Provides a brief history of the effects of Modernism on arts therapy and proposes a different therapeutic approach. Arts therapists have generally espoused the curing of symptoms via insight or adaptation, the unfolding of archetypal processes, or the building up of the self. It is suggested that Post-Modernism should be incorporated into the therapeutic stance of arts therapists so that therapists can become co-creators of meaningfulness rather than interpreters of symbols. The deficiencies of Modernism in interpreting patients–art are discussed. The difficulties in using language are discussed, and the use of pragmatics, rather than semantic and syntactic considerations, is encouraged. The contributions of DW Winnicott (1971) to this field are discussed.(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)