Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Mixed Methods Approach To Understanding Common Factors Association With Pain And Functional Outcomes In Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions, Mary Beth Holmes

Educational Studies Dissertations

Healthcare costs continue to rise the provision of value-based care with evidence to support improvement in patient outcomes is essential for service coverage. While physical therapy has proven to be effective for the treatment of painful musculoskeletal conditions ostensibly different treatment approaches have yielded similar results. These findings have led to an exploration of the influence of the features present across all interventions, variables known as the “common factors”, on physical therapy outcomes. Research pertaining to common factors remains in the early stages in physical therapy literature, with studies primarily aimed at defining and exploring singular concepts. Using Wampold’s Contextual …

Thoughts, Feelings, Actions; The Brevity Of Being: A Haiku Method, Scott Medeiros

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The difficulties of delivering clinical services during the pandemic showed that there was a need for interventions that were able to be adapted to virtual sessions. In addition, lack of training and expertise regarding specialized therapies require modern day clinicians to be able to synergize current theory with the reality of the mental health landscape. In this study, 19 individuals participated in a psychoeducation group that taught a therapeutic thought mapping technique that was then adapted towards the creation of a haiku. It was noticed that participants were able to learn a psychological concept, apply it towards their life, create …

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one …

Where I’M From: Internal Manifestations Among Cambodian Women Using The Expressive Arts A Literature Review, Noeun Chhim

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Chronic mental illness has affected many Cambodian people, but, culturally, Cambodians aren’t accustomed to opening up and discussing their feelings, rather defining mental illness to craziness and seeking help is presumed taboo. Thus, Cambodians are often reluctant to talk about their experiences and/or their related illnesses. Though Cambodians have experienced inconceivable suffering and violence during the Khmer Rouge era, for the purpose of this thesis, I will be discussing the role of Cambodian women and investigate the extent of what they’ve witnessed and experienced. Cambodian women have suffered through many years of trauma and grief, during and after the Khmer …

The Neurobiology Of The Healing Arts: Expressive Arts Therapy As An Effective Treatment For Adults Diagnosed With Complex Ptsd Due To Complex Trauma In Childhood: A Literature Review, Cheryl Ratliff

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Empirically based therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been found to be less effective in treating more severe trauma presentations such as complex PTSD (CPTSD). Neurobiological investigation provides a framework for examining the physical and psychological effects of trauma on brain and nerve structures and provides insight into how to effectively treat CPTSD. This literature review examined symptomology of CPTSD resulting from complex trauma in childhood, neurobiological effects of trauma and their implications for treatment, and the efficacy of the current treatment models, primarily those of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), narrative exposure therapy (NET), and somatic psychotherapies. …

Drama Therapy Interventions That Support Students With Asd During Covid-19, Olivia Reyes

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that began in December 2019, many people experienced traumatic losses, environmental stressors, and overall daily challenges. One of the populations most at risk during this time were those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Those with mental health illness and developmental differences are experiencing the pandemic in different ways. Individuals with ASD tend to have both developmental differences and mental health challenges that motivate individuals to seek medicinal and therapeutic help, along with other services to support their daily needs. This literature review addresses the negative and positive impacts COVID-19 has had on the …

Toward Holistic Mental Wellness: A Literature Review Of Mindfulness-Based And Focusing-Oriented Art Therapies, Lesley Vernon

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Modern day living, for all its benefits, is synonymous with record levels of stress. The mental health clinician’s role is to assist clients in accessing the skills and tools necessary to reduce and alleviate the symptoms of stress-induced anxiety. Mindfulness is emerging as a potent and effective tool to restore one’s state of well-being. Likewise, engaging in art therapy has been shown to reduce stress and foster resilience. Grounded in humanistic and existential theories, this literature review aimed to assess the impact and effectiveness of two intermodal holistic therapies, specifically mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) and focusing-oriented art therapy (FOAT). A …

Finding A Middle Path: Using Expressive Arts Therapy To Engage Adolescents In Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Literature Review, Rebecca Miller

