Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Ripple Effect: ‘Training The Trainer’ On The Impact Of Body Image Through A Dance/Movement Therapy Technique, Marina Gearhart

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis describes the capstone project which was a psychoeducation and experiential workshop for fitness trainers. The workshop investigated the impact trainers’ work may have on the body image of their clients through a dance/movement therapy (DMT) technique. The aim was to enhance the trainers’ sensitivity around body image issues of their clients and to create a space for vulnerable movement conversation that may in turn lead to better mental health advocacy for their clients within the scope of ethical practice. The participants of the workshop were six white female identifying trainers ranging from 24 to 35 years of age. …

Mindfulness-Based Interventions For Prenatal Stress, Anxiety, And Depression, Fiona Kate Rice

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Pregnant people in the United States (US) face myriad barriers to resource accessibility when seeking support, including financial gatekeeping, discrimination, and cis-gendering of the process. Commodification of prenatal support is exhaustive and contributes to a growing exclusivity of traditionally accessible interventions designed to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and to promote positive fetal outcomes and parent-child bond. Mindfulness-based interventions are particularly appropriate for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnancy. Mindfulness-based interventions are intersectional, accessible means of pregnancy and childbirth support with evidence-based outcomes of positive birth experiences and results. Mindfulness is defined as nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. …

Using Paper Theatres As An Expressive Arts Therapy Method: Activating Imaginal Worlds In Community Arts Practice, Silvina S. Ibanez

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Paper theatres are an artistic form that became widely popular in 19th century Europe. Also known as toy theatre and model theatre, a paper theatre has a small build-your-own proscenium and pre-cut paper characters that can be manipulated. Different styles of paper theatre can be found in several cultures.

In contemporary art, the use of paper theatres in several modalities led to an exploration of whether such theatres also could be used as an art therapy method. Research was conducted into expressive art therapy principles, Jungian perspectives, and recent studies in neurosciences. The studies included in the literature review confirmed …

Advocating For Neuro-Informed Music Therapy For Ptsd In Diverse Populations, A Literature Review, Shanell A. Percy

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Research indicates that music positively affects the brain, health, and wellness and continues to be researched for its effectiveness in treating PTSD. Traumatic memories are stored in the brain structures of the limbic system. Music has been shown to affect these brain structures, giving prospect to its use through music psychotherapy interventions as an effective treatment for PTSD. This review of music therapy literature assesses the effects of music on the brain, identifies current models for treating PTSD with music therapy, and considers culturally informed approaches to treatment. A widely known gap in the research of evidenced-based studies of music …

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 …

Racial Equity For Registered Drama Therapists: A Community Engagement Project, Jamila Batts Capitman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mental health professionals are currently faced with an increased need to meet the demands of clients of color who are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Disparities in mental health care for people of color are an ongoing problem stemming from the fact that Western Psychology, the dominant approach to mental health care, is limited by the Eurocentric Worldview. Practitioners who intend to create inclusive therapeutic approaches must consider the unique cultural orientations and historical, social and political realities of clients of color. As of 2021, The North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) requires that 50% of all continuing …

Nothing To Lose: A Literature Review On Combating Anti-Fat Bias Through Expressive Therapies, Katlyn Tracy

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Anti-fat bias exists and is a pervasive and often overlooked form of oppression that significantly harms the mental health of fat people. Similar to other forms of oppression, anti-fat bias remains perpetuated through ideology, enforced institutionally through discriminatory practices, and enacted through interpersonal harassment. There is growing interest in exploring not only the mental health impacts of anti-fat bias, but also the development of effective therapeutic interventions to support fat people impacted by it. However, research on therapeutic strategies for combating this issue remains scarce. The field of Expressive Therapies, with its range of creative modalities and focus on engaging …

“Rage Defends Against Overwhelming Loss”: A Literature Review On Women, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, And Anger, Sarah Maeder

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A literature review examining the difference in anger as a symptom of PTSD based on gender. The focus was on how gender roles and stereotypes impact women’s, as well as providers’, interpretation, expression, acknowledgement, and suppression of anger. By researching civilian survivors of non-combat trauma, the review examined PTSD and symptom discrepancies along a gender divide. Emphasis was placed on the creation of gender as a social construct. Significant nuance was discovered when defining anger, its means of expression, and measurement tools, particularly when interacting with gender. The history of art therapy as a treatment modality for PTSD and anger …

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 – …

Studio Expressive Arts Therapy: Towards A Classroom Method That Incorporates Art And Music, Michael Greenberg

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored the ways in which expressive arts therapy (ExAT) could be incorporated into a small therapeutic high school’s visual arts program. Through the development and implementation of a method, intermodal exchange between visual art and music was integrated into both the school’s art program and its group counseling offerings. Informed by a literature review of studio art therapy (SAT) as related to ExAT, three different interventions were used to fit within the frameworks of the high school’s offerings. The first intervention focused on making music with a few students within art classes while the rest of the class …

