this group. However, given the obstacles that these people have to contend with: a loss of physical ability, a loss of memory and brain functioning, an impairment of emotional control, anxiety, depression, loneliness, isolation and frustration, this group would greatly benefit from psychotherapeutic intervention. Emphasis is often placed on developmental work and skills training without adequate regard to emotional, unconscious and creative drives. As many individuals with a DD are unable to participate in insight oriented psychotherapy, art therapy is in a unique position of being able to offer psychotherapy in a mixed verbal and non-verbal, direct, gentle and less threatening form.

Depending on the area of therapeutic focus, art therapy can facilitate a variety of therapeutic goals:

• Physical and occupational goals: improving motor skills
• Cognitive goals: improvement of memory, priortization,planning, organization
• Psychosocial goals: improving interpersonal skills, expression of feelings
• Emotional goals: improving impaired control, easing anxiety, easing depression from       feelings of loss, loneliness, guilt, and frustration.