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This critical literature review explores the limited research on integrating expressive arts therapy (ExTH) with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT, an evidence-based, third-wave cognitive-behavioral intervention, has been adapted for use with adolescents struggling with emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Yet, the didactic and almost rigid nature of DBT can feel more like a school lesson and less like therapy, making it difficult for adolescents to engage with the treatment. This is problematic as DBT's effectiveness requires the client to be fully committed and willing to engage in the therapy. This paper explores the literature on combining ExTH with DBT and conceptual …

Accessing The Ecosphere: An Indoor Nature-Based Community Expressive Arts Therapy (Exat) Exploration Project, Heather Powers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone thesis posits that when humans connect and maintain a relationship with nature, their mental health improves. Humans have developed from and within Earth’s ecosystem, making our relationship with nature a necessary acknowledgement that the self is more than a corporeal body but is, in fact, embedded within the natural world around us. The current overwhelming dependence on electronic advancements and the development of urban areas have led people to become more distant in their relationship to nature, putting the overall well-being of the planet in jeopardy. This thesis points out that the more separation we feel from nature, …

A Group Music Therapy Method To Promote Mentalization Skills In Clients With Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Lisa Riggs Hobbs

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This paper investigates the development of a group music therapy method by adapting elements of mentalization-based treatment (MBT) to help clients with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). A prominent characteristic of NPD is a deficiency in empathy. The fostering of empathy and emotional awareness forms the basis of MBT. Music therapy offers a means to explore these skills on a nonverbal level. This work is even more impactful in a group setting. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of literature specific to music therapy and NPD. Furthermore, despite the availability of writings separately concerning NPD, MBT, group therapy, and music therapy, …

How Clay In Group Art Therapy Helps Female Veterans Maintain Well-Being: Development Of Methods, Sooho Park

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Using clay in art therapy has emerged as an evidence-based therapeutic approach to enable treatment for people with anxiety. While clay in art therapy has been researched and proven to be highly effective with children, there is limited research on the benefit for the population of female veterans. Therefore, this study examines the possibility of how clay in art therapy helps female veterans to reduce anxiety and maintain their well-being at Veterans Affairs Hospital (VAH). Three female veterans were engaged in weekly intervention for six weeks through both in-person and online sessions. Results indicate participants experienced beneficial changes in anxiety …

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they …

Touch In Drama Therapy: A Literature Review, Sara Hood

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This article is a cursory look at how touch is perceived in the field of drama therapy. Touch is integral to our experience as humans and can be present in drama therapy sessions. Ethical guidelines for touch in the literature are identified and relevant drama therapy texts and articles describing touch are discussed. While drama therapy has a clear voice when it comes to ethically engaging in touch with a client, very little research was found exploring the intention and outcome of touch in a drama therapy session. Other therapeutic modalities, specifically Developmental Transformations and dance/movement therapy, are identified as …

Building Character By Building Characters: A Literature Review Examining The Efficacy Of Tabletop Roleplay As A Creative Intervention For Developing Social Skills In Adolescents, Kathleen Angela L. Bautista

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In the realm of tabletop roleplay games, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) earned a reputation as the most prolific franchise within the genre and has since prevailed as a popular bonding activity for peer groups of all ages and backgrounds. Among the player base in the D&D community are those that gleaned its potential to offer a conducive space for personal growth, particularly in the realm of psychosocial development, given that D&D sessions facilitated dynamic social interactions among the members. The emphasis on imagination in D&D nurtures the tenets of intermodal expression, as players are encouraged to explore their creativity through …

Using Expressive Arts Therapies To Aid The End-Of-Life Transition For Older Adults: A Literature Review, Rosemary Lape

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review presents the use of expressive arts therapies as they may be applied to end-of-life care for older adults. Death is inevitable and if given the chance to prepare, the expressive arts modalities provide a foundation to process the emotions associated with the ending of a life on earth. Expressive arts provide the opportunity to communicate in non-traditional ways which have the ability to locate subconscious themes. End-of-life care previously revolved around pain management. In more recent years it has evolved to caring for the whole person emotionally, socially, psychologically, and physically. Sources were found utilizing resources provided …

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they handle …

Moving Through Loss: The Experience Of Ambiguous Loss With Hospitalized Children, The Development Of A Method, Peyton Edington