Self-Compassion Integrated Art Therapy For Mothers During A Pandemic, Shannon Dover

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis reviews literature related to parental mental health and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a collective trauma in which individuals experience the trauma differently depending on race, gender, and class. Women’s experience of living during COVID-19 related to changes in the workplace, caretaking, and more. The pandemic influenced parents and notably mothers with increased stress, depression, grief, and anxiety. The practice of self-compassion reduces shame and self-criticism which are common experiences during parenting and trauma. Self-compassion and art therapy can aid in resiliency and make living during COVID-19 more comfortable. With a literature review, results yield the following …

Exploring Art Therapy Techniques In Parent-Child Dyads With Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, Yuval Minz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Exposure to trauma during childhood has been shown to have severe long-term consequences. It has been shown that art therapy promotes the reduction of trauma symptoms in children, as it allows them to easily engage in the process of therapy through non-verbal treatment. Involving the caregiver in the treatment process of children was shown to hold significant benefits for children, especially in a setting of parent-child art therapy interventions. In this capstone thesis, I present a case study in which I explored the impact of art therapy interventions performed in a parent-child dyad on the well-being of a child who …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Shape-Shifting Anew: A Covid-19 Come-Unity Engagement Project Co-Created By An International Student Collective, Kaeleigh De Silva

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

COVID-19’s looming hold over the global landscape compounds already established stressors facing international students studying in the U.S. Now, more than ever, there needs to be intentional and innovative research approaches to meet the growing needs of this overlooked population. Thus, a virtual expressive arts-based performative inquiry of reciprocity and collaboration was developed to support international students in the midst of the pandemic. This arts-based participatory action research was built in three stages: phase one consisted of a devising process where international students could build a performance collectively, phase two invited members of the wider expressive therapies study body to …

"It's The Way You Sing It": Translating Music Therapy For Isolated Older Adults Affected By Covid-19 To The Television Screen, Eunice Wong

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The current Covid-19 pandemic has increased the likelihood of loneliness and social isolation among older adults due to the restrictions on movement and visitations in care facilities. Loneliness and social isolation have consistently been identified as risk factors for poor mental and physical health in older people. Meanwhile, a growing number of older adults are utilizing technological resources to enhance their interpersonal relationships and overall quality of life. In the winter of 2020/2021, an innovative music therapy-informed television program was designed and produced for isolated older adults in need of mental and emotional support. This project, produced jointly by a …

Fostering Attachment In Romantic Relationships Through Creative Art Therapies, Mary Hachey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Attachment theory examines the infant/caregiver’s relationship by the attachment style they develop in the first years of life. Over time, these same attachment styles affect adult romantic relationships. Bowlby defines four infant/children attachment styles as securely attached, anxious-ambivalent-insecurely attached, avoidant-insecurely attached, and disorganized-disoriented-insecurely attached. These four styles transferred into three main types for adults: secure, anxious-ambivalent, and avoidant. A couple’s relationship can become affected by personal values, behaviors, environmental situations, attachment styles, and beyond. This literature review discusses how couples behave, relate, and interact with one another based on their attachment styles and it also gives critical details on how …

Drama Therapy For Actor Training Programs, Emily Faith

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This review synthesizes the literature on the mental health trends and developmental stages of student actors in university theatre programs and the mental health issues they may suffer because of their field of training. I then review the potential negative impacts of COVID-19. Special attention is paid to drama therapy techniques to weave into college and university theatre programs to mitigate mental health concerns invoked by training.

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

Exploring The Usefulness Of Mindfulness Practices Through Zoom Meetings In Reducing Anxiety And/Or Stress Of Adults With Learning And Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thatiane Abra

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored which mindfulness meditations or mindfulness practices could be beneficial in the online sessions, the extent to which adults with learning and developmental disabilities could learn the practices remotely, and how stress and anxiety disorders could be reduced through online mindfulness interventions. Furthermore, it was also necessary to address the online sessions as the only mental health treatment possibility during the Coronavirus pandemic for the clients observed and the benefits and limitations of these interventions. Additionally, the importance of structure and routine for this population, the multi-modal structure of the interventions, and how attunement plays an important role …

The Therapeutic Benefits Of Attunement Through Lindy Hop, Sarah Trowbridge

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) was developed as a tool to aide in therapeutic healing. A foundational aspect of DMT is attunement, the emotional/kinesthetic connection between two people that allows for meaningful and healing bonds to emerge. Lindy Hop is a partnered dance that fosters an environment of attunement, as it is accessed both subconsciously and consciously. This research explores Lindy Hop as a possible method of therapeutic treatment. The literature indicates the physiological need for attunement and how safety plays a key role in strengthening senses of self-identity, nervous system development, and worldview. Four experienced Lindy Hoppers were recruited to engage …