Bender considered art as an effective way to diagnose childhood disorders. She employed this technique to better understand the psyche of the child. A child's art work was a medium in which a child could express their anxieties and aggression, and allowed the clinician to gain insight into the child's mind. This belief was supported by several case studies, one of which was a study on a six year old African American female who was abandoned by her parents, and later sent to Bellevue Hospital in 1943. The child expressed many feelings and past experiences in her artwork. Later it was revealed through her art that she had been sexually abused before she was abandoned. After extensive art, talk, and dream interpretation session the child was placed into a foster home and was considered to make an impressive recovery.