David Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC
Assistant Professor
Art Therapy
Ph.D. Emporia State University
Research Interests:
Art therapy in correctional settings working with aggressive and violent clients, the work of the art therapist; and the development of the professional art therapist.
David Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC., is an associate professor and the Chairperson for The Florida State University Department of Art Education. David has presented extensively internationally, nationally and regionally on: art therapy in forensic settings, working with aggressive and violent clients, the work of the art therapist, and various governmental and legislative issues facing the field.
Prior to his teaching for The Florida State University, David was the director of the Graduate Art Therapy Program in the Department of Psychology and Special Education at Emporia State University in Kansas. He has also been an adjunct and visiting professor for several art therapy programs across the United States.
David has presented extensively internationally, nationally and regionally on: art therapy in forensic settings, working with aggressive and violent clients, working with clients who have substance abuse issues, the work of the art therapist, supervision for art therapists and various governmental and legislative issues facing the field. One of the papers he presented in Budapest, Hungary for the 1st Annual Art Therapy World Congress on his work in the prisons has been re-printed in a Slovakian art therapy journal.
He also lectures for the FSU Holocaust Institute every year on the art of the Holocaust. David is the co-editor and contributing author for the book Drawing Time: Art Therapy in Prisons and Other Correctional Settings, and has published articles on forensics and art therapy, art therapy and computer technology and the work of the art therapist. His studies on the benefits of art therapy in prison settings continue, and have expanded to encompass female inmates as well. He is currently co-editing the book Art and Social Justice with Dr. Tom Anderson and Kara Hallmark. David served as Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors for the American Art Therapy Association, and is currently on the editorial board for the AATA Journal. He is also the Treasurer for the Art Therapy Credentials Board. In the summer of 2007, he was asked by the Florida Department of Corrections to help develop and chair the new Florida Arts in Corrections program; he stepped down from this position in August 2008, but remains active on its board.
Selected Publications:
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
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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
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. (2006). The effects of art therapy with prison inmates: A follow-up study. The Arts In Psychotherapy, 33,pp.188-198.
Gussak, D. (2004). Art therapy with prison inmates: A pilot study. The Arts In Psychotherapy, 31(4), pp. 245-259.
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.
Invited Chapter in Edited Volume
Gussak, D. (2007). The deviant adolescent: Creating healthy interactions and re-labeling through art therapy. In D. Arrington (Ed.) Art, Angst, and Trauma: Right Brain Interventions with Developmental Issues. Springfield, Ill: Charles, C. Thomas, Publishers.
Gussak, D. (2007). Raising the bars: Art therapy in the American prison system. In Dee Spring (Ed.). Art in Treatment: A Transatlantic Dialogue. Springfield, Ill: Charles, C. Thomas, Publishers.
Gussak, D. (2006). Alleviating aggression through art therapy: A Social Interactionism perspective. In Frances Kaplan (Ed.), Art Therapy and Social Action: Treating the World’s Wounds. London: Jessica Kingsley, Publishers.