Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Adolescents With Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder And/Or Oppositional Defiant Disorder Benefit From Active Arts Therapy, Caitlin Carey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review investigates the implementation of medication and active arts therapy with adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Adolescents ages 13 to 19 spend most of their time in school. School systems have modified a therapeutic setting to benefit and assist students with these diagnoses. This paper analyzes whether the implementation of active visual arts and play therapy has positive effects for adolescents with ADHD and/or ODD involved in taking or not taking medication, resulting in a positive impact on their quality of life. By reviewing previous research, this literature review builds a case …

Art Therapy And The Person-Centered Approach: A Method For Breaking Down Creative Resistance With Dementia Patients, Kimberly Nelson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This Capstone explores the use of art therapy with a geriatric population on a psychiatric unit of a small, rural southern hospital. Most of the patients experience symptoms of dementia and are over the age of 55. Many patients presented with resistance to creative pursuits and this researcher utilized the person-centered approach to counter this “creative resistance”. In other words, the patients were met where they were at and accepted unconditionally, through empathy and congruence. The materials that were offered to this population were explored through the creative resistance as well, and a simple number two pencil produced successful results …

Integrating Expressive Therapies And Visual Literacy Skills In An Exceptional Children Classroom, Natalia Torres Del Valle

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The method conducted in this thesis integrated museum education, exceptional children education, and expressive arts therapy practices. Objectives for implementing the method were to learn how to effectively address the unique needs within the exceptional children classroom, as well as to collaborate with the teacher to address those needs through expressive arts therapy and visual literacy approaches. In so doing, I wanted to examine the differences and similarities between museum education and expressive arts therapy and how they can work together to meet therapeutic goals. The method took place over four sessions; each session focused on a work of art …

Fostering Social/Emotional Learning In A School Setting With Adolescents With Special Needs Through Collaborative Art Experiences, Alyssa Wood

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone focused on working with adolescents with special needs through art experiences. The framework in working with has evolved into the incorporation of social-emotional learning. Social-emotional benchmarks have been present in common themes in working with the special needs population. Art has been seen as a beneficial tool in therapeutic work with this population concerning cognitive growth, emotional regulation, adaptive behavioral styles, and physical development. This capstone specifically highlighted collaborative art and its role in an art group composed of adolescents in a school setting. Collaborative art experiences were presented through art partner work. Data was collected through observations, …

Using Trauma And Attachment-Informed Art Therapy To Promote Healing In Children In The Welfare System: A Literature Review, Jessica Q. Mctavish

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Children who have are placed in the child welfare system have often been exposed to a multitude of stressors and traumatic experiences, including: exposure to domestic abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, neglect, in-utero substance abuse, and abandonment. In result, a child’s development and overall functioning may be severely impaired, to include an inability to regulate emotions and manage arousal, attentional difficulties, chronic elevation of cortisol levels, and low impulse control. Such children may also experience deficits in working memory, executive functioning, academic skills, and social-emotional functioning. Their ability to form healthy attachments may be impaired, and they are …

A Literature Review On Current Uses Of Art Therapy In Short-Term Adult Inpatient Setting, Saebyul Ryu

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Current short-term adult inpatient psychiatric treatment presents with multiple challenges to researchers and practitioners due to the extremely short length of stay (3-10 days). Other compounding factors that make this level of treatment difficult to navigate are multidisciplinary treatment team barriers and a heterogeneous group of patients and psychopathologies, all of which influence the quality of treatment provided. In this treatment approach, art therapy has been found to be under-utilized because of the scarcity of dedicated research that satisfies the needs of the short-term adult inpatient setting. As a result, the effectiveness of art therapy has not translated into the …

Using Children's Books To Build Empathy In Children, Kate Solow

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

An art therapy group was carried out to assess whether children’s books positively affected children’s ability to empathize. The group consisted of one therapist and three children aged 8, 9, and 10 in a therapeutic classroom. The group met for 30 minutes once a week. The children listened to a story, followed by a discussion and a related art project. Observations from each session were recorded in a spreadsheet. The results suggest that reading and discussing the books allowed the children to have a better understanding of their own and others’ emotions.

