Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Artistic Expression Of Medical Experiences Of Mothers Of Color: Perspectives Using Art Therapy, Lauren Barrett

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine perspectives of mothers of color living in the US and their experiences in the healthcare system through art therapy. The study aimed to further identify personal narrative experiences of mothers of color navigating the healthcare system, promote individual voices, and acknowledge disparities impacting those within marginalized communities. The participants in this study included a total of eight identified mothers of color (non-White) living in the US. Participants took part in four weeks of consecutive art therapy sessions either in 60-minute group or individual virtual meetings. One art therapy directive was provided …

Bird’S Nest Drawing: Exploring The Attachment Of Left-Behind Children In China, Ziyi Su

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

To explore the attachment of left-behind children (LBC), this mixed-methods study analyzed the Bird’s Nest Drawings (BND) and narratives from 117 fourth graders from Shaanxi and Gansu, China. Overall, the BND of LBC showed less secure-attachment features. These distinctions can be seen in several pictorial elements, and manifest differently across gender groups and rural versus urban groups. Drawings and narratives revealed eight underlying themes of absence, longing, and support from parent and peer attachment. Children creatively communicated complex emotions and attachment experiences through the metaphor of the bird’s nest, ranging from abandonment, loneliness, and vulnerability, to coping, hope, and resilience. …

Group Art Therapy With Resilience-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy For Female North Korean Defectors In The United States, Yuri Kim

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study engages in phenomenological qualitative research, focusing on three North Korean defectors residing in the United States. The research comprised six sessions, each lasting ninety minutes. These sessions involved the active participation of the subjects in six face-to-face group art therapy (AT) sessions, adhering to the six guidelines outlined in the Amita Treatment Framework (ATF). These sessions encompassed the following components: 1) analyzing self-image; 2) finding positive qualities; 3) identifying challenges; 4) behaviors driven by emotions in challenging situations; 5) reframing challenges; and 6) reconstructing self-image and goal setting.

Results from the study revealed phenomenological insights into the participants' …

Using Drama Therapy To Foster Peer Support Among Nurse Leaders, Chyela Rowe

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study explored the use of drama therapy to support the social-emotional experiences of nurse leaders at a mid-sized regional hospital system in the Southeastern United States. Nurse leaders have experienced profound changes to their work environments in recent years and burnout has been at an all-time high among healthcare workers globally. Organizational supports for nurses and nurse leaders are both inadequate to meet the needs and under-resourced. The research questions explored 1) whether the drama therapy peer support initiative improved outcomes and 2) whether there was a significant relationship between measures, and 3) what nurse leaders described as facilitators …

Israeli Professionals Understanding Of Selective Mutism, Tal Hanan

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed art-based research with phenomenological qualitative inquiry to understand the perspectives of professionals who are working in the Israeli school system with children diagnosed with selective mutism. Selective mutism (SM) is a disorder originated in anxiety in which a child, between the ages of 3–5, does not speak at school but does speak at home (APA, 2022). In this research, the researcher facilitated a professional workshop based on Dillon (2016) and a similar workshop conducted by Harwood and Bork (2011). The aim was to broaden the knowledge and investigate the opinions of professionals working with children diagnosed with …

Embodied Digital Storytelling With Ancestral Legacy, Giselle Ruzany

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Embodied Digital Storytelling with Ancestral Legacy is a study of one's ancestral legacy with a diverse group of professional dancers who were asked to engage in an embodied inquiry. Research questions were: What is the experience of creating embodied digital storytelling when exploring one’s ancestral legacy? What can be learned from identity, sense of belonging, and resilience through this process? The study included an interview about each dancer's ancestral story, the creation of embodied digital storytelling (EDS), a final interview, and a group member checking meeting for the purpose of confirming the transcripts and findings. This meeting also served as …

Tanden Art-Making As Contemplative Practice, Rumi Ito

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The art-based study, focused on painting with black ink on paper and video documentation, explores the relationship between artistic expression and contemplative breathing with a particular focus on tanden, a unique concept of such Asian cultures as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. There were three research questions: “How can tanden influence one’s physical movements in the art-making process?” and “Can contemplative breathing with a focus on tanden influence the quality of expression in one’s art-making? If so, what are the influences and implications for art therapy?”

