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Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Theses/Dissertations

Positive psychology

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

From Dread To Aliveness — Bottom-Up Creative Arts Therapies For Resilience In The Face Of Existential Stress: A Literature Review, Anna Olinova May 2023

From Dread To Aliveness — Bottom-Up Creative Arts Therapies For Resilience In The Face Of Existential Stress: A Literature Review, Anna Olinova

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Existential stress results from persistent, uncontrollable personal circumstances or broader systemic factors. Such prolonged stressors constitute “little-t trauma” and take a toll on the body, mind, and spirit. As such, approaches for building resilience against such stressors should be integrative. Because stress implicates the nervous system, bottom-up therapies are foundational in support of building a felt sense of safety. Thereafter, top-down methods for increasing one’s subjective sense of meaning and aliveness can follow. However, traditional psychotherapy approaches to resilience—including those utilized in positive psychology—are often cognitive in nature and disregard the body and nervous system. Literature on bottom-up therapies commonly …


Positive Art Therapy And Well-Being In Urban Us Schools: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Jennifer Hicks May 2020

Positive Art Therapy And Well-Being In Urban Us Schools: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Jennifer Hicks

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The integration of positive art therapy into urban school systems holds great promise in increasing the general well-being of adolescents at a systemic level. Urban school systems tend to have a diverse ethnic population as well as students of low socioeconomic status. Adolescents in urban schools often face difficulties that stretch beyond academics such as poverty and racism. It is argued that there should be a method developed to diminish the growing rate of mental health issues within this demographic. Treating symptoms of mental health difficulties is important but looking at what makes people happy should not be ignored. What …