How Art And Entrepreneurship Meet The Needs Of Homeless Youth, Lauren Blackerby

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The following thesis focuses on the idea of how art can meet the needs of homeless youth. First, the literature is examined to answer the questions: Who are homeless youth? What are their needs? And, how have their needs been met? Then there is a look into resiliency, what it is and how it relates to homeless youth. Finally, the disciplines of social work, health care, entrepreneurship, art education, and art therapy are examined in how these disciplines can each meet the specific needs of homeless youth. This thesis concludes by presenting a theoretical program focused on art education and …

Clay: Qualities, Benefits, And Therapeutic Applications A Literature Review, Sara Hansen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Clay is ubiquitous. It is uniquely durable and plastic. It is a substance sourced from the earth that has been manipulated in numerous ways and used for a variety of purposes for thousands of years. Despite this, art therapy research is heavily focused on art making using two-dimensional materials. Research is lacking regarding the use of clay as a medium in art therapy. This literature review revealed many therapeutic benefits and qualities about clay. These qualities include increasing mood in psychiatric patients, increasing progress in self-development for patients with schizophrenia, increasing self-expression with older adults, and healing from trauma. This …

Understanding Identities Of Internationally Adopted Adolescents Through The Use Of Art Therapy: A Literature Review, Joselin Acosta Toledo

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As international adoption becomes more popular and widely used in the United States, there is more evidence of the impact that adoption and the process of adaptation can have on an individual in both the long and short term, especially in the development of their identity. While adolescence tends to be a time when the individual is focused on creating and understanding their uniqueness, being an adoptee adds even more complexity to this task. Adopted children often struggle with issues of self- esteem, sense of belonging, identity formation, and safety (Harris, 2012). Art therapy has been successfully used with adolescents …

Development Of An Art Therapy Protocol For Reducing Shame In Forensic Offenders, Jessica Nora Cohen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This research follows the development and implementation of the Shame Reduction for Offenders (SRO) art therapy protocol. The protocol is carried out in a group format with twelve participants with forensic backgrounds on an inpatient unit at a psychiatric state hospital. Using art therapy, the patients directly and indirectly address feelings of shame as well as fear of losing control. Due to the nature of art therapy, the non-verbal aspects of this protocol allow participants to confront these feelings in a less threatening space. This protocol allows participants to gain insight and communicate about the topics of shame and control …

Exploring The Use Of Altered Books As A Tool For Self-Care With Adolescent Girls Diagnosed With Eating Disorders In A Residential Treatment Facility, Lucy Williams

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapy has been implemented in eating disorder treatment facilities to aid in a multidisciplinary approach to treating a complex disorder; which is complemented by anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Those that practice art therapy in these settings are witness to its benefits, but few studies have explored the potential benefits of specific art-making in different levels of care. The goal of art therapy with this population is to provide a means for communication and expression to help explain how one is feeling about, thinking about and understanding their disorder. Informed by the research of art therapy …

Developing Social Skills Through An Open Studio Art Therapy Group With Older Children, Amanda Hoyle

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper examines six sessions of an open studio art therapy group with three older children in a therapeutic day school, with a specific focus on social skills. The design of this study was based on the presenting needs of the students who were referred to the group which included improvement in social skills and self-expression, with the support of research in trauma, attachment, neurobiology, and art therapy. The participating students are all male, range in age from 11 to 14 years old, and each identify with different cultural backgrounds. The students were provided with a studio space and materials …

Use Of The Creative Arts Therapies And Creative Interventions With Lgbtq Individuals: Speaking Out From Silence A Literature Review, Tracy Huerta

