Introduction: The transformative powers of aesthetic experiences in psychotherapy

This issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session contains seven essays that give expression to three basic convictions. The first is that therapists who are consistently able to help their patients make constructive changes in their lives practice psychotherapy creatively, whether or not they conceive of therapy as an applied science or as an art form. The second is that cultivating an aesthetic perspective on the communicative exchanges that take place in therapy can enhance a therapist's capacity to serve creatively as an agent of change. The third is that therapists can make better choices on behalf of their patients if they take inspiration from what artists have to teach us about the aesthetic domain of existence.