Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reflection Of A Sensory Art Therapy Directive In Supporting Coping Skills With Adults With Mental Illness, Heather Holloway

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Reflection of a Sensory Art Therapy Directive in Supporting Coping Skills with Adults with Mental Illness

Sensory Jars were created in 3 groups within the partial hospitalization program for adults, dealing with mental health and substance use issues, in order to support learned coping skills through a multi-sensory process. The creation of the jars were intended to specifically support a mindful grounding technique taught at the program called the “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” method. These jars were for the members to have a physical tool in which to help them practice this method before they found themselves within a …

Planning For Spontaneity: Music Therapy Session Preparation, Structure And Procedures, Peri Strongwater

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Current research in the field of music therapy regarding productivity and efficiency is limited to exploring theoretical concepts and is lacking on the effects of implementing said theories. It will be advantageous for music therapists to adopt streamlined processes for recurring responsibilities such as session planning, preparation and post-session processing. Increased productivity in these endeavors will permit more time allocated towards more valuable undertakings. To expand upon the emerging data and to contribute to the field’s current understanding, this writer has designed a session structure model exclusively for music therapists to use in their clinical practices. A worksheet-based template was …

Breaking Barriers: Using Music To Create Community In Orphanages, Jessica Maclean

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Community Music Therapy is a quickly growing subfield of music therapy that shows positive effects on groups of marginalized people. Although there is a large body of research surrounding the use of Community Music Therapy with some populations, there is little to no research about its use in orphanages. This thesis describes a community engagement project that took place in an orphanage in Vietnam, demonstrating the positive effects of music therapy on the children residing there. Interactive live music was played in the wards the children live on for two weeks and the experiences and results were documented by the …

Enhancing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Expressive Arts Therapy By Applying A Hybrid Approach, Danielle Carroll

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Therapists often draw from multiple therapeutic modalities in order to find appropriate treatment options for a client; however, little is written on the subject of how these modalities may be able to enhance each other in a strategic way. When considering the field of expressive arts therapy and the struggle it has faced in the effort to legitimize itself, it is worth considering how other therapeutic modalities could work in tandem with it in order to improve the overall experience. Alternatively, cognitive behavioral therapy is a strong, evidence-based practiced that sometimes lacks in the qualitative experience realm, providing a gap …

Use Of Expressive Arts To Improve Quality Of Life In Individuals With Mental Illness, Lynsey Huyett

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within the mental health community, the expressive arts are gaining popularity as a respected form of therapy; however, there is still much to be discovered in regard to its effectiveness with individuals with a mental health diagnosis. Research completed to date includes the exploration of a variety of modalities and its benefits to those with a mental illness, but it lacks an examination of the effect that the expressive arts has on overall quality of life. As a contribution to what will hopefully be an expanding area of interest, this writer designed an expressive arts therapy group facilitated at a …

A New Lens Community Engagement Project, Danielle Hance

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Tensions continue to run high between law enforcement and communities of color in the Twin Cities metropolitan area following multiple police-related deaths, including Jamar Clark and Philando Castile. Studies, both nationally and regionally, demonstrate an elevated level of distrust for law enforcement in the Black community and higher numbers of police errors involving the shooting of unarmed Black people. The author sought to create a project that would enhance perspective taking, address bias and stereotypes, and provide a safe space for healthy dialogue between the volunteers from the law enforcement and Black community using the arts. Photovoice is a technique …

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 …

Drama Therapy With Active Duty Service Members, Leayne Dempsey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The objective of this capstone thesis was to design a 50-minute drama therapy group session that worked within the interdisciplinary treatment model of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) and its Healing Arts Program located on the base of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. It was grounded in Frydman’s (2016) theoretical framework that partners drama therapy with neuropsychology, and considers elements of Landy’s (1996) Role Theory, J.L. Moreno’s concept of spontaneity (Howie &Bagnall,2016), Developmental Transformations (Butler, 2012) and Sociodrama (Sternberg &Garcia, 2000). It also aimed to further Frydman’s (2016) research by applying it to the …

The Use Of Role Theory To Build Identity In Adolescents, Jordan Crawford

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper discusses how role theory introduced through the arts can aide adolescents in understanding the many parts of their own identity. The research focuses on the idea that through strengths based identity building, teens can increase their self-knowledge and self-esteem which will in turn decrease the chances for each individual developing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Relevant literature and research were used in order to develop evidence based expressive art therapy interventions to further explore identity using a strengths based approach. The intervention was introduced to an adolescent client who has a diagnosis of adjustment disorder with anxiety and …

Once Upon An Assessment, Shannon Culligan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

For this research Six-Piece Story Making, an assessment created by Mooi Lahad (2006), was used to elicit a more creative way of assessing risk daily with children. After reviewing the literature on the topic of using storytelling as a therapeutic intervention with children, it was found that there is a lack of information around using storytelling within a partial hospitalization environment. This research began to explore the possibilities of using storytelling in a partial hospitalization setting with male and female children aging in range from 6 to 13 years of age. It was found that within a partial hospitalization program …

