Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Neuroqueering Art Therapy: Bringing Neurodivergent Gender Diversity Into The Creative Arts Therapy Room: A Literature Review, Avital Eisen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Recent research across disciplines has established the significance of the overlap between neurodivergence and gender diversity, a truth long espoused by the community. Acting on this research, some mental health disciplines have begun addressing neurodivergent transgender and gender diverse people as a unified population in their research, but the field of art therapy has not yet followed suit. Theoretical frameworks of intersectionality, queer theory, and disability justice highlight the importance of centering the unique experiences and needs of neurodivergent gender diversity. Using these frameworks, this literature review synthesizes community knowledge with art therapy research on both neurodivergence and gender diversity, …

Inner Portraits, Bethany Salisbury

Graduate Theses

This paper investigates the many interconnected layers of women’s mental health through portraiture and how animal and plant symbolism can represent the way women's hormones and bodily health affect their mental health. I reveal how the artwork created presents these connections and inner mental health narratives to the viewer, creating a space of empathy, destigmatization, and self-reflection. This body of portraiture art connects five women through a series of both two-and three-dimensional portraits based on interviews using my own adaptation of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoots’ (1983) portrait methodology.

Women and non-binary individuals have always dealt with difficult interactions of bodily and mental …

Complex Narratives Of Individuals Living With Alpha-Gal Syndrome (Ags). A Mixed-Methods Investigation: Examined Through Self-Reported Data, In-Person Interviews, And A Group Body Mapping Art Therapy Intervention, Sylvan Streightiff

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

Alpha-gal (galactose-α-1,3-galactose) Syndrome or AGS is an under-recognized chronic condition which coincides with tick-bite exposure, resulting in a unique allergy to non-primate mammalian products and byproducts (in addition to other items caring the α-gal epitope such as carrageenan, agar-agar, and nori). This paper explores the experiences of individuals with this illness, establishing psychological context for expressed symptomatology, while emphasizing the complex trauma rooted in the population’s experiences of the life-altering and life-threatening contexts associated with managing AGS. This research is structured with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) theory and utilizes a mixed-methods approach to arts-based research with the goal of …

Exploring Challenges And Triumphs Within The Transgender Community Through Comics-Based Research, Carly Caldwell

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

Transgender people are marginalized and pathologized within our society, which leaves transgender individuals vulnerable to numerous negative outcomes. The minority stress model describes the factors experienced by marginalized communities contribute to adverse outcomes (Meyer, 2015). Health care professionals are often not properly equipped to serve the needs of transgender individuals due to marginalization and pathologization. Used to challenge harmful stereotypes, as a form of cultural resistance, and to incite social change comic books and zines have been used as forms of expression for individuals with marginalized identities. Through the creation of a comic book, I aimed to educate others, encourage …

Doodling As Self-Expression: Building Self-Efficacy In Normally Functioning Adults, Journey Coward

Art Therapy | Theses and Dissertations

While previous studies identify doodling as a useful educational tool, this study sought to determine if doodling can build creative or emotional self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their own capacity to express behaviors necessary to attain specific performance goals. The current study also sought to determine if doodling can be a form of self-care. Research collected was quantitative and qualitative using surveys to measure both creative and emotional self-efficacy along with a doodling activity. Ten participants were recruited through convenience sampling on social media and were included in the study after meeting the inclusion criteria of identifying themselves …

Self-Compassion Integrated Art Therapy For Mothers During A Pandemic, Shannon Dover

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis reviews literature related to parental mental health and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a collective trauma in which individuals experience the trauma differently depending on race, gender, and class. Women’s experience of living during COVID-19 related to changes in the workplace, caretaking, and more. The pandemic influenced parents and notably mothers with increased stress, depression, grief, and anxiety. The practice of self-compassion reduces shame and self-criticism which are common experiences during parenting and trauma. Self-compassion and art therapy can aid in resiliency and make living during COVID-19 more comfortable. With a literature review, results yield the following …

Sensory Interventions For Older Adults Living With Dementia, William Tigno, Leigh Hayden, Christina Passarelli, Susan Shepley

Publications and Scholarship

This tool maps out existing literature on sensory interventions for people living with dementia. It allows users to select a sensory intervention that might be feasible in their context, produce outcomes that are relevant to them. It is based on a scoping review of the literature. Our scoping review identified what interventions exist to produce particular outcomes, in particular contexts. It did not address effectiveness. As such, this tool will help you identify what others have done in a particular context, and to produce particular outcomes. It will not tell you which options are most effective.

