Elementary School Teacher’S Experiences Of Open Studio Process In Examining Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Topics, Tiffany Thompson

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This qualitative research study examined the experiences of two Black female teachers and six White female teachers who participated in five Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshops that incorporated Open Studio Process (OSP) using Expressive Therapy Continuum (ETC). It is informed by research on defensiveness and resistance that often accompanies and presents barriers to effective DEI training.

All eight study participants were elementary school teachers, ages 22-56. Participants engaged in five workshops that used artistic mediums to explore DEI topics. Participants visually and metaphorically represented their experiences. Results were analyzed using qualitative techniques.

Findings are that OSP using ETC …

Creative Resilience Against Racism Among Asian Americans: Development Of A Method, Janice Chen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The experience of racism is inevitable and can become internalized when racism is persistent. As an Asian American woman, I am interested in exploring how art can be used as a form of resilience against internalized racism among Asian Americans. Racism against Asian Americans and recent immigrants from Asia has always existed throughout the history of the United States. Systematic laws, institutional policies, and cultural norms have set rules and narratives to put Asian Americans at a disadvantage. In addition, Asian Americans may have difficulty opening the conversation about racism. Internalized racism can cause physical and mental harm. I used …

Aligning With Adolescents: A Literature Review Of Art Therapy In Residential Treatment Programs, Olivia Moore

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescents in residential treatment programs throughout the United States are a specialized population that demonstrate resiliency and hope every day. Many adolescents in these programs have experienced prominent levels of trauma that impact their ability to function in lower-level programs, foster homes, and in their communities. Residential treatment approaches may look like locked facilities with trauma-informed staff who provide programming options, mental health care, and safe living conditions for adolescents. Without strength-based approaches to treatment, this population may struggle to overcome their trauma, mental health challenges, and developmental needs. In this literature review, art therapy was offered to provide developmentally …

Overcoming The Inner Critic: The Therapeutic Use Of Self-Portraits With Older Adults, Brenda Echeverry

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Older adults are a growing and vulnerable population who experience discriminatory practices that impact their access to equitable housing, employment, and healthcare which was made even more obvious during the Coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A community engagement project was developed and facilitated by the writer to support older adults with the psychological effects of surviving the pandemic. This project also helped to increase accessibility to expressive arts therapy in the writer’s local community. Expressive arts therapy is an effective and accessible method to support mental health and wellness for people of all ages. Engagement with the arts helps …

Overcoming The Inner Critic: The Therapeutic Use Of Self-Portraits With Older Adults, Brenda Echeverry

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Older adults are a growing and vulnerable population who experience discriminatory practices that impact their access to equitable housing, employment, and healthcare which was made even more obvious during the Coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A community engagement project was developed and facilitated by the writer to support older adults with the psychological effects of surviving the pandemic. This project also helped to increase accessibility to expressive arts therapy in the writer’s local community. Expressive arts therapy is an effective and accessible method to support mental health and wellness for people of all ages. Engagement with the arts helps …

Bone Flute:Exploring Voices From The Margins Of Entrepreneurship With Expressive Therapies, Cherith A. Pedersen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The problem under investigation is the lived experiences of marginalized entrepreneurs in Barbados. The group of entrepreneurs being explored have been marginalized culturally, institutionally, and resourcefully. The research questions were: How do marginalized entrepreneurs experience business-related encounters due to their identity? How does their identity and use of their “voice” in business situations, position them as businesspersons? Can photography illustrate how they see themselves as businesspersons? There were eight participants in the study, who ranged in age from 18 to 69 years. They were three females and five males who belonged to diverse marginalized identities such as a single mother, …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

The Role Of Cultural And Expressive Arts Therapies In The Puerto Rican Diasporic Identity: A Literature Review, Melissa Clay

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Identity for Puerto Rican immigrants is a growing concern with the influx of migration due to numerous natural and human based disasters. This literature review will review Puerto Rico’s tumultuous history and the development of identity through history. Including the Taino, the influence of African slaves, The Three Root Model and colonization by Spain and the United States. Accordingly, this review explores culturally specific beliefs and culturally creative arts and how those can be used in healing practices through Expressive Arts Therapies. We will also consider the culturally sensitivities needed in further research on this topic and within current day …

