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Can Collage-Based Art Therapy Be A Bridge To Engage Patients Experiencing Social Isolation With A Diagnosis Of A Psychotic Disorder?, Nora Wolff

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Social isolation is not only a common part of the experience of people with psychotic disorders but also often acts as a barrier to their treatment and recovery. Causes of this isolation seem to include not only symptoms of the psychotic illnesses themselves but also the social stigma related to psychotic illnesses, as well as feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and low self-esteem related to common comorbid disorders. Engaging with patients in acute inpatient units with short lengths of stay can be extremely difficult. This paper reviews the literature and describes a collage-based art intervention with six particularly isolative patients in …

Caring For Former Caretakers: Utilizing Collage To Explore Transition, Development Of A Method, Noelle Leblanc

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Older adulthood often comes with a variety of challenges both emotional and physical. The transition to an assisted living program can be challenging to cope with. Older adults may face isolation and loneliness, while grappling with changes in their identity as result of factors like decline in health, loss of an ability, or changes in social support. Arts based interventions were administered individually among a group of older adults to test if collage could be utilized to explore themes of role shift, transition and identity. Clinical observations along with post-session reflective artwork is included. Assisted living residents participated in a …

Putting The Pieces Together: Inside/Outside Box Collage As A Group Art Therapy Directive For Supporting Emotional Containment In An Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital, Rachel Rogalski

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Finding an art therapy directive that can be effective in engaging patients with a wide range of mental health diagnoses can be challenging. Even more so is a clinician’s ability to foster a sense of safety within the therapeutic group space of a psychiatric hospital. Many patients feel vulnerable in these settings given the history of institutionalism, as well as their experience of being uprooted from their typical environments and routines. As an art therapist in this setting, understanding which materials can best suit this population may be challenging, often achieved through a process of trail-and-error. The implementation of art …

Utilizing Collage To Address Disenfranchised Grief Amongst Older Adults Living With Dementia: A Method, Isabelle A. Olsson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Grief is an inevitable part of the human experience as everyone encounters loss across the lifespan. However, some forms of grief go unrecognized or unvalidated leading to the disenfranchisement of the griever’s experience. Existing literature captures numerous experiences and approaches to addressing the grief of families and caretakers living with an individual diagnosed with dementia. However, little literature details the grief experiences of individuals diagnosed with dementia. Grief can go unrecognized amongst those living with dementia as they are often thought to be incapable of grief as a result of their memory loss and shift in cognition. This thesis explored …

Body Image And The Causes Of Dissatisfactions: Re-Shaping Negative Thinking Through Symbolic Powers Of Collage, Susie Thom

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Understanding why so many individuals struggle with their body image becomes easier by analyzing how society promotes a “thin ideal” through the media, the way women talk to one another about their bodies (a term known as fat talk), social comparisons, and how families advocate for a slender build. Body image refers to our perception, feelings, and actions in regard to our body (Kaslow & Eicher, 1988; Seijo, 2016). Negative thoughts and feelings about one’s body as a result of viewing the media’s unattainable thin ideals, engaging in harmful and negative dialogue about one’s body, comparing one’s body or appearance …

Collage Therapy With Elders: Group Socialization And Communication Beyond Words, Cassandra Knowles-True

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Dementia is a cognitive disease which impacts a person’s ability to verbally communicate and to emotionally socialize due to degeneration of the brain. Nonpharmacological approaches to dementia care have become more common as we look for more holistic approaches to caring for the entire person, and not just the brain functions and limitations. A new focus on the social and emotional needs of individuals with dementia has led to the use of expressive arts therapies, as therapeutic interventions in dementia care, in many nursing homes and senior centers. Collage therapy is particularly accessible, as an arts-based intervention, as the …

Taking Art Therapy Outside Of The Studio: Bringing Creativity And Care To Women Within A Boston Homeless Shelter, Mariah Duncan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within the walls of a homeless shelter in Boston, Massachusetts there is a room designed to be a safe space for anyone who identifies as a woman. The room is outfitted with most of the services provided elsewhere in the shelter; computers, phones, coffee, water cooler, breakfast foods and access to the clothing distribution center and the clinic. The only things missing from this space were mental health clinicians and art, care and creativity. When the shelter’s studio space closed for a month, the Women’s Center became my studio away from studio. My aim was to bring these missing aspects …