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The current method examined the effects of ambiguous loss with medical transplant patients in a pediatric hospital by utilizing a dance/movement therapy intervention. The development of this method was based on ambiguous loss theory with a dance/movement therapy approach. The explored literature identified central themes of ambiguous loss, such as resilience. These themes were connected to the practice of dance/movement therapy, such as embodiment. With this connection, the intervention was developed and implemented with participants. The central themes that emerged from the intervention were change, loss, meaning-making, and hope. One child and two adolescents were participants in this intervention, and …

Healing Our Connection With Nature: An Expressive Arts Community Engagement Project, Meghan Mccrillis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A community engagement project was created and implemented, comprised of two events for which the author facilitated nature-based expressive arts experiences to explore the integration of nature and expressive arts therapy. The events were offered to two different groups of community members, one for nature-curious adults held outdoors on the trails of a local conservation trust, and another for young children at a local library. The healing impact of nature connection and nature connection experiences are explored through a literature review, event methods, and the author’s personal experiences of the project via artmaking. The results include an emphasis on nature …

Epistemic Injustice, Endometriosis And Dance/ Movement Therapy: An Autoethnographic Investigation, Kevana West

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As the field of dance/ movement therapy evolves to meet the demands of a rapidly changing social landscape, it is imperative that clinicians think critically about the degree to which our work is steeped in oppressive frameworks and ideologies. This investigation uses testimony to explore epistemic injustice as it relates to the author’s experience of living with endometriosis and the pursuit of professional licensure. Considering the limited amount of research on the condition, along with the perceived absence of literature within the field of dance/ movement therapy, further study is warranted. The experimentation phase of this research incorporated the use …

Dance/Movement Therapy As A Transdisciplinary Approach To Treating Trauma, Destany Schadder

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis considers dance/movement therapy as a transdisciplinary approach to treating trauma in the body. It explains what the functions of the brain are, how trauma negatively affects it, and how posttraumatic stress disorder is expressed in both the body and the brain. It discusses multidisplinary approaches, it shows how these approaches leverage the body in treating trauma. Moreover, it demonstrates the benefits and advantages of a dance/movement therapist in supporting individuals who have experienced traumatic events. To achieve these goals, this thesis discusses research by neuroscientists, such as Damassio (1999), who maintain that the body and mind directly affect …

Phototherapy And Empowerment For People Living With Chronic Conditions, Lauren St John

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

An exploration of combining empowerment theory, photo-based art interventions, and hope-based interventions in a group setting and whether this method can reduce feelings of depression and anxiety and increase feelings of hope, power, and empowerment for those living with chronic conditions and chronic pain. The reviewed literature showed that hope-based art interventions, photo-based art interventions, and empowerment can increase feelings of hope and empowerment and decrease levels of depression and anxiety in people living with chronic conditions. I created a method that combined all three interventions in a group therapy setting where the participants completed the artwork between sessions and …

Gap Analysis Of 2slgbtqia+ Curriculum In Counseling Programs, Erika Graves

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The purpose of this paper is to propose additional curriculum specific to marginalized populations and communities for Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs. There is a systemic lack of purposeful education on marginalized communities that student clinicians will be serving, with an emphasis on expectations of being a lifelong learner, asking the student/counselor to educate themselves. This expectation is unsustainable in the context and acknowledgment of burnout among human service providers, and does not reinforce the lens of trauma informed care that is stressed in its programming. To build strong clinicians, support must be executed systemically within its programming as an …

Partial Hospitalization Programs And Adolescents: The Impact Of Brief Art Therapy Treatment, Andrea Sepe

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper evaluates partial hospitalization programming and art therapy practices with the adolescent population. The adolescent experience is a time of complex biopsychosocial development marking personal identity exploration and independence. Adolescent mental health challenges range from depressive, anxiety, conduct and mood disorders. Partial hospitalization programming is a means of acute integrative care founded in milieu therapy that caters to the unique mental wellness needs of the adolescent population. Among the most impactful psychotherapeutic interventions for adolescent mental health is art therapy, an evidence-based practice incorporating creativity and theory. This paper explores the adolescent developmental experience, current treatment methods of partial …

