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All humans want to live ecstatically, to live beyond the ordinary, to feel the fire of love, desire, and experience the mystery of life. Drugs and alcohol can easily induce these feelings, but only temporarily and as addiction occurs, a high price is paid. Eros as Inspiration on the Road to Recovery delves into the question of how encountering Eros in art making can serve as inspiration to develop healthy activities instead of drugs and alcohol. Art making can provide a life-long experience of pleasure, relaxation, excitement, and fantasy. This book examines how art making with American homeless veterans who are chemically dependent can be helpful in the recovery process. Eros unveils himself during the art making process and in the therapeutic relationship expressing feelings of love, desire, and intrigue. The counter/counter-transference issue is dealt with through the heuristic research model, personal supervision, and the expressive arts literature.

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Michele Lyons, MA, is an Expressive Arts Therapist who utilizes the arts with clients in recovery. She is a graduate of the European Graduate School in Switzerland and the Expressive Arts Institute of San Diego, California. Michele is also a bilingual elementary school teacher where she incorporates Expressive Arts in the classroom.

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