Arts in Psychotherapy最新文献

This systematic review with narrative synthesis aimed to identify the forms of art therapy practice, types of studies conducted, outcomes reported, and experiences described in the literature for people with learning disabilities who also experienced mental distress.

Papers in English, describing art therapy practice or therapeutic art interventions which addressed mental distress with adults with learning disabilities were included. Database searches were conducted using Healthcare Databases Advanced Search (HDAS), PubMed and American Psychological Association PsycInfo. Hand searches of grey literature were also conducted. Relevance and quality assessment ratings were carried out on each included paper. Results were discussed in terms of the four main questions of this review.

Sixty-eight papers were included: 41 clinical practice and 27 research studies. Art therapy was most frequently provided on an individual basis, by qualified art therapists in community settings. Papers highlighted a broad range of adaptive practices, techniques and theoretical models used by practitioners when working with this population. Study outcomes varied, were predominantly behavioural and deficit focused. Data on the direct experiences of this population were limited but show promising areas for future research.

This review identified that art therapy practice has evolved in response to diverse client needs and specific socio-cultural contexts across 40 years. Although there are no clearly defined models of individual or group art therapy for this population, practitioners employ their creative and therapeutic skills flexibly to meet this population’s complex health and social needs. We recommend that future studies: employ robust and inclusive methodologies, measure resource-oriented outcomes and use established standards of reporting, to expand the evidence-base and to more accurately reflect the experiences of this population.

The therapeutic relationship formed during arts therapies with ultra-orthodox children and teens, when it is provided by therapists who are not ultra-orthodox themselves, may suffer from an intercultural gap. This quantitative longitudinal study examined the therapeutic alliance (TA) and clients' reactions to the artistic work (ABI) in arts therapies with young ultra-orthodox clients, and the relationship of these process variables to changes in self-concept, behavior and functioning in a dedicated educational setting. Forty-one ultra-orthodox clients aged 4–15 (M=6.54, SD=2.33) and 17 arts therapists from diverse religious/cultural backgrounds filled out process questionnaires three times during therapy. The clients, their mothers, and the educational staff provided information on the outcome variables at the beginning and end of therapy. The findings partially confirmed the hypotheses of a positive relationship between TA and ABI, between the two and changes in the outcome variables. The clients’ and therapists’ perspectives on the TA were only positively correlated towards the end of therapy. Positive correlations were found between ABI and TA, but a negative correlation emerged between TA at the beginning of therapy and ABI towards the end of therapy. Positive correlations were found between the process variables and the gain scores; namely, between ABI and improvement in functioning in kindergarten, TA and improvement in cognitive competence of clients treated by secular therapists, and between TA and a decline in hyperactivity/distractibility of clients treated by ultra-orthodox or religious therapists. A negative correlation emerged between TA and increased aggression in clients treated by secular therapists. These findings are discussed in the context of the specificity of this population and intercultural therapy.

Numerous studies have associated high stress with the nursing profession, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although cognitive-behavioral or creative approaches have been employed by experts to teach self-care, these interventions rarely utilized a solid therapeutic framework, involving a clear experimental design. This study, therefore, attempted to develop a therapy-based workshop for stress management among nurses at a German health care site by employing the Embodiment-Projection-Role (EPR) paradigm and techniques derived from traditionally different approaches. Physical mobilization, art, storytelling and role play were chosen as expressive media for self-exploration of inner resources in a supportive peer milieu. Breathwork and guided imagery were also employed to inspire nurses to develop their coping repertoire. Data were collected from nine participants in a quasi-experimental pre-post study design. The study findings indicated a statistically significant decrease of current stress level and also, a significant improvement in negative emotions, immediately after the intervention. This study suggests that a therapeutic framework with a holistic approach of mental health might serve as an effective coping process to deal with job stress. This study, moreover, encourages researchers to shed light on the EPR processes and explore the long-term effects of the therapeutic paradigm on mental health.

Individuals diagnosed with eating disorders (ED) experience persistent symptoms related to eating and food intake. These symptoms significantly impact an individual’s overall physical health and psychosocial functioning. They often have psychiatric comorbidities that contribute to the complexity of the disorder and necessitate a psychotherapeutic approach to uncover and work through unresolved emotions and experiences. GIM is an in-depth music psychotherapy method utilizing therapist-programmed music to support uncovering and examining underlying and unresolved issues. The literature surrounding GIM with clients with EDs is limited to clinical case studies. This feasibility study integrated GIM sessions into clients' usual ED treatment. Eight adult females engaged in ED treatment received a total of 116 GIM sessions over a 12-month period. Participants rated the feasibility of GIM in ED treatment as 6 (very easy) and rated the helpfulness of GIM as 6.5 (very helpful). Analysis of the questionnaires identified nine subthemes and three themes that emerged related to perceived benefits. The three themes include insight (feeling stuck, fear factor, and need for change), emotional processes (identifying emotions, experiencing emotions, and processing emotions), and growth (discovering inner strengths, developing self-belief, and letting go). Challenges identified included: fear of the unfamiliar and learning to trust self.

