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Understanding Children's Art Making Preferences: Implications For Art Therapy, Amy Morrison

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed a phenomenological, qualitative approach to investigate children’s art making preferences. The researcher was curious about the meaning that creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional art forms held for children. Influences and contributions to children’s art making preferences were explored. Lastly the study questioned what children’s artistic preferences mean for the field of art therapy. Theories of art therapy, artistic development, and child development informed the study. Thirteen children ages 5 to 11, four boys and nine girls participated. The researcher requested the children choose a subject and create the subject in both two and three dimensions. A range of …

An Intergenerational Study: Mirrors As A Tool For Self-Reflection, Susan Ridley

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Globalization and advances in technology have resulted in a loss of cultural, community, and individual identity. Having a strong sense of self can be a protective factor in resisting peer pressure and involvement in negative behaviors, and a determining factor in the formation of one’s coping skills, and resiliency to life’s challenges. This was especially important for adolescents who are negotiating the developmental growth from childhood to adulthood, and older adults who are transitioning from the independence of adulthood to the dependence of old age.

This was a qualitative intergenerational study on the process of self-reflection on identity. Mirrors have …

Drawing As Self-Expression With Normally Functioning Adults: A 10-Week Technique, Deborah L. John

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

In this research study, a sample of normally functioning adults (N = 30) each made a series of small drawings, one each week for 10 weeks. Participants completed two questionnaires about their experiences of making the series. The pre-intervention questionnaire collected demographic information and asked participants to rate their perceived ability to use drawing for self-expression on a Likert scale. The post intervention questionnaire again asked participants to rate their perceived ability to use drawing for self-expression. Results indicated a significant change from pre to post intervention (p = 0.012) in perceived expressive drawing ability. The post intervention questionnaire also …

Examining Multicultural Competency Education In The Creative Arts Therapies, Donna C. Owens

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

In the changing landscape of the United States, the skills and competencies of helping professionals must continue to address the unique needs of its various populations. As a growing field, the creative arts therapies must adopt multicultural values and standards necessary to remain competitive and relevant.

This study addressed the issue of multicultural counseling competency training in the creative arts therapies from three perspectives: the governing association, the training institution, and the student/trainee. Throughout this study the term creative arts therapies includes art, dance/movement, drama, expressive arts, music, poetry, and psychodrama.

Information concerning the associations for each of the seven …

Supervisor's Experience Of Empathetic Understanding When Using Art-Making In Art Therapy Supervision: A Dissertation, Hyejin Yoo

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this two-part study was to understand supervisors’ current attitudes and perspectives of using art-making in art therapy supervision and supervisors’ experiences of empathy when using art-making in art therapy supervision.

In Study 1, 229 members of American Art Therapy Association (AATA) completed a survey about supervisors’ attitudes and perspectives of using art-making in supervision. In addition, three participants who used art-making in supervision were interviewed on their empathetic understanding when using art-making in supervision. Follow-up interviews were conducted with the three previous participants for Study 2. The survey data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and the interview …

Creative Arts Therapies Students' Professional Development: Mixed Methods Longitudinal Research, Hod Orkibi

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This mixed-methods longitudinal study sought to describe, understand, and explain the professional development (PD) of graduate students during art therapy (AT), dance movement therapy (DMT), and drama therapy (DT) training (N = 51).

Repeated measures of students’ scores in profession-related variables were performed. Quantitative theory testing probed the extent to which students confirm Rønnestad and Skovholt’s (2003) theory of counselors and therapists’ PD as representative of their pre-training and in-training experiences. Qualitative theory derivation generated data-driven concepts to modify and refine the extant theory. Data were collected using My Vocational Situation, Career Commitment Measurement, and questionnaires for each developmental phase. …

Integrating Morita Therapy And Art Therapy: An Analysis, Ayako Sato

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study presents therapeutic interventions combining Morita Therapy with art therapy techniques. The author presents literature reviews of art therapy as well as the original Morita Therapy formulated by Shoma Morita, M.D. A new art therapy technique based on the work of Kenji Kitanishi, M.D. (2008) for outpatient treatment is also presented. A case illustration of an eleven‐year‐old Vietnamese‐American boy who presented with high anxiety and school refusal is used as an example of the effective integration of Morita Therapy with art therapy techniques formulated by the author. Even though the boy was not familiar with Morita Therapy principles, the …

The Role Of The Arts Toward Healing Trauma And Building Resilience In The Palestinian Community, Yousef Al-Ajarma