The research suggested five bodily sensations common to all participants: inhaling and exhaling, relaxing, …

Artistic Expressions Of Vegan Women With Disturbed Eating Behavior And Body Image Distress, Lee Ann Thill

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This research explores the experience of women who are vegan, and have disturbed eating behaviors (DEB) and body image distress (BID). Four participants completed a series of three art-making sessions. Participants were invited to visually explore their experience as a vegan woman with DEB/BID. They made a mixed media collage with an emphasis on layering in each session. They engaged in discussion about their process, and the final art piece’s meaning. Between sessions, researcher response art pieces were created for each participant piece, with accompanying journal reflections to engage with the ideas they explored. All participant sessions were video and …

The Imagery Experience Of Korean Gim Therapists' Reactions Toward Their Clients' Resistance, Jung Pyo Moon

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to understand how Korean professional therapists who practice the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) understand their clients’ resistance through the imagery experience.

Participants in this study were six Korean GIM therapists living and working in South Korea. Two more Korean GIM therapists were recruited to take charge of guiding a total of six participants to examine this inquiry. Each GIM guide helped three participants. All six participants and two GIM therapists were regular members of the Association for Music and Imagery and the Korean Association for Music and Imagery. The researcher …

An Art-Based Exploration Of Interdisciplinary Reactivity Toward Problematic Clients, Devon Govoni

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This art-based dissertation explored professionals' reactivity toward problematic-client interactions across the art therapy, expressive arts therapy, hairstyling, and tattooing disciplines. The concept was explored with a participant from each discipline in a four-phase sculpting process and through semi-structured interviews, response sculptures, and video footage and aggregates. Research questions examined (1) what happens to the participants' professional understanding of problematic clients and (2) self-understanding through engaging in a sculpting process focused on problematic clients, (3) similarities in participants' experiences across disciplines, and (4) what happens when the researcher creates and presents response art to the research participants. The two main outcomes …

Creative Arts-Based Parents Training Program For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jung Eun Park

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study evaluated the impact of the Creative Arts-based Parents’ Training (CAPT) program. The 6-week long, creative arts therapy-based program and its impact on parental stress and sense of competence for parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was examined. Korean Parenting Stress Index Short-Form (K-PSI-SF) and Korean-Parenting Efficacy Test (K-PET) were used as quantitative measurements. Qualitative data were also collected for the experimental group (n = 17) using questionnaires, art journaling, and a 30 min focus group interview. The control group (n = 15) only participated in quantitative measurements. There was no difference in age between …

Experiences Of Single-Session Improvisational Group Music Therapy: Therapist And Patient Reflections From Inpatient Psychiatry, Yu-Ying Chen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore therapists’ and patients’ experiences in order to draw a composite picture of single-session improvisational group music therapy. This phenomenological study included ten therapist participants and nine patient participants. Each participant engaged with a single-session group musical improvisation and verbal discussion in a pre-designed protocol. The data analysis was conducted in three stages. In the first analysis stage, participants’ verbal feedback and discussion were analyzed using Moustakas’s (1994) method, yielding key words with quotations. In the second stage, Moustakas’s (1994) method of analysis was also adapted for an analysis of the music, yielding …

Experiences Of Single-Session Improvisational Group Music Therapy: Therapist And Patient Reflections From Inpatient Psychiatry, Yu-Ying Chen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore therapists’ and patients’ experiences in order to draw a composite picture of single-session improvisational group music therapy. This phenomenological study included ten therapist participants and nine patient participants. Each participant engaged with a single-session group musical improvisation and verbal discussion in a pre-designed protocol. The data analysis was conducted in three stages. In the first analysis stage, participants’ verbal feedback and discussion were analyzed using Moustakas’s (1994) method, yielding key words with quotations. In the second stage, Moustakas’s (1994) method of analysis was also adapted for an analysis of the music, yielding …

Meeting Point: Partner Dancing As Couple's Therapy, Rami Eckhaus

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This dissertation research explored the experience of partner dancing as a therapeutic process that reflects upon the dynamics and interactions of couples who are in the process of couple's therapy. The research also aimed to gain insight on the ways in which the experience of partner dancing can support these couples' therapeutic processes. Partner dancing is a dance-form that is based on the interaction between two individuals. Such interaction requires the dancing couples to communicate on many levels that may uncover layers of their relational dynamics. In this research, five couples who were undergoing couple's therapy were asked to participate …

