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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Sensory Art Therapy With Students In Public Schools: Development Of A Method, Sarah Como May 2019

Sensory Art Therapy With Students In Public Schools: Development Of A Method, Sarah Como

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapy is an effective service for students in public schools that struggle with academic, social, emotional, behavioral and other issues. Art therapy is widely used with school-aged children and adolescents; however, it is not commonly provided as a service in public schools. Research shows that when art therapy is provided in schools, students experience a wide-range of benefits including but not limited to communication development, decrease in disruptive behaviors, feelings of empowerment, belonging, safety and confidence, improved mood, an increase in coping strategies and stress reduction. Art therapists working in schools report difficulties resulting from a lack of understanding …


Making And Using Natural Art Materials And Its Effect On Adolescents’ Self-Concept, Jocelyn Dimpel May 2019

Making And Using Natural Art Materials And Its Effect On Adolescents’ Self-Concept, Jocelyn Dimpel

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The purpose of the study was to observe effects on adolescents’ self-concept through creating their own natural art materials, as little prior research has been done on the subject. The study was conducted in a high school with two individual students, aged 14-16, who selected, created, and used their own art tools made from naturally sourced materials. By making and using their own art materials, students were able to process their internal state, thoughts, and emotions, express themselves outwardly, and connect better with themselves and their surroundings.


The Embodiment Of Attachment And Grief In Adolescents: A Literature Review, Kelsey Sawyer May 2019

The Embodiment Of Attachment And Grief In Adolescents: A Literature Review, Kelsey Sawyer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Previous research has indicated that the experience of grief can be embodied or experienced on a bodily level, just like the process of attachment during the formation of an attachment relationship. Therefore, when working with adolescents who have experienced the death of a parent/attachment figure, the body should be included in the therapeutic process. This literature review addresses the importance of the body within the development of attachment relationships, an adolescent’s grief process, and the therapeutic relationship through themes of attunement, kinesthetic empathy and awareness, and witnessing, all of which are elements of dance movement therapy. Research was conducted using …


Digital Music Making: Developing A Method For Using Technology In Music Psychotherapy, Sangeetha Kavety May 2019

Digital Music Making: Developing A Method For Using Technology In Music Psychotherapy, Sangeetha Kavety

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The use of technology, specifically digital songwriting and music making, in the context of psychotherapy is a subject that is not yet as well researched or practiced in the field of music therapy. The majority of the existing literature acknowledges the assistive function that technology such as tablets, smartphones, and computers can play in treatment of populations with cognitive and motor difficulties. However, there is little regarding the use of technology as the main means of creating music, and even less in the context of treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents in family settings. For this capstone project, …


“There Was Something Magical About This Group”: Building Cohesion In A Psychiatric Hospital, Mariah L. Logan May 2019

“There Was Something Magical About This Group”: Building Cohesion In A Psychiatric Hospital, Mariah L. Logan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone details the development and implementation of Hope Notes, an expressive arts therapy intervention used in a private psychiatric hospital setting. Hope Notes was carried out in the group setting with adolescent and adult clients in a partial-hospitalization or inpatient hospitalization with a range of diagnoses and symptoms including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, trauma disorders including post-traumatic stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with symptoms of delusions, hallucinations, suicidality and homicidally. Using expressive arts therapy the clients worked together to collaboratively discuss, create, design, and build an art piece intended to increase group cohesion and connection …


Integrating Digital App Technologies Within Traditional Expressive Arts Therapy For Children And Adolescents, Sarah Storjohann May 2019

Integrating Digital App Technologies Within Traditional Expressive Arts Therapy For Children And Adolescents, Sarah Storjohann

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In recent years, technology in the form of digital applications (apps) has emerged as a fundamental aspect of everyday life as well as a practical, convenient, and inexpensive tool for artistic self-expression, most notably amongst children and adolescents. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households currently possess some form of mobile device (Rideout, 2017), with an estimated 95% of U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 17 owning a Smartphone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). As digital natives, children and adolescents are more likely to identify with and connect to these arts-based methods. Clinician perspective concerning digital integration varies across a wide spectrum. Through a …


An Open Studio Approach To Adolescent Identity Formation: A Development Of A Method, Bailey E. Mccombs May 2019

An Open Studio Approach To Adolescent Identity Formation: A Development Of A Method, Bailey E. Mccombs

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescence is a time of growth, enhanced understanding of self, and testing out how one may present in a group. Erikson described this stage as an opportunity to branch out from family influence and begin to understand one’s role among peers. This method involved an open studio approach using altered books to support adolescent identity formation. The participants were all from a private middle school in the Boston area. Participation was voluntary for each student and all materials were provided by the facilitator. Participant engagement in the group increased each week. The open studio group appeared to appeal to certain …


Existential Art Therapy In Children’S Bereavement Groups: Development Of A Method, Catherine Johnson May 2019

Existential Art Therapy In Children’S Bereavement Groups: Development Of A Method, Catherine Johnson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Children and adolescents who have experienced the death of a family member are faced with the emotional journey of grieving their loss, which may be accompanied with existential concerns about life and death in general. Bereavement programs serve to connect children with others who know what losing a family member is like. Art therapy can be used in these bereavement groups to express and give shape to the emotions and memories the participants have. It is a non-verbal way to reflect and find meaning that can come from post-traumatic growth. This capstone thesis project explores an art therapy method for …


The Effects Of Dance And Movement Therapy With Adolescents Who Have Experienced Trauma, A Literature Review, Katherine Anderson May 2019

The Effects Of Dance And Movement Therapy With Adolescents Who Have Experienced Trauma, A Literature Review, Katherine Anderson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

With the growing number of trauma-informed practices in the mental health field, it is necessary to look at what best practices should be implemented in treating adolescents who have experienced trauma, specifically from a body-based intervention, such as dance and movement therapy. In this literature review, articles are discussed that encompass the following topics: dance and movement therapy and trauma, general dance interventions for the adolescent population, empowerment models as a way to cope with trauma symptoms, and cultural considerations of treating adolescent females of color. The gaps in current research must be acknowledged, specifically dance and movement therapy interventions …


Social Identity And The Music Making Choices Of Black/African American Youth From Limited Resource Communities, Natasha A. Thomas Mar 2019

Social Identity And The Music Making Choices Of Black/African American Youth From Limited Resource Communities, Natasha A. Thomas

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This dissertation explores how Black/African American youth from limited resource communities described and demonstrated their social identities through their music-making choices in the therapeutic relationship with a board certified music therapist who was also a Black/African American person regarded as a participant in the study. A review of literature regarding social psychology and identity theory, as well as culturally relevant pedagogy and participatory action research (PAR), which form the foundation of this study’s methodology, is included. Findings include that participants placed a high degree of importance on their social status as authorities on their chosen identifying groups, and consistently reinforced …