Experiences Of Post-Master's Arts Based Supervision With Art Therapists Of Color, Madoka Urhausen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study explored experiences of art therapists of color who underwent post-master’s arts-based supervision (ABS) to obtain an art therapy credential. ABS emphasizes creation of clinical insight and knowledge through not only reviewing and evaluating client’s art and art processes but also having supervisees to engage in their own artmaking in response to their clinical work. The sample was chosen for their intersectional identities that added a layer of complexity to their identity formation. This qualitative phenomenological study employed Culturally Responsive Focus Group (CRFG) with Arts-based Research (ABR) methodology to explore two questions: (1) What are the experiences of …

Toward A Co-Working Posture In Global Mental Health: A Literature Review On The Use Of Photovoice In Partnership With Forcibly Displaced Populations, Bethany Randolph

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

As of 2020, the number of forcibly displaced people in the world numbered 82.4 million. This radically diverse population, approximately one in every 95 people, only continues to burgeon as wars and conflicts send millions fleeing for their lives. Sadly, on top of the massive allostatic load endured by the forcibly displaced, many are then doubly harmed by global mental health professionals who lack insight into the culture and worldview of the fellow humans they serve. In an effort to support meaningful therapeutic work in the cross-cultural milieu, this paper presents a literature review inquiry into the purpose and …

Healing Racial Injustice With Mindfulness Research, Training, & Practice, Danielle "Danae" Laura

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This thesis offers a collection of authors and studies in support of improved research, training, and practice connecting mindfulness with racial justice through intergroup applications. The paper identifies barriers at work (e.g., colorblindness, spiritual bypass, white fragility, and implicit bias) in contemplative science, Western Buddhist communities, and secular mindfulness centers, which block the sizeable contributions possible in studying the intergroup application of mindfulness practice—specifically Lovingkindness Meditation, among others—when used as an intervention with anti-racist aims. Through secondary qualitative research, I reviewed six key works from Black authors on mindfulness and race, as well as six sample studies on the prosocial …

The Pursuit Of Housing: Chronically Homeless Men And Their Experiences Seeking Affordable Housing, Serena Cardoso Ma, Lmhc

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Homelessness, or the lack of consistent and safe shelter, is a byproduct of nearly every social justice issue in the United States, including racism, sexism, income disparities, and inadequate education and healthcare. Chronic homelessness is a term used to describe an individual who has spent at least one year or repeated events totaling one year in homelessness, coupled with a disabling condition such as mental illness, physical disability, or substance use. Chronically homeless men deserve study because they make up the largest subgroup of the homeless population, are disproportionately men of color, and experience significant levels of traumatic stress. While …

Examining The Experience Of White Privilege For Human Service Providers Using The Expressive Therapies, Melanie Carbonneau

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

There is significant need for white human services providers to have awareness of their racial identities, privilege, racism, biases and understanding impacts to client care. Yet in the United States, people who are white often demonstrate little awareness of their racial identities due to living in a white supremacist society. When confronted with issues of race, it is common for people who are white to demonstrate difficulties with topics including denial, discomfort, and defensiveness. This research examines the experience of using the expressive arts therapies to explore personal racial identity, personal biases, and issues of racism in the workplace for …

Considerations And Reflections On Being A Brazilian - Latina Expressive Arts Therapist Working In Usa, Maiara Bastos

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper focuses on the experience of being a Latina expressive arts therapist working in the United States of America (USA). Through literature review and a personal art-based research process, the definitions of identities, therapeutic relationships, and microaggression are discussed and explored. This paper is theoretically grounded in the notion of expressive arts therapy and gestalt therapy as a means to understand the author’s experiences in the field of counseling. Autoethnography and art-based inquiry are used to conceptualize microaggressions within the therapeutic relationship.

