Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Coming Out, Letting Go, Getting Naked: A Community Engagement Arts Based Project, Tim Aumiller

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Creating a healthy sexual minority identity remains a challenge in the 21^st century, despite significant advances in social acceptance and civil rights. Sexual minorities are more likely than cis gender heterosexuals to be exposed to traumatic events, and experience shame and mental and physical health symptoms as a result. Despite this, sexual minorities do overcome obstacles to develop resilience. While the coming out process looks different depending on the background of the individual, many gay men find connection and build community through this often difficult process where even rejection may play a part. The author found connection and community …

Commonthought (2023), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Social Media And Dance Movement Therapy In The Latinx Community, Ambrie Sward

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone thesis is a literature review that combines scholarly articles, personal experiences, and social media content to explore, support, and define dance movement therapy (DMT) and Latinx identity. Social media posts from YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, and Zoom are analyzed to heal and evoke social change. The social media posts analyzed are from celebrities such as America Ferrera, Becky G, Heidi Rojas, and Selena Gomez. Additionally, personal artistic responses are included.Throughout this capstone thesis, there is discussion about dance movement therapy, social media, Latinx community and cultural identity. Themes include a lack of belonging, advocacy for mental …

Commonthought (2022), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Thoughts, Feelings, Actions; The Brevity Of Being: A Haiku Method, Scott Medeiros

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The difficulties of delivering clinical services during the pandemic showed that there was a need for interventions that were able to be adapted to virtual sessions. In addition, lack of training and expertise regarding specialized therapies require modern day clinicians to be able to synergize current theory with the reality of the mental health landscape. In this study, 19 individuals participated in a psychoeducation group that taught a therapeutic thought mapping technique that was then adapted towards the creation of a haiku. It was noticed that participants were able to learn a psychological concept, apply it towards their life, create …

Commonthought (2021), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2020), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …

Presence Through Expressive Arts And Buddhism, Akshita Desore

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is increasing research suggesting presence as the foundation of therapeutic work with clients and is becoming just as important a concept as theoretical orientation of therapists. This literature review focuses on understanding the skill of presence by looking at existing literature on the concept and suggests expressive arts and meditative practices as a tool to cultivate therapeutic presence. Using the Geller-Greenberg model of Therapeutic Presence as the foundation, I answer two questions in this thesis, what presence means conceptually and how therapists can achieve presence when working with clients. By its very nature, Expressive arts therapy with its focus …

Commonthought (2019), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

A Literature Review On Substance Related Grief And Expressive Art Therapy Support Groups, Holly N. St. Cyr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In the year of 2017, 18.7 million Americans aged 18 years or older were reported to have a substance use disorder and the pervasiveness of substance related deaths escalated (McCance- Katz, 2017). Researchers have examined how grief experienced by substance users and their loved ones is often disenfranchised by social stigmatization, loss of support, and feelings of regret, blame, humiliation, and shame. According to Valentine, Bauld, and Walter, (2016) “bereavement following a drug or alcohol related death has been largely neglected in research and service provision, despite its global prevalence and potentially devastating consequences for those concerned,” (p. 283). Studies …

The Role Of Meaning Making In Expressive Writing And Adults With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Literature Review., Leah Kennedy Rose

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review examines the positive impact that expressive writing can have on adults who have experienced a traumatic event and are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Expressive writing can take a number of different forms and falls under the category of expressive arts therapy. When used in addition to traditional psychotherapy and, if necessary, psychotropic medications, expressive writing can be an effective treatment method for adults with PTSD. Despite an initial increase in negative affect arousal, engaging in an expressive writing intervention can result in numerous improvements in physical, mental, and emotional well-being. By facilitating the meaning-making process, …

Dmt And “The Man Box:” Provoking Change And Encouraging Authentic Living, An Arts-Based Project, Steven Reynolds

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the mind-body experience through an arts-based research approach to examine, and redefine the emotional capacity and usefulness of males through societal determinants that limits and hinders men from living their authentic selves. Through the lens of a metaphoric “Man Box” 112 men participated in a workshop recreating their personal narratives of socialization through, style of dress, coping mechanisms, belief systems and who they should be as men through society's standards. In the “Man Box,” male bonding, and emotional feelings are discouraged, while the objectification of women, material property and physical/emotional strength are encouraged. This research investigates the …

Commonthought (2018), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Mutual Vulnerability And Intergenerational Healing: Black Women Hbcu Students Writing Memoir, Zelda Lockhart

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study sought to gain insight into the unique experiences of Black women students who were writing memoir toward the goal of self-definition in a Black feminist learning environment at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Two teaching methods included personal plot (an extension of expressive writing that offers writing prompts for emotional closure), and biblio-fusion (a combination of expressive writing and bibliotherapy) (Lockhart, 2017a; 2017b). Interviews were conducted with six Black women participants and triangulated against their personal essays and online journal responses. Personal plot, a form of narrative analysis was used to construct paragraphs on what each …

Stepfamily, Rebecca Chappelear

MFA in Photography and Integrated Media Theses

A discussion of the photographic imagery used in artist's work and a first-hand account of the experience which lead to it's creation. The work and writing encapsulate the trauma caused by family dysfunction brought on by a stepfather's struggle with depression and alcoholism.

Empathizing With “The Other”: Visualization And Perspective Taking, Lisa Spitz, Liv Cummins

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

As today’s youth blossom into adulthood, they will simultaneously be challenged to develop their sense of self/identity and to cultivate their ability to embrace differences, all while being bombarded by visual media and messaging. Research literature on perspective taking provides a framework by which students can develop an understanding of their own perspective, imagine the world from an “other” perspective, and make connections that link to productive actions (Selman, 1971). Perspective taking as a concept has been linked to greater empathy, compassion, and prosocial behavior (Hardwood and Farrar, 2006). Yet the mechanism for enabling productive perspective taking is unclear. In …

Self-Discovery Through The Personal Essay, Scott Sanders, Kai Barry, Charlie Clement, Katya Zinn, Leigh Kozak, Erin O'Shea, Evelyn Cameron

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The triumphs and traumas of our past help shape us, yet sometimes our identity is still difficult to figure out. Who am I? Why am I here? Why did that happen to me? What is my purpose? Writing is often the best way to approach the answers to such profound questions, to work through previous pain or happiness or distress. It is one thing for a student to verbally discuss these ideas with friends, family, or counselors. It is another thing entirely to look inward, to be absolutely honest with oneself, and then write about it. Crafting a personal essay …

10.01.012-.013 Lesley College Publications, Literary Magazines, 1960-2017, Marie Wasnock

Finding Aids

A collection of literary magazines written and published by students of Lesley University:

Pendulum, founded by the friends of the Livingston Stebbins Library, was a literary magazine published once a year and contains prose, verse, photography, and graphic art by the undergraduate students of Lesley College. The Pendulum collection comprises 24 issues published between 1960 and 1983.

Commonthought is a magazine of the arts created by students of Lesley College, Lesley University, and the Art Institute of Boston. It was first published under the title, Womanthought, in 1989, and renamed in the early 1990s. The Commonthought collection comprises …

Commonthought (2017), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2016 & 2017), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2015), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2014), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2013), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2012), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2011), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought (2010), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought, (Fall 2009), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought, Vol 20 (Spring 2009), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Commonthought, Vol 19 (Fall 2008), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.