The Player (2013) by Nathalie Frickey (b.1972)

Dr. med. Nathalie Frickey trained and worked in Germany, France and Austria. She is physician-turned-art-therapist and mother of three. She lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

In her exploration of the liminal spaces between arts and healing, she uses found imagery, words and found objects in restorative storytelling. All these elements are assembled via collage or poetry into a new and larger whole, reflecting individual and collective growth and evolution. Her personal journey of integrating early childhood trauma, and growing awareness of transgenerational and collective aspects of trauma in various kinds of disease shape her particular approach to art therapy as a healing practice. Her current focus is on working with patients with severe eating disorders and a history of trauma.

In The Player, Dr Frickey sought a way to express the sense of disconnection from self, to capture the oddness of existing in relationship to others. The hermetically sealed diving helmet, prosthetic limbs, corset and string puppet all fit with this sense of disjointedness, of a pseudo-self persona cobbled together from ill-fitting parts. Shame, fear, confusion and secrecy are recurring aspects in the exploration of post-traumatic disorder, as is a need for rigid control to keep all the pieces from floating apart.

We are always looking for interesting and visually appealing images for the cover of the Journal and would welcome suggestions or pictures, which should be sent to Dr Allan Beveridge, British Journal of Psychiatry, 21 Prescot Street London E1 8BB, UK or [email protected].