Therapeutic Theatre With Adolescents At-Risk Of School Dropout, Dan Summer

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of therapeutic theatre, a method of drama therapy, on resilience among adolescents at risk of high school dropout. A mixed method approach was employed to qualitatively examine participant perspectives on resilience and quantitatively measure change in resilience. Participants engaged in weekly after-school drama therapy groups to collaborate on developing themes and a script for a performance to be witnessed by an audience of family and community members. Qualitative and quantitative findings were triangulated and embedded to examine relationships. The Behavioral Assessment System for Children Second Edition (BASC-2) and Resilience Scale …

Exploring Self-Injury: An Art-Based Approach To Cultivating Empathy And Understanding In Mental Health Professionals, Dana Wyss

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Self-injury greatly affects individuals, their families, and the mental health professionals who provide their care. This art-based research investigates the impact of clients’ self-injury on mental health professionals. It addresses four research questions and applies a methodology that integrates body art, photography, poetry, and dialogue. Six participants (including the researcher) participated in three meetings wherein they artistically responded with temporary body art to two questions, sorted through their photographs, reviewed poetry created about their work, and discussed the study experience. The researcher navigated being a witness-researcher by personally and creatively engaging in the study.

The results present raw, distilled narratives, …

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 …

“I Am Not Deaf”: Art-Based Participatory Action Research With Refugee Women From Burma, Hillary Rubesin

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

There are currently over 65 million displaced people across the world. Refugee women present a unique subset of those displaced. These women often struggle with “triple trauma,” but these complex issues can go unvoiced and unaddressed as the women work to hold their families together in the midst of shifting landscapes and shifting gender roles and cultural norms. The following study demonstrates how the arts can offer refugee women an opportunity to express themselves and process complex issues in effective, creative, accessible, therapeutic, and cross-cultural ways. It details the process and explores the impact of an art-based participatory action research …

Rhythmic Movements And Feeling States, Melanie Johnson

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study was conducted to test the validity of a theoretical framework in developmental psychology of body movement analysis, the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP). Motor patterns associated with needs and foundations for affect expression, the tension flow rhythms (TFRs), were examined. Recent research examined the validity of the TFRs in nonclinical adults and found preliminary support for some of the KMP’s assumptions associating smooth (indulging) rhythms with indulgent affects and sharp (fighting) movements with assertive or aggressive affects. This study aimed to test the TFRs associated with the first two years of development—the sucking, biting, twisting, and strain/release rhythms. The …

Complicated Grief And Art Therapy, Rachel Brandoff

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Complicated grief (CG) has come to be a common enough occurrence in mental health treatment to warrant research, literature, and discussion of markers, causes, prevalence, symptoms, measures, and treatment protocols. Art therapy presents one possible mode of treatment for individuals suffering from CG, and yet few art therapists know about CG or have training in this area. A systematic review of art therapy programs and educational requirements showed no current standards or training requirements for grief or CG. Art therapists are master’s trained clinicians who work with people with a variety of mental health challenges, and training in CG may …

Group Art Therapy And Self-Care For Mothers Of Children With Disabilities, Ji Hyun Lee

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a group art therapy intervention on psychological well-being of Korean mothers of children with disabilities. This study employed a quasi-experimental pre- and post-test research design with non-random assignment of participants to either the art therapy intervention group (AG) or the control group (CG). The present study quantitatively examined the effectiveness of the group art therapy intervention using four standardized measurements (Parental Distress sub-scale from Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, Perceived Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, & The Multidimensional Scale for Social Support) assessing parenting stress, perceived stress, depression, and perceived …

Evaluation Of The Dyad Bonding Dance Model For Mothers And Infants Exposed To Stressful Life Situations, Hadas Vered Weissberg

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study examines the Dyad Bonding Dance (DBD), a dance movement group therapy model developed to improve nonverbal communication between mothers exposed to stressful life situations and their children. The research emphasizes the importance of mother-child attachment relationships and transmission of stress from parents to children via nonverbal communication, which may affect bonding and child health. This qualitative study assessed the experience of dance movement therapists using this novel model. Broad research questions addressed were: (1) What are dance therapists’ experiences with the DBD model, focusing on its impact or lack of impact in improving the dyadic relationship between mother …

Effective Psychodrama Supervision: A Grounded Theory Study On Senior Supervisors' Perspectives, Simone Levy Tabib

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The overarching purpose of this two-phase study was to gain understanding about and insight into the practice of effective psychodrama supervision as a specialty field. The study explored senior supervisors’ perspectives on their roles as in-class group supervisors in psychodrama graduate school programs in Israel. Grounded theory (GT) methods of data collection and analysis were aimed at learning about participants’ professional approaches, and practice- based experiences. Study 1 involved face-to-face in-depth interviews conducted with open-ended core questions. The interviews explored how six expert participants approached the practice of PD supervision and the reasons behind their approaches. The findings shed light …