Dance Movement Therapy Interventions To Build Coping Skills And Identity In Adolescent Patients Dealing With A Cancer Diagnosis: Development Of A Method, Ariel Hortin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescents are a special category in pediatric oncology because of their unique physical and mental development. This patient population has needs specific to both their development and cancer diagnosis. Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) focuses on building awareness of inner sensations so that the patient can then connect those observations with felt emotions and thoughts. Connecting the physical experience with the emotional experience can provide helpful information for the patient as a tool for change. Building and strengthening relationships with family members also strengthens the critical support system for the patient. Dance Movement Therapy interventions may be effective in working with …

All You Knead Is Love, Donna Madoff

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the development of a method to gain a deeper understanding of the process of making bread’s potential as art therapy. The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), mindfulness arts-based research, and neurobiological research provide the foundation for understanding the method. Lusebrink and Hinz's schematic framework, the ETC provides a therapeutic model for the applications of media in art therapy. Research posits that the three levels of the ETC, Kinesthetic/Sensory, Perceptual/Affective, and Cognitive/Symbolic reflect different functions and structures in the brain that process visual and affective information (Lusebrink, 2004). In addition, the application of new techniques in brain imaging has …

How Geek Therapy Plays Into Expressive Arts Therapy: A Literature Review, Caroline Bryan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within this paper, I explore how geek therapy plays well with the methods of expressive arts therapy. The combination of geek therapy and expressive arts therapy can assist clinicians in immediately connecting with their clients and identifying strength-oriented narratives that honor the client’s preferences, modes of expression, and pop culture affinities. This engagement with expressive approaches utilizing affinity-based interventions can lead to a deeper sense of understanding of the client’s intra-, inter-, and extra-personal relationships. Through this literature review of expressive arts therapy and geek therapy, primarily focusing on video games in therapy, clinicians from all walks of life can …

Can Hope Be Primed In Chronic Pain? A Clinical Application Of Health Priming, Brenda Stockdale

Educational Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

It is recognized that nonintentional, automatic processing shapes physical health and well-being in critical ways. Conditioning––or priming––has been shown to influence attitude, beliefs, agency, behavior, and medical outcomes. Although expectations and beliefs correlate strongly with physical health, research in clinical application is needed, and studies on hope, as related to agency, in chronic pain are rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, in a chronic pain sample (N = 154), hope could be primed via a Pain Neuroscience Educational (PNE) tutorial. A pre- and post-test intervention study consisting of two randomized parallel groups was designed …

Art Therapy With Juvenile Offenders-Building On Community, Strengths And Self-Esteem: A Literature Review, Rylee Donovan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The Juvenile Justice System differentiates itself from the adult criminal justice system by running on a rehabilitative model for youth offenders as opposed to a punishment and deterrence model. It is not uncommon that the youth placed in these facilities suffer from many mental health issues and have extensive trauma backgrounds leading to their delinquent behavior and crimes. Juvenile offenders are a population who are labeled as deviant and isolated from the world due to their behaviors often stemming from unhealed trauma. If left without care, these mental health concerns and unhealthy trauma responses may only perpetuate into their adult …

Understanding Factors Associated With Clinician Confidence To Identify And Treat Ptsd And Complex Ptsd, Parad Meier

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation explores mental health clinicians’ experiences and self-identified confidence to identify and treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. PTSD is a highly prevalent mental health condition that impacts an estimated 24.4 million individuals in the United States (PTSD United, 2019). Complex PTSD has just emerged for the first time with official diagnostic criteria in the publication of the ICD-11 in 2019 for use beginning in January 2022 (WHO, 2019). There is very little existing research that considers the experience or confidence of clinicians who work with clients who have PTSD and Complex PTSD, which is troubling …

Enhancing Self-Efficacy Through Drama Therapy In A Bullying Prevention Program For Arab-Israeli Teachers: A Phenomenological Study, Iman Kheil

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of teachers in a bullying prevention program using drama therapy to enhance self-efficacy. This qualitative study was approached through a phenomenological lens. Five Arab-Israeli teachers took part in semi-structured interviews and participated in six sessions of drama therapy. Data were collected from interviews, video and audio recordings that documented the details of all the sessions. Data were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and yielded five themes and 10 subthemes. The themes suggested that drama therapy allowed the participants to experience bullying behavior and to express their feelings through …