With the intent of increasing awareness about the author’s identities, the expressive arts were used to make …

Language As The Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing The Prolific Power Of Dramatic Language As A Therapeutic Tool In Drama Therapy, Edward Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – …

Exploring The Therapeutic Relationship As A Central Focus Through Expressive Arts Therapy In Oncology, Akshata Parekh

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The treatment for cancer can be physically, mentally, emotionally and socially challenging. These treatments have side effects like physical body pain, hair loss, changes in weight, energy, nausea and more. These physical changes impact the social, mental and emotional well-being of the patient and makes this journey of the life-threating prognosis of cancer very tough to confront. Expressive arts therapy provides a safe space for the patients to address their mental health concerns as a result of this treatment. The Capstone Thesis Project explored expressive arts therapy interventions with 95 patients through single or multiple sessions while going through their …

Exploring Taiwanese Creative Arts Therapists' Professional Identity After Returning Home From Studying Abroad, Rhona Jung Jung Chang

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study aimed to document Taiwanese creative arts therapists' career experiences after studying abroad and returning home, and how they perceive their professional identity as creative arts therapists in Taiwan. This qualitative study explores the experience of eight female professional Taiwanese creative arts therapists, including two art therapists, two dance/movement therapists, two drama therapists, and two music therapists. Interviews were conducted, and the participants were asked about their personal experience of art-making, the practice of creative arts therapies in Taiwan, and the understanding and awareness of their professional identity.

Data from this study was gathered by the interviews' transcripts and …

Maternal And Paternal Emotion Socialization: Relations To Expressive Flexibility In American And South Korean Children, Heimi Son

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations between parental emotion socialization and children’s expressive flexibility (EF) during middle childhood in a cross-cultural context. American (N = 69) and South Korean children (N = 77) participated with their fathers and mothers. Children’s EF ability was assessed using a quantitative lab-based observational measure. Fathers and mothers completed questionnaires ascertaining several emotion socialization factors, including beliefs about children’s emotions, emotion control values, and their own emotion regulation strategies. Results showed that the relation between parental socialization factors and children’s EF was moderated by culture. Parental beliefs about danger …

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …

A Literature Review Of Community Art Therapy With Youth In Inner City Communities Of Color, Jennifer Habeeb

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review was developed to synthesize the research surrounding community-based art therapy with youth who reside in inner city communities of color. Youth of color in inner city communities face a number of different challenges such as low socioeconomic status, social inequality, discrimination, and lack of political representation. There is currently little research on the impact of art therapy and expressive arts interventions with this population, however; these interventions have shown to be effective in a number of different areas. Literature revealed that community-based art therapy with inner city youth of color has shown to increase self-esteem, decrease symptoms …

Student Wellbeing And Open Studio Process In The School Curriculum, Maria Kim

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study aimed to explore whether Open Studio Process (OSP) increased wellbeing of middle and high school students when facilitated by teachers as a part of the regular art curriculum. It was hypothesized that OSP might increase the sense of wellbeing among middle and high school students as well as facilitating teachers. The research was conducted as a mixed methods study in South Korea where students need preventative interventions for their wellbeing. The researcher trained eight teachers to facilitate OSP and five of them implemented it with their classes for seven sessions. Quantitative data (K-YSR; pre- and posttest) were collected …

Moving Towards Intimacy: A Literature Review On The Use Of Dance/Movement Therapy With Couples, Rachel Kuntz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since its development in the early 20th century, dance/movement therapy has sought to help individuals strengthen communication, deepen empathy, build trust, and experience physical closeness. Incidentally, couples counseling tends to address many of the same goals. This Capstone thesis investigated the overlaps between the fields of dance/movement therapy and couples counseling to the effect of understanding how those fields may work together. An initial review revealed that the current research only examined dance/movement therapy with couples who are privileged in the areas of race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. Thus, the review broadened to explore how dance/movement therapists work with …

Place-Based Intercultural Liminality And The Potential Of Art Therapy In Cultural Identity Negotitations, Adee Benartzy

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This research, in the form of a literature review, offers a broad discussion of the factors of identity formation related to the complex negotiations of place-bound intercultural liminality, a phenomenon resultant of developmentally early experiences of multiple relocations and exposure to a multiplicity of competing cultural frames of reference without the establishment of a secure cultural home. Moreover, it serves to propose art therapy as a fitting therapeutic technique for intervention for this population due to the inherent qualities of this form of psychotherapy. This would ideally be as a proactive approach to realizing the benefits of a highly cross-cultural …

