Art Therapy Commons^™

Bleeding Ink: Creativity In Grief For Resilience, Gabriel E. Sayre

Senior Honors Projects

A venomous void pierces the present.

Emanating from the past, echoing to the future.

Seething sensations burrowing beneath the bone.

Seek a road, to not corrode.

Scribe or scribble, Scavenge salvation.

Settle cement of a new foundation.

Faceless fears fading,

weakening woes waning,

mending mentality.

Internally Inspired.

Transformation Transpired.

Working Through Unresolved Bereavement Through Fiber Arts And Reflective Writing: A Heuristic Study, Ashley S. Jenkins

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

The purpose of this art-based heuristic study was to explore unresolved grief through various fiber art processes and reflective writing. According to existing literature, there are several grief therapy approaches, in addition to bereavement support groups for bereavement. Furthermore, many art processes are described in the literature as being valuable in the grieving process in art therapy. However, there are gaps in the literature describing the benefits and effects of fiber art processes for processing bereavement. A nine-week heuristic self-study was proposed to identify the potential therapeutic benefits and applicability of fiber arts within art therapy for those dealing with …

Materials And Processes In Art Therapy, Gabrielle Irvine

EVMS School of Health Professions Master's Level Capstones, Projects and Papers

This review of literature addresses the lack of literature concerning art processes and materials by synthesizing findings evaluating the effects of different processes and materials in the unpublished theses from the Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Art Therapy and Counseling Program. The theses evaluated the effect of the processes of clay work, printmaking, drawing, scribbling, and creating mandalas. The data contained in the theses address specific effects of various processes and materials on clients’ mental and physical states such as levels of anxiety, depression, stress levels, and heart rate. The samples studied vary from the adult inpatient adults to university students. …

Filmmaking As Artistic Inquiry: An Examination Of Ceramic Art Therapy In A Maximum-Security Forensic Psychiatric Facility, Serena Duckrow

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This Art-Based Research (ABR) illuminates the power of creativity to inspire and heal people living in a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital. The study comprises: the individual and group artwork from the Collaborative Ceramic Art Therapy Studio with thirteen participants; a culminating thirteen-minute film found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytlFZVvlig, Conversations in Clay: Creativity, Collaboration, and Community; an artistic inquiry and examination of the project footage; and a discussion of how the therapeutic filmmaking process helped capture the essential therapeutic elements of clay, filmmaking, and the art therapy studio environment.

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

Colours Of Dementia : A Community Art Facilitation Programme For People With Dementia, Suk Mun, Sophia Law

Research Expression through Art : Visual Studies Faculty

Colours of Dementia was a trial art facilitation programme for dementia care in a community setting led by Prof. Sophia Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Visual Studies at Lingnan University. The programme was supported by the Hong Kong Alzheimer's Disease Association (HKADA) and Art for All. The funding came from Prof. Law's Education for Service-learning Faculty Award (2013) from the Lingnan Foundation.

The programme, which ran from December 2013 to June 2014, consisted of a series of eighteen specially designed creative workshops for 14 elders, aged 59 to 94, who were suffering from mild to advanced dementia. A …

創作無障礙 : 一個為讀寫障礙初中生而設的藝術倡導計劃, Suk Mun, Sophia Law

Research Expression through Art : Visual Studies Faculty

《創作無障礙》是一項兩年的藝術倡導計劃，由東華三院屯門綜合服務中心與嶺南大學視覺研究系合辦，為屯門區有讀寫障礙(dyslexia)的初中學生設計為期一學年共二十節的藝術創作倡導工作坊，目的是為他們提供一處無障礙的創作平台，透過愉悅的創作過程，以及完成作品賦與的滿足感，促進他們認識自己先天的限制與天賦，發掘自己的潛能，肯定自我，增加自信。計劃分兩輪進行，參與計劃的學校共三間，包括東華三院鄺錫坤伉儷中學、中華基督教會譚李麗芬紀念中學和鐘聲慈善社胡陳金枝中學。其中鄺錫坤伉儷中學參與了兩輪的計劃， 譚李麗芬紀念中學參與了第一年、胡陳金枝中學參與了第二年的計劃。兩學年度一共有四十五位(二十九男、十六女)學生完成計劃。

為了增進家長和老師對讀寫障礙的認識，計劃期間先後舉辦了三次有關「創作與讀寫障礙」的座談會，讓主辦機構、學者和藝術倡導者與參與計劃的學生家長和老師分享計劃的理念、過程和成果。三次座談會的氣氛相當熱烈，尤其是最後一次老師的參與和意見，對促進家長和主辦機構的溝通起了很大的作用。藝術倡導者在會上就個別同學在計劃中的表現與他們的家長交換意見， 有助他們了解同學在學習上面對的困難，明白同學的潛能。

兩輪計劃在完結時都籌辦一次展覽，展出計劃中學生創作的話劇表演和藝術作品，讓家長、老師、以至社會人士能夠看到讀寫障礙學生的創意和能力，並加以肯定，使得參與的學生在計劃過程中已經建立的自我和信心，在計劃完結後能夠得到家長和老師持續的鼓勵，日後在生活和學習上幫助他們發展長處，推動他們的動力去面對困難。

A Phenomenological Observation Of The Reductive Printmaking Experience: Implications For Art Therapy, Nicholas Alexander

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the phenomenological experience of four students in higher education relating to the involvement in a single reductive relief printmaking session. The indirect process of reductive relief printmaking is set apart from other methods due to the multiple steps and the use of various tools during the experience. It offers a reflective distance from the process, which allows the participant time to consider the meaning of an experience as it occurs. The production of multiple images during the process likewise lessens a participant’s resistance. The printed images are composed of layers; a metaphor for life’s process. Prior …

Life Drawing With Gross Anatomy Medical Students And Implications For Art Therapy, Elliott Addesso

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

It is important to incorporate humanities training into medical education in order to enhance the potential for humane and ethical interactions among physicians. In this study, a life drawing studio course was led by an art therapy graduate student to explore the effects of a life drawing course on medical students concurrently enrolled in Gross Anatomy. Based on students’ perceptions of their experience in the life drawing class, theoretical implications for the practice of art therapy in studio applications were discussed.

Five medical students participated in the course on a voluntary, non-credit basis. The course consisted of seven meetings and …

Adults’ Responses To The Art Process And Interaction With Art Media, Madeline Couch

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The art materials are a major component in art therapy. Their actual usage in sessions with clients, especially with adults, has rarely been the topic of investigation. The ideas about the qualities and purposes that the art materials bring to art therapy sessions are based on older theories, which were created without evidence-based research. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how adults interact with and react to art media. Five adult volunteers, who were not formally trained as artists and who did not regularly engage in artistic processes, participated in the study. The participants experimented …