Filmmaking As Artistic Inquiry: An Examination Of Ceramic Art Therapy In A Maximum-Security Forensic Psychiatric Facility, Serena Duckrow

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This Art-Based Research (ABR) illuminates the power of creativity to inspire and heal people living in a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital. The study comprises: the individual and group artwork from the Collaborative Ceramic Art Therapy Studio with thirteen participants; a culminating thirteen-minute film found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytlFZVvlig, Conversations in Clay: Creativity, Collaboration, and Community; an artistic inquiry and examination of the project footage; and a discussion of how the therapeutic filmmaking process helped capture the essential therapeutic elements of clay, filmmaking, and the art therapy studio environment.

Family-Based Music Therapy: Family Therapists' Perspectives, Beth Nemesh

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the use of musical interventions borrowed from music therapy in a family therapy context. Furthermore, the study aimed to move beyond current application of family-music therapy that focuses on a child, a member with special needs, or families with additional diagnoses to non-clinical families seeking therapy, focusing on the family as an entity. This research was based on the premise that engaging in musical activities is a natural, common endeavor that does not require special musical skills. This does not replace the immense body of knowledge needed for conventional …

An Evaluation Of A Developmental Individualized Relationship (Dir®) And Creative Arts Therapies Program For Children With Autism, Faith Thayer

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study evaluated a Developmental Individual Differences Relationship-based (DIR®) creative arts therapy (CAT) program for children with ASD. The study was intended to assess whether the program met its stated goals to stimulate individualized social-emotional growth for children with ASD. The study was motivated by a central research question: Do DIR®-based creative arts therapies promote the social-emotional growth of children with ASD? A summative, longitudinal program evaluation research design was used to examine the program’s fidelity and outcomes. The evaluation included assessments for pre- and post-test quantitative standardized measures for data collection and analysis. The study also collected data from …

Touch Painting: An Art Therapy Intervention On Anxiety In Older Adults, Carrie May Ezell

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study investigated the use of two art therapy painting interventions with anxious older adults in long-term care or assisted living facilities in the Southeast. The control group used ‘traditional painting’ as defined by using a paintbrush and the intervention group used ‘touch painting’ as defined by using a foam core board with tissue paper. All participants in the study (n=44) were identified as having symptoms of anxiety as determined by their facility staff. Participants completed the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) as a pre-test and post-test assessment. Both groups attended four art therapy sessions with the following themes: (1) Free …

Embodied Creative Arts Therapy Interventions With Trauma: A Qualitative Study, Brian Timothy Harris

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

With the primary purpose to extend therapists’ knowledge base, open dialogue on treatment efficacy, and stimulate creative yet effective interventions, this two-phase qualitative study pursued the guiding research question, How do creative arts therapists use embodied interventions in the treatment of psychological trauma? Phase One of the study was conducted with music therapists who had extensive experience with trauma and reported on their experiences with and awareness of embodied trauma treatment through a broad spectrum of creative modalities. Phase Two was grounded in theories of body awareness and creative arts therapy applications and included therapists specializing in music, dance/movement, art, …

The Effect Of Personal Portrait Photographs On Cultural Attitude Among Jewish And Arabic Expressive/Art Therapists In Israel, Varda Serok-Jeppa

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to offer young expressive therapists in Israel, a country with a complex cultural narrative, a tool that might enhance ethno-cultural empathy competencies. The research question was: What is the effect of Personal Portrait Photographs on cultural attitude among Jewish and Arabic expressive/art therapists in Israel? A qualitative arts based study based in constructivist empirical phenomenology was executed collecting data via photo elicitation, through use of portrait photographs of faces of women wearing three religious head dresses: Jewish, Muslim and Christian. The photographs were revised to portray participants’ faces in the portrait photo. Participants were …

Understanding The Roles And Uses Of Art Making In Art Therapy, Mary Ellen Hluska

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study looked at the role of art making in art therapy, specifically how art therapists value, understand, use, and make decisions regarding art in personal practice and in professional practice. The art-making aspect of art therapy is understudied considering it is art that differentiates art therapists from other helping professions that use art in practice. Additionally, the study sought to illuminate how art making informs both the artist and art therapist identities of professional clinicians. A mixed-methods design was employed to gather data based on inductive and deductive study methods. Constructivist philosophy provided a process for generating ideas and …