A Proposed Music Therapy Protocol For Trauma-Informed, Culturally Aware Practice With Migrants At The Us-Mexico Border, Mackenzie K. Conner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper reviews current literature surrounding therapeutic work done with the migrant population and considers it through the lens of future music therapy interventions to be done at the United States (US)-Mexico border. The migration process across the US-Mexico border is often filled with danger and treachery, leading to trauma responses, such as depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder. These traumatic experiences are augmented even further if there is a detention period or separation of families. In work reported by psychotherapists, counselors, and expressive arts therapists, there is often a focus of building empowerment, resilience, and coping skills. Yet …

Solution Focused Brief Expressive Arts Therapy, David Sherman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This graduate capstone thesis paper and project proposes a new therapeutic intervention called Solution-Focused Brief Expressive Arts Therapy (SFBExAT). This intervention and approach is based on the synthesized theories, techniques, and principles of Expressive Arts Therapy (ExAT) and Solution- Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). A review of relevant literature on the combined use of SFBT, ExAT and expressive therapies, as well as on the foundational literature of the individual theories establishes conceptual grounds for a SFBExAT model. A SFBExAT intervention is developed and explained. The intervention was ultimately applied in a hospital outpatient setting with a teenage client. The process, results …

Watering Black Roots: Exploring Black Ecological Identity Development Within Nature-Based Expressive Arts Therapy, Stormy Saint-Val

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Nature-based expressive arts therapy promotes the holistic healing and recovery of individuals by interweaving the practices of ecopsychology, ecotherapy, and expressive arts therapy. These interventions have been proven to mediate ranges of symptomologies, such as anxiety disorders and PTSD. Research conducted by the U.S. National Park Services indicates that African- Americans are less likely to have a positive relationship to nature than all other racial groups. The amplification of this report without introspection of its context perpetuates racialized generalizations. This can limit a black individual’s ability to embrace their ecological identity and be receptive of nature-based expressive arts therapy interventions. …

S’Klallam Wellness: Community Engagement Project, Rachel Smart

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The S’Klallam Nation, composed of three federally recognized tribes, has experienced historical, intergenerational, acute, and complex trauma. Supporting S’Klallam wellness requires cultivation of an understanding of how Native people have faced, and continue to face, and overcome these challenges. A review of literature related to Native wellness, reveals the importance of enculturation. A community engagement project, reveals how exploring cultural arts and activities as modes of fostering wellness is beneficial to the S’Klallam people. The relationship between the expressive arts therapies, including dance/movement therapy, as defined by western academic institutions is questioned.

Back To Belonging: Nature Connection And Expressive Arts Therapy In The Treatment Of Trauma And Marginalization, Jesse Newcomb

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is increasing research on the benefits of incorporating nature-based approaches into mental health. This can be done in myriad ways both in and out of the counseling office. This literature review focuses on the benefits of incorporating nature as co-therapist and kin rather than only material or metaphor, particularly in the treatment of people who have experienced trauma and or marginalization. According to Herman (1997), wounds made relationally must be healed relationally, and the literature reviewed in this paper suggests that connection with the “more-than-human” world (Abram, 1996), and coming back into a sense belonging in the larger web …

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome A Literature Review On African American Community Healing And Expressive Arts Therapy, Akinlana Burrowes

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Post traumatic slave syndrome (PTSS) is defined as “a condition that exists when a population has experienced multigenerational trauma resulting from centuries of slavery and continues to experience oppression and institutionalized racism today.” Throughout this literature review, the physical, mental, and socioemotional impacts of institutionalized oppression through the years from the 1600s to the present, exhibited in the multiple sectors of society as it relates to the African American (AA) community are explored and addressed through the theoretical framework of PTSS. While a sizable body of literature has supported Expressive Arts Therapy (EAT) with traumatized populations, very little research has …

Promoting Cultural Identity Through Dance/Movement Therapy With Immigrant Children, Karen Alejandra Salazar

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The present research project focuses on exploring how culture influences identity and how the development of a bicultural identity affects bicultural individuals. Having a multicultural or multiethnic identity could be a source of strength and/or confusion, bicultural individuals may have difficulties in identifying and sorting their group membership status and their cultural attitudes, values, perspectives, and behaviors (Navarrete & Jenkins, 2011). The present research proposes that dance movement therapy and the Expressive Therapies could serve as a means to allow individuals to explore and strengthen their cultural identity. A cultural identity workshop was implemented with second grade, English language learner, …