Joy Schaverien, a Jungian psychoanalyst and art psychotherapist who has passed away at the age of 82, will be remembered not just for her contributions to her field but also for her influential book, *Boarding School Syndrome: The Psychological Trauma of the “Privileged” Child* (2015).

The book gained significant traction as a bestseller under the Routledge imprint and resonated with adult survivors of boarding school, many of whom related closely to its portrayal of the traumatic experiences they endured as children, particularly during their formative years away from home.

Critically acclaimed for its insightful clinical content, Joy’s work has also sparked important discussions regarding the political and cultural implications of education in the UK. It has questioned the prevalent belief among many affluent parents that boarding schools are always the optimal choice for their children—often defended with the assertion that “it was a splendid experience that harmed me in no way.”

Through her writings, Joy empowered numerous former boarding school attendees to share their stories of sexual abuse, bullying, “fagging,” and other forms of trauma inflicted by peers and faculty, experiences they had previously found too difficult to voice. Her work additionally reshaped perceptions around therapy, promoting it as a valid path to healing rather than a source of shame, urging people to recognize that they need not navigate their pain alone.

Joy observed in her clinical practice, and through conversations with colleagues, that a number of adults presenting with symptoms like depression and difficulty forming intimate relationships had been sent to boarding schools as children—often a choice made by families relocating overseas during the 1950s and 60s. These observations inspired her to develop the concept of Boarding School Syndrome and to establish four key criteria, which she referred to as the ABCD of trauma.

“A” represented the sense of abandonment and fragmentation experienced by children when separated from their families and deposited at school with unfamiliar faces. “B” denoted the grief associated with losing all that was known: familiar surroundings, friends, toys, routines, and even their favorite foods, which schools often dismissed as mere “homesickness,” assuring children it would fade.

“C” signified a feeling of captivity, recognizing that escape was impossible from the strict and often harsh routines they were subjected to, despite any attempts to flee.

This could lead to “D,” represented by dissociation and the formation of a false self, which they believed enabled them to be courageous while distancing themselves from their genuine feelings. In this context, Joy cautioned therapists to be mindful of interruptions in therapy, as these could evoke similar feelings of abandonment reminiscent of the cyclical nature of boarding school terms and breaks.

An accomplished educator, Joy conducted numerous lectures and workshops focusing on the boarding school experience, fostering a sense of community among “survivors” and broadening the reach of her ideas.

Joy was born in Hampstead, North London, to Julianne (née Simon) and Hyman Schaverien, but spent much of her childhood in Brighton, East Sussex. After attending a local private school, she pursued her studies at Brighton School of Art, followed by a postgraduate degree in fine art at the Slade School in London. In 1968, she married painter Peter Wilson.

Following her training as an art therapist at an NHS unit in Brighton and St Albans College of Art, she established a private practice in the Midlands. During the 1980s, she served as an art therapist at the Hillend Therapeutic Community in Hertfordshire and became one of the inaugural leaders of the MA art therapy program at St Albans College of Art, which evolved into part of Hertfordshire University.

Joy earned her PhD in art psychotherapy from Birmingham City Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) in 1990, with a thesis focused on *Transference and Countertransference in Art Therapy: Mediation, Interpretation and the Aesthetic Object.*

She played a key role in advancing art therapy towards a more integrative form of art psychotherapy by connecting psychoanalytic theory with the previously more art-centric practices in the UK. The transformative impact of her book *The Revealing Image* (1991) redefined understandings regarding the significant, often non-verbal meanings embedded within images created during the art therapy process.

She introduced innovative concepts such as “the embodied image,” demonstrating how centralizing visual art and the creative process within therapy could lead to profound shifts for those involved, clarifying and deepening their understanding.

Both of us had the privilege of knowing Joy as a respected colleague. Penny and Joy trained together at the Society of Analytical Psychology, joining the organization in 1996. Within this community, Joy was renowned for her kindness, insightful critique, and her teachings on the themes explored in her books *Desire and the Female Therapist* (1995), *Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transference* (2006), *The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy* (2002), and *Boarding School Syndrome*.

Building on the success of a previous initiative in St. Petersburg, Joy and Penny collaborated to establish an IAAP training and supervision program for Russian psychotherapists in Moscow, a region where psychotherapy and analysis had faced significant restrictions prior to perestroika. Joy was also a driving force behind the formation of an IAAP group in Denmark.

In collaboration with Helen, she contributed a chapter to the *Oxford Textbook of Psychotherapy* (2005), which was significant for the recognition of arts therapies as a primary modality within the broader field of psychotherapy.

Joy served as the editor for the Supervision in the Arts Therapies series for Routledge, a collection of five volumes published between 2007 and 2008 that examined the transformation and enhancement of professional supervision practices.

In 2022, she and Peter returned to London to be nearer to family. Joy concluded her clinical practice in December of the previous year. In her leisure time, she enjoyed walking her dog, spending quality time with family and friends, and engaging in writing.

She is survived by her husband Peter, their children Damien and Galia, as well as her grandchildren: Alice, Misty, Arlo, and Coco.

Joy Schaverien, psychoanalyst and art psychotherapist, was born on February 2, 1943, and passed away on May 7, 2025.