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 …

Designing For Adolescent Mental Wellness: An Analysis Of Museum Education, Art Therapy, And Developmental Theory, Katherine Angela Himics

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Museums serve as therapeutic environments providing positive, arts engagement opportunities for visitors’ mental wellness and growth. Literature reveals that mental wellness programming in the museum environment predominantly serves adult audiences, yet the presentation of mental illness symptoms commonly begins during adolescence. In response, this study sought to provide an accessible, replicable structure for the design and implementation of adolescent mental wellness programming. Through a qualitative textual and content analysis, this study developed a series of recommendations for the development of said programming informed by the comparison of clinical art therapy practices, adolescent developmental theory, and the strengths of museum education.

Using Art To Mitigate Burnout For Those Working In Direct Care, Jessica E. Goodchild

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Through a critical review of the existing literature, this capstone thesis seeks to investigate the potential benefits and drawbacks to the integration of guided artistic practices within the workplace. The literature reviewed focused on both qualitative and quantitative studies of burnout and explored the professional benefits that art making can provide in mitigating burnout for those within a western culture working in the field of mental health and social services, particularly in the capacity of a direct care worker (DCW). Through the review of the literature a case can be made for the benefits of using visual art to engage …

Zentangles For Mental Health Awareness, Rachel Immel

Honors Projects

The world is starting to see the rise of a stress related epidemic. Finding time to balance the struggles of everyday life, like academics, finances, careers and relationships, while also maintaining personal mental health is becoming increasingly difficult. This is what prompted me to use my project as an opportunity to help people relieve stress and create a community through the use of art, especially during a time where social interaction has been severely limited due to COVID-19.

My project is a series of live-streamed Zentangle art classes I hosted personally that were open to the public through Zoom. Zentangle …

Labyrinth Meditation As A Foundation For Photography With Adolescents, Corrie Vanderbrug

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This capstone thesis paper analyzes how the use of meditation, finger labyrinths, and photography intertwine to strengthen reflection for the adolescent population. To further this community engagement project, the researcher observed two male adolescents in in their work with meditation and photography. Results revealed that after the use of labyrinth meditation, participants felt calm and quiet. The photo-taking portion of this study was different than what they had previously experienced while taking images. Results also showed that meditation before photo-taking allowed for reflection, awareness, and personal empowerment to increase during the art making process. This study emphasizes the need …

Beyond Regression: An Investigation Of Art Material Choice For Children With Trauma, Natalie Lane

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Choice in art materials and the artistic process are arguably two of the primary facets of how art making can be therapeutic. The purpose of the present inquiry was to investigate the impacts of art material choice in children who have experienced trauma. Using the expressive therapies continuum (ETC) as a foundation for choosing art materials in a therapeutic context, this inquiry sought to introduce art materials in the kinesthetic/sensory component of the ETC (e.g., clay, paint, large paint brushes, etc.). As a mediating consideration, this inquiry articulated the responsibilities and obligations that the art therapist possesses in working with …

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 …

Ethical Art Waste: Examining Resource Management In The Art Studio, Amanda Peavey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper highlights the lack of education about production and disposal of art materials within the field of art therapy. Failure to educate clinicians creates ethical problems when hazardous materials are used in sessions unknowingly. This paper is grounded in environmental studies and chemical management to supplement the art therapy field’s lack of research and commentary. The literature is dedicated to educating the reader about the hazardous nature of materials, issues surrounding regulations of chemicals involved in production, and consumerism in relation to waste processing. The research data was collected from a community engagement project: an educational presentation was offered …

Art That Heals, Christina Cardona

Capstones

Beryl Brenner was a creative arts therapist for 40 years, and helped veterans heal from war traumas through art all across the city. For the past 11 years, she was at the Brooklyn Campus of the VA NY Harbor Healthcare system in Bay Ridge, where she developed the art therapy program. https://christinacardona1.wordpress.com

Wellness Through Radical Hospitality: Sheridan College, Susan Beniston, Dianne Shannon

Articles

Wellness Through Radical Hospitality: Sheridan College - an article featured in The Canadian Art Therapy Association's online magazine Envisage.