Dance Movement Therapy With Adolescents In A Partial Hospital Program: A Method For Engagement, Claude Michelle Aubourg

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Therapeutic engagement during adolescence can be a major challenge in adolescent mental health. Research has indicated therapeutic techniques designed for engaging clients are often ineffective for adolescents because adolescents bring distinctive qualities to the therapy process that differentiate them from other therapy populations. There is also limited research showing effectiveness of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) with the adolescent population. This capstone will present an adaptable method utilizing dance/movement therapy interventions with participants ages 12-17 in a Partial Hospital Program. The objective of this project was to examine how DMT can improve engagement in treatment with adolescents in a partial hospital program …

The Efficacy Of Journal Writing In Assisting Survivors Of Sexual Trauma Towards Post-Traumatic Growth, Claire Creely

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Along with a cultural shift in the United States to advocate against sexual assault, there is an increase in literature suggesting clinical interventions to promote transformation following trauma by sexual assault. Historically, research and clinical application has focused on post-traumatic stress disorder, but there is an increase in literature that encourages clinical intervention following trauma to encourage survivors to intercept symptoms of post-traumatic stress and transform their experience into post-traumatic growth. Journal writing therapy may be an efficient, evidence-based therapeutic technique for encouraging this transformation towards post-traumatic growth.[k1] A review of the literature on writing therapy practice and post-traumatic …

Play Therapy Techniques With Adults In An Inpatient Setting, Corinne Geoffrion

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This research study explored the use of play therapy techniques with adults on an inpatient unit. Participants engaged with play figurines during a one-hour expressive art therapy session. A second-year expressive art therapy intern facilitated the groups. The intern guided the members through a warm-up activity, main directive and closing activity. The focus of the play therapy directives was on the current self and future self. Data was collected from three groups facilitated by the same group leader and involving two different hospital units. The play figurines chosen, environments created and participant’s body language were noted. Overall, the usage of …

A Match Made In Mental Health: An Exploration In Using Drama Therapy As An Adjunct Therapy Paired With Psychoeducation, Natalie Doyle

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This project focuses on the use of drama therapy as an adjunct therapy with psychoeducation to increase insight, engagement, and information retention with adults who are managing severe mental illness. The facilitator (this writer) utilized drama therapy and psychoeducation to aid adult clients (20-75years of age) in a goal-setting group. It was conducted with a mixed diagnoses group in a community mental health agency partial care program. The group was made up of English speaking only, Spanish speaking only, and bi-lingual clients. Most of the clients receive government benefits such as Medicaid, SSI, etc. The study took place over the …

The Forgotten Mourners: A Literature Review On Parental Suicide And Community Art Therapy With Child Survivors, Emily Ellis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The prevalence of grief has raised the question of the long-term effects and efficacy of current bereavement practices (Mitchell, Wesner, Garand, Dysart-Gale, Havill, & Brownson, 2007). There is a lack of understanding and research on bereavement support for child survivors of parental stigmatized deaths; specifically, death by suicide. Children remain to be an underserved population with specific vulnerabilities regarding their inclusion in the emotional and cognitive comprehensions of the death and the resounding grief and mourning. Consequences specific to death by suicide are characterized by feelings of guilt, blame, and shame, as well as perceived stigma and isolation (Mitchell et …

Cross-Lateral Movement To Promote Motor Functioning And Executive Functioning In Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Courtney Chow

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone project sought to explore the relationship between dance/movement therapy and autism spectrum disorder by designing and implementing a cross-lateral movement method. Cross-lateral movement is oppositional locomotion that activates a diagonal pattern of connectivity (ex: top left to bottom right). Participants (n = 41) consisted of students aged 18-22, in a college-based transition program, who presented with a variety of intellectual and developmental disabilities including ASD. Participants were divided into three groups; the first two groups performed the method twice and the third group performed the method once. Outcomes observed included positive changes in participants’ self-report of affect, motor …

Integrating Art Therapy And Horticultural Therapy To Best Serve The Needs Of At-Risk Adolescents: A Literature Review, Kara Rodecker

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone thesis examines existing literature on art therapy, horticultural therapies, and positive youth development, as they specifically meet the emotional needs of at-risk adolescences. The following paper provides an overview of the adolescent stage of development and how early attachment styles and environmental risk factors contribute to youth being labeled as at risk. At risk adolescents are more likely to have missed out on early attachments that are necessary to experience empathetic attunement, which should serve as the foundation of relationships throughout their life. The multiple environmental risk factors contribute to a sense of lack of control over their …

Sacar La Voz: A Manifesto For My Latinx Peers, Gabriela Nunez-Santiago

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis was originally concerned with the use of expressive arts therapy with Latinx survivors of domestic violence. As the author carried out the review of literature, she began to encounter fundamental issues in the way that the Latinx community is approached in research. Instead of carrying out a traditional review of literature, the author approached the literature through three main questions: "Who is the research about?," "Who is the research by?,” and "Who is the research for?" Reductive generalizations, missing information, and disempowering assumptions were found. These problematic realities are presented as symptomatic of larger systemic issues, which the …

