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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Literature Review Nature-Based Art Therapy Exploring Connections And Relationships, Janell Lopez-Curtis
Literature Review Nature-Based Art Therapy Exploring Connections And Relationships, Janell Lopez-Curtis
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Art therapy is a modality used in clinical psychotherapy. It is supported through both quantitative and qualitative research. Branching out from art therapy is nature-based art therapy. This branch of expressive therapies holds the potential to be beneficial as art therapy due to the interconnected access to the scientific fields of ecology, ecopsychology, art therapy, expressive therapies, and other nature-based therapeutic activities; this includes intersectionality in ecological theories such as ecofeminism and deep ecology as well. Through an exploration of literature, this paper will provide definitions and theory-based support through reviewing clinical psychotherapy, evidence-based practices, and art therapy theories. The …
Art Therapy And Chronic Pain: Exploring Pain Tolerance, Body Sensations And Emotions, India Brown
Art Therapy And Chronic Pain: Exploring Pain Tolerance, Body Sensations And Emotions, India Brown
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Over four weeks, topics of emotion, physical and body sensation, and chronic pain using art therapy were explored. The therapy provided a foundation for practicing mindfulness, increasing awareness, and expressing various symptoms such as somatic discomfort and emotional dysregulation. I co-facilitated a group consisting of individuals between the ages of 23 and 70 identifying as male or female, with a mix of white and black clients from the middle-class bracket. The group participated in art therapy and mindful meditation sessions in an outpatient program. Through this experience, I discovered that many individuals dissociate from their pain and emotional well-being. While …
The Breath As A Holistic Regulator: An Expressive Arts Therapy Community Project, Jacobita Munoz
The Breath As A Holistic Regulator: An Expressive Arts Therapy Community Project, Jacobita Munoz
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This capstone offers the idea that evolution has challenged appropriate breathing and led humans to breathe incorrectly, thus negatively affecting their physical and mental health. As breath can damage the body, it can also serve as a regulator of the mind and body. This thesis points out the multiple effects when uniting controlled respiration, drumming and nature sounds. Breathing, music and nature have many things in common. These include repetition, pattern, awareness of the present moment and relaxation. They all contain a rhythm, and they offer self-regulatory skills. Music-based expressive arts therapies intervention is postulated to provide breathing techniques, united …
The Potential Of Using Dance/Movement Therapy In Treating Depression In The Adult Population In Thailand: A Literature Review, Vararom Tavivoradilok
The Potential Of Using Dance/Movement Therapy In Treating Depression In The Adult Population In Thailand: A Literature Review, Vararom Tavivoradilok
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Depression is becoming increasingly prevalent in Thailand, and while many depressive symptoms manifest through the physical body, there are few treatments for depression in Thailand that involve the physical body. Previous research suggests that Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) can effectively treat depression by incorporating the physical body and individuals’ embodied feelings into the treatment process. This literature review aims to explore the potential of incorporating DMT into the treatment for depression in the adult population in Thailand, by reviewing literature about DMT practice for depression and existing treatments for depression in Thailand. The findings suggest that while physical body incorporation …
Toward Holistic Mental Wellness: A Literature Review Of Mindfulness-Based And Focusing-Oriented Art Therapies, Lesley Vernon
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 …
Self-Compassion Integrated Art Therapy For Mothers During A Pandemic, Shannon Dover
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 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 …
Moving Through Depression: Development Of A Dance/Movement Therapy Method In Psychiatric Inpatient Care, Melissa Olmedo
Moving Through Depression: Development Of A Dance/Movement Therapy Method In Psychiatric Inpatient Care, Melissa Olmedo
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Short-term psychiatric hospitalization is a challenging health care model due to its short duration of care, treating the highest risk psychiatric population. Priority care within a short-term psychiatric hospitalization involves monitoring a patient’s safety for stabilization by decreasing acute mental health symptoms. Holistic psychotherapy treatment options are needed to meet the severity of patients’ symptoms for effective stabilization within a short-term model of care. This paper investigates the first implementation of a dance/movement therapy (DMT) method within two short-term units in a notable Boston hospital. The DMT group called Mindful Movement was facilitated weekly as single sessions to adults ranging …
Mindfulness-Based Dance/Movement Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Health Anxiety: Development Of A Method, Katherine Stahl
Mindfulness-Based Dance/Movement Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Health Anxiety: Development Of A Method, Katherine Stahl
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Despite the development of effective interventions such as Exposure and Response Prevention, the literature on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) demonstrates a large proportion of individuals whose symptoms do not improve with behavioral therapies alone. Supplemental therapies such as Mindfulness have been studied in order to address this issue, demonstrating partial success. The current thesis focuses on individuals diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder who present with health anxiety symptomology. Dance/Movement Therapy is a modality which addresses the mind/body connection, especially important those who have body-based triggers. In order to address the need for supplemental treatment modalities for individuals suffering from OCD, a mindfulness-based …