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community is an at-risk population in dire need of competent treatment. This thesis explores sixteen published articles that investigate the use of the expressive therapies and expressive arts with LGBTQ individuals. The silencing of the LGBTQ community by an oppressive heterosexist and transphobic society causes negative impacts to LGBTQ individuals’ wellbeing, physical health, and self-expression. Research suggests that because of their stigmatized identity the LGTBQ community has special therapeutic concerns such as, internalized self-hatred, social rejection, gender or sexual orientation confusion, and safety needs. Multicultural and feminist theories of psychology propose that …

School-Based Interventions And Art Therapy For Children Exposed To Trauma, Danielle Fearon

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review examined childhood trauma as a growing public health issue in the United States. Childhood trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can lead to negative health outcomes. Adults who were exposed to trauma early in life may face challenges such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, intimate partner violence, incarceration, obesity, and low work performance. ACEs impact key areas of development when toxic levels of stress hormones are repeatedly released in the brain. Negative outcomes for traumatized children include struggling with social relationships, difficulty with emotional regulation, low academic achievement, and behavioral problems. Grounded in child-centered therapy and an …

Art Therapy With Homeless Children: Role Of Art Therapy On Complex Trauma Event, Eroo Kim

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This research focused on the role of art therapy on complex traumatic events of children and

explored how art therapy interventions can benefit children with trauma. Complex trauma is defined as a traumatic, chronic, and interpersonal event that begins in childhood, which later may foster a child to develop and maintain a system of strict maladaptive defenses and display symptoms such as excessive temper, regression, aggression, and overly demanding attention. Since a trivial, insignificant event on an adult’s eyes may not necessarily be the same insignificant event on children, there is a difficulty in defining trauma for children. This capstone …

Using Art Therapy Groups As A Treatment For Anxiety Symptoms In An Acute Partial Hospital Program, Jessica Visconti

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The present research project focuses on how art therapy groups can be used in short-term intensive treatment to manage anxiety symptoms. Mental health treatment has shifted into short-term groups, usually without more than ten sessions that can be intimidating for clients struggling with anxiety symptoms. Art therapy can be a way to manage and reduce symptoms of anxiety in a group setting and quickly develop connections within the group members. Art therapy offers a contained structure and format that can create safety quickly. A clay based art therapy based group was implemented in an acute partial hospital program with adults …

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 …

Using An Experience With The Creative Process To Initiate Personal Grief Narratives, Kelia Bergin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Grieving is universal and grief is unique to the individual experiencing it. Over time, societal shifts have turned the author’s experience of grief in modern, western society to something that is to be experienced in private and on a timeline. Once accepted as a shared human experience, grief became pathologized, and societal support diminished. Art and the creative process have prevailed through time as, among other things, a space in which to explore difficult emotions and the duality of light and dark; concepts commonly associated with grief as well. While research on grief and research on the expressive therapies exist, …

Art Therapy And The Recovery Process: A Literature Review, Michelle Sharp

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a multi-faceted disease that has physical, mental, and financial consequences for the individual and for society at large. The global burden of disease related to substance use disorder is 5.4 percent worldwide according to World Health Organization (2014). There is a need to expand knowledge of the illness as well as create a more effective treatment method. The demand for addiction-based treatment is rising. There is a need to explore and strengthen research on therapeutic approaches to help individuals to combat substance use disorder and aide in the recovery process. Art therapy, according to …

An Exploration Of Community Mural Making In The Context Of Art Therapy And Social Action: A Literature Review, Sarah Wilkie

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This literature review examines and discusses the various aspects of mural making in the context of both traditional art therapy and social action art therapy. The goal of this literature review is to explore and examine the therapeutic benefits of the artistic medium of mural making within the context of art therapy. In the context of traditional group art therapy, research indicates that mural making can assist in developing social and communication skills, conflict resolution skills and result in a sense of accomplishment and enhanced self-esteem. Including a brief introduction and history of mural making in America, key themes …

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. …