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 …

Earth Turning: Ecosomatic Exploration And Social Action Community Art Option 3, Community Engagement Project, Mollie Malia Matteson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Ecopsychology emerged to redress harm caused by a long dominant western worldview that humans are separate from nature. Somatic psychology is premised on the unity of body and mind, which western thought also divided for centuries. The emerging field of ecosomatics supports embodied humans in relationship to the body of Earth. When utilized in psychotherapy, expressive arts, and social action-oriented community art, ecosomatic approaches facilitate an understanding of the continuity between inner and outer nature.

A one-day community workshop in ecosomatic practice and nature-based expressive arts was offered to explore embodied dialogue with nature. The workshop involved time outdoors as …

The R.A.I.N.E. Method, Ramanda Brockett

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The imagination-in-service of empathy also creates a context for measuring children’s social, linguistic, comprehension, and organizational skills through the clinical observation of pretend play (Hendler-Lederer,2002). Both sociological insights carry heavy implications for the use and impact of imagination for both adults and children as well as individuals and clinicians. On the educational field, there is a wide academic debate about the disuse of imagination in the current educational system. Finally, in authentic movement, there is a strong link between imagination and affect where, not only is the clinician imagining the emotions that accompany the affect being moved by the individual …

How Expressive Arts Therapy Benefits Children Living With Acquired Brain Injuries, Stacia Boynton

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review explores the positive effects of using an intermodal expressive arts therapy approach when working with children living with an acquired brain injury (ABI). This review outlines symptoms and difficulties children living with ABI experience, it introduces general brain structure, and provides evidence for the potential use of intermodal expressive arts therapy with this population. This review is intended as a tool kit for therapists who are not experienced in working with this client population. It will share research on surrounding expressive therapy modalities such as art, music, dance, drama, and expressive arts therapy; also referred to as …

Performance As Therapy And Its Role In Community Healing: A Literature Review, Hannah Reclam

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Performance has developed and shifted into therapeutic intent by defining drama therapy, therapeutic theater, and applied theater for the purposes of community growth and healing (Boehm & Boehm, 2003). The cathartic principles of therapy, audience role, and performative story telling support this lens of community alliance (Sajnani, 2013). Further exploration of the specific impact behind each of these modalities of performance work is needed to support its role in community healing. Research collected within this thesis included peer reviewed articles, dissertations, chapters, and other applied quantitative and qualitative studies, including arts-based research. The use of various methods within drama therapy …

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 …

Expressive Arts Therapy As A Supplemental Treatment For Schizophrenic Symptoms Through A Neurobiological Lens, Kayleigh Houlker

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review seeks to investigate 3 modalities under the expressive therapies umbrella, music, art, and dance as possible interventions for reduction of intensity and frequency of symptoms of schizophrenia. By reviewing available literature on the effects schizophrenia has on the brain and comparing that to the available literature on these modalities as they have been studied neurologically, and any literature available on the intersection of these topics, this review attempts to make a case for the use of the arts as in addition to antipsychotic medication to alleviate schizophrenia symptoms. What was found is that music, art, and dance, …

Drama Therapy As A Tool For Promoting Resiliency In At Risk Youth, Devin Vietri

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore and compare current literature in drama therapy and resiliency theory and investigate the usefulness of integrating drama therapy techniques as an intervention for at risk youth. This paper serves to encourage drama therapy as a tool in working with at risk youth. The research presented argues the effectiveness of drama therapy being used with at risk youth to encourage resiliency and support at risk youth in developing into stronger, healthier, functioning and well-adjusted adults. Though some bias and limitations are present within the language of resiliency theory, looking at the work through …

Expressive Arts To Promote Regulation And Empathy In The Classroom: A Community Engagement Project, Brittany Haley

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The use of arts in regulating emotions through mindfulness and strengthening empathy through story-telling is reviewed in this capstone thesis. Learning how to regulate emotions while in childhood could be beneficial in providing success in other skill related areas such as inhibitory control and academic skill around reading or math. A story-telling and mindfulness method was developed for children in a school setting to learn to form relationships with each other. Insight was gained around the students’ own needs of emotion identification and expression as well as builds a sense of empathy. When a child has the ability to understand …

The Virtual Response Art Method: Managing Countertransference In Art-Based Research, Carol Hodson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis describes the application of an original approach to art-based research (ABR) developed by Carol P. Hodson and used in in collaboration with two participants. In this method, called the Virtual Response Art (VRA) method, the researcher created digital response art based on participants’ original art and wrote in self-reflective prose during and after the digital art process. Results in this study illustrate how the researcher’s use of the VRA method over six months allowed her to gain increased empathy for the participants and identify, process, and manage the countertransference she experienced in response to each participant and their …

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 …