Mind In Hand, Anna Olson

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

This thesis explores the intersection of art and psychology as it manifests in my art practice, particularly in the medium of weaving. The contemporary frameworks of memory and archive provide the basis of this discussion, as well as findings from the field of Art Therapy. Difficult emotions like loss and grief often show up in my work, and I will discuss how artists like Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Sophie Calle also utilize these concepts. In weaving, I capture my internal mental states, memories, and perceptions of the future in a variety of found and gifted objects. Guided by the precedents set …

Art Therapy And Art History Theories, An Inquiry, Hannah L. Masters

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This research uses critical theory inquiry with interviews and arts-based research to explore biases about art making in clinical art therapy practice. The literature review establishes an historical link between theoretical tenets in fields of art therapy and art history. Participants are chosen from experts in the fields of art therapy and art history. Interviews explore what art making means to each participant, utilizing both verbal and arts-based processing. The data is condensed through coding and arts-based reflection, and seven emergent themes are identified. The themes are checked with the participants for accuracy. The findings of the paper integrate the …

The Parallels Between Art Therapy And Christianity: Integrating Identities As A Christian And An Art Therapist, Kendal Hansen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Therapists knowledge of their personal beliefs is extremely beneficial to individual’s working in the field of art therapy. Therapists are better able to serve their clients when they have a clear understanding of themselves and their biases. The writer of this thesis identifies strongly as an art therapist and as a Christian. To better understand how the two strongest parts of her identity integrated, this thesis explored the parallels between Christianity and art therapy by reviewing the literature and facilitating an arts-based qualitative study. The literature suggested that art therapy can be effective with various populations within the Christian category. …

A Pilot Project Of Art And Eating Disorders: A Self-Advocacy Campaign Through Video Narratives, Sarah Pray

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

This pilot project of Art and Eating Disorders was approved by The Emily Program Foundation (TEPF) (Emily Program Foundation, n.d.), a 501(c) (3) nonprofit working to eliminate eating disorders through advocacy, social outreach, and collaboration with community partners. TEPF recruited five artists. Artists were interviewed by Sarah Pray and artwork digitally recorded at various locations, filmed and edited by videographer, Eve Daniels. Artists brought artwork and other creative work related to their recovery. The resulting videos were uploaded to the TEPF website (www.theemilyprogramfoundation.org) weekly. The goal of the pilot project was to measure the project's ability to document …

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, …

Understanding Children's Art Making Preferences: Implications For Art Therapy, Amy Morrison

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed a phenomenological, qualitative approach to investigate children’s art making preferences. The researcher was curious about the meaning that creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional art forms held for children. Influences and contributions to children’s art making preferences were explored. Lastly the study questioned what children’s artistic preferences mean for the field of art therapy. Theories of art therapy, artistic development, and child development informed the study. Thirteen children ages 5 to 11, four boys and nine girls participated. The researcher requested the children choose a subject and create the subject in both two and three dimensions. A range of …

Examining Multicultural Competency Education In The Creative Arts Therapies, Donna C. Owens

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

In the changing landscape of the United States, the skills and competencies of helping professionals must continue to address the unique needs of its various populations. As a growing field, the creative arts therapies must adopt multicultural values and standards necessary to remain competitive and relevant.

This study addressed the issue of multicultural counseling competency training in the creative arts therapies from three perspectives: the governing association, the training institution, and the student/trainee. Throughout this study the term creative arts therapies includes art, dance/movement, drama, expressive arts, music, poetry, and psychodrama.

Information concerning the associations for each of the seven …