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study has investigated the sources of resilience in a sample of Palestinians who experienced the first Intifada and are now studying in the United States. The study found that family and community support, the pursuit of an education, and participation in artistic activities all contribute to individual resilience among Palestinians. In addition, political awareness and activity are another source of resilience, because they help individuals living under the Occupation to find meaning in their life and make sense of their struggles. Currently, young people in Palestine are at risk of developing psychological trauma from exposure to the violence of …

Phenomenology Of Embodied Dreamwork With Puerto Rican Women: A Dissertation, Lourdes F. Brache-Tabar

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The author investigated the experience of embodied dreamwork. Participants were eight Puerto Rican women who were chronically ill, of low socioeconomic status, who lived in Boston. The data were analyzed using transcendental phenomenology. Each participant engaged in one embodied dreamwork–unstructured interview session lasting approximately 1.5 hours. In addition, each participant drew a picture of how she felt after the dreamwork interview. This snowball, purposive sample gave detailed information about how they experienced embodied dreamwork. The participants’ statements were grouped into themes: (a) sense of place—environment, surroundings, spatiality; (b) the players—self, others; (c) plot; (d) in the sea of emotions—naming affective …

The Art Of Healing : A Journey Through Cancer : Implications For Art Therapy, Carmen Zammit

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is designed to investigate how art assisted in the healing process of a person suffering from a life threatening illness. The research method used is a clinical case study. This study is a form of evaluative research, a systematic data-based inquiry concerning the participant's engagement with art in her healing process, a process which unfolds as being both life affirming and spiritually enriching. This case study takes a qualitative approach, with its emphasis on the participant's own account of her behaviour. The participant is a fifty-three year old woman, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who was diagnosed with multiple …

A Competency-Based Art Therapy Approach For Improving The Self-Esteem Of A Pre-Adolescent Girl, Maria T. Papaluca

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of the current study is to present multi-faceted instruments to measure the effectiveness of a competency-based approach to Art Therapy for improving the self-esteem of a pre-adolescent girl. The theoretical framework for this approach applies well established Art Therapy and Family Art Therapy theory and practice to contemporary clinical practices in individual Family Therapy. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) (Harter, 1985b), House-Tree-Person Drawing Test (H-T-P) (Buck, 1970), the subject's self-ratings, ratings of the subject's competence by her mother and her teacher, and ratings of the subject's artwork by objective judges are employed in a Pretest-Posttest research design …

Exploring Infertility Through Art, Olga Gibson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study, entitled "Exploring infertility through art" focuses on researching the use of art to explore the psychogenic, psychological and physiological aspects of infertility and the psychosomatic avenues of expression possibly resulting in, or contributing to, infertility. The term psychogenic means "pertaining to disorders which are functional in origin" (Chaplin, 1973, p. · 391), or "term usually employed of disorders which originate in mental conditions, though they may come to involve physiological changes, as a result of these mental conditions" (Drever, 1978, p. 231). A psychogenic disorder is ''a functional disorder which has no known organic basis and is therefore …

Art Therapy In The Paediatric Oncology Setting: An Assessment Of The Feasibility Of Art Therapy To Address The Psychosocial Needs Of Paediatric Cancer Patients, Anthea Carboni

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It is well recognised that children with cancer have special needs. Art therapy has been shown to be effective in meeting some of these needs. An exploratory study was conducted to assess the feasibility of art therapy to address the psychosocial needs of paediatric cancer patients in a medical setting where art therapy has not been practised before. A qualitative research design was used to investigate the research questions, using interviews as the main instrument. Subjects were recruited from the oncology team of a metropolitan children's hospital. The sample of thirteen informants consisted of representatives from the medical, nursing and …

Art Therapy As A Mechanism For Increasing Life Satisfaction In Later Life, Phyllis Laulainen Mcgraw

Dissertations and Theses

It was hypothesized that art therapy with the elderly would increase the quality of an informal life review and motivate them toward greater psychological well-being (life satisfaction). To test this hypothesis, 30 subjects between the ages of 61 and 83 were assigned to three experimental conditions: Art Therapy Group, Discussion Group, and Control Group.

Art Therapy For Emotionally Disturbed Children: Clay And Media Dimension Variables, Wendy Wirth

Theses

This thesis investigates the application of art therapy for the evaluation and treatment of emotionally disturbed children, with a specific focus on the use of clay and Media Dimension Variables (MDV). The author posits that clay is an exemplary medium for therapeutic intervention due to its plasticity, three-dimensional nature, and capacity to range from resistive to fluid states. The study adopts Kagan’s (1969) MDV system to structure therapeutic interventions, categorizing art activities by three distinct variables:

• Structure: The extent of guidelines or controls (High vs. Low). 

• Media Quality: The inherent properties of the material (Resistive vs. Fluid). 

• Task Complexity …

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