This pilot cross-over randomised controlled study aimed to investigate the implementation of a school-based art therapy intervention, and to test whether all elements of the study design (e.g., recruitment, randomisation, follow-up) can work together in a larger study. The process and outcomes were evaluated by children through interviews, standardised questionnaires of quality of life, wellbeing and life functioning, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and biomarkers assessing children’s sleep. Adherence to the therapeutic protocol was rated by the researcher and the art therapist. The greatest impact of art therapy was observed in children’s exploration of safe space, stress relief, emotional expression, and empowerment. The improvements reported through the standardised questionnaires did not reach statistical significance but were maintained one year later. All sessions were given an average rating of 9/10, indicating that children’s session quality ratings were high and consistent across sessions. Sample size calculations for future large-scales studies were performed and recommendations were provided regarding how to improve the impact of art therapy from children’s perspectives.

The first elementary school years involve diverse, simultaneous developmental requirements in various domains that influence children’s future adaptation. The literature in art therapy has shown that children’s family drawings could be a valuable tool for learning about children’s internal world and adaptation. Therefore, the current study used children’s family drawings to assess children’s adaptation. Using the Main and Kaplan (1986) coding system to classify attachment representations, it examined children’s adjustment with different attachment classifications derived from their family drawings in a sample of 136 Israeli triads composed of young elementary school children, their mothers, and their fathers. Each drawing was coded into one of four attachment classifications based on global scales and detailed markers, such as the completeness of figures, facial expression, size, and degree of movement. Children whose drawings represented secure attachment exhibited the highest psychosocial functioning. Children whose drawings were ambivalent and disorganized showed the most salient adjustment difficulties, while those classified as representing avoidant attachment functioned relatively well. These results add to the accumulated findings in this area, pointing to the potential value of using family drawings to assess young elementary school-age children’s adaptation.

The cycles of disenfranchisement experienced by asylum seekers ordered by the United States of America to remain in the United Mexican States have been well documented by scholars and activists. Along the US/Mexico border zone, supports for asylum seekers are essentially non-existent, leaving them to seek shelter, sustenance, and safety completely on their own once they are returned to Mexican border cities to wait an indeterminate amount of time for their immigration court hearings. This article explores the reflections of expressive art therapies graduate students enrolled in a course which took place in El Paso, Texas USA, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in partnership with various shelters, community leaders/activists, artists, directors of nonprofits, and government officials. Through experiential engagement, the course, called The In-Between Space, interrogated the dynamics and intersectionality of poverty, race, class, and trauma through a historical lens and dissected the systems of colonialism by analyzing and critiquing oppressive practices within students’ personal spheres, educational context, and therapeutic profession.

Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face significant challenges as the demands of their role often surpass the resources available to them. Aiming to support the emotional and social wellbeing of caregivers, such as parents and teachers of children with ASD, a dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) intervention protocol was developed and implemented in a feasibility and process evaluation project. This article describes the development, and discusses the fidelity assessment, of the DMP intervention protocol. The fidelity assessment was conducted by calculating inter-rater reliability between three raters (therapist, researcher and external expert) on a 5-point Likert questionnaire through retrospective video analysis of the sessions. The results showed good agreement among the raters with a maximum mean difference of 0.57. High (75 % and above) adherence to the protocol was noted for 11 out of 12 criteria. The article critically evaluates the strengths and challenges of conducting a fidelity assessment of an intervention protocol. The overall structure and components of all the sessions of the protocol are illustrated in line with the template for intervention description and replication (TIDieR) checklist and guidelines to offer growing opportunities for replicable DMP intervention-based studies.

There is an increasing requirement of evidence-based outcome frameworks in the health sciences. This article presents the Dunphy Outcomes Framework (DOF) for dance movement therapy (DMT), the first generic outcomes framework for DMT. The framework is posited to measure outcomes intrinsic to DMT, and comprehensive for all client groups and contexts. It is therefore suggested as suitable for assessment of DMT interventions and clients’ progress. The DOF comprises six domains (physical, cultural, cognitive, emotional, social and integration), further divided into sub-domains and objectives. Informed by theory and evidence, both from published research and professional practice, the DOF has been developed through an extensive Delphi-like consultation process. The article presents the DOF and data on its reliability and validity. Reliability testing confirmed the factor structure of the original DOF with very good scale homogeneity and excellent interrater-reliability. Heuristically based on the results of an exploratory factor analysis that yielded six dimensions – five corresponding to the original DOF domains, with a slightly different weight of factors – a short version of the DOF (DOF-BREVE) is proposed. Benefits and limitations of the DOF as an assessment tool for the profession of DMT and creative arts therapies are discussed.

Expressive terrariums are a recent intervention in the field of ecological art therapy, which combines nature-based horticultural therapy with arts-based activities. An expressive terrarium consists of a plant terrarium in a glass bowl that contains living plants and objects that form a personal artistic-creative whole. The aim of this preliminary qualitative study was to explore the meanings and effects of making and tending an expressive terrarium, as well as its potential as an intervention tool in creative arts therapies. Twenty-three college students were asked to describe their experiences. The findings yielded three themes: (1) their perceptions of the terrarium building workshop, (2) their experiences and feelings while making the terrarium and when (3) tending the terrarium over time. The building phase was shown to facilitate an experience of flow, emotional expression, transformation and elicitation of cognitive skills. The tending phase was perceived as building a relationship with the growing and changing terrarium. The terrarium itself was seen as promoting self-observation. Making and tending the terrarium allowed the participants to engage in developmental tasks and experiences related to young adulthood. These facets of the participants’ experiences thus support the use of the expressive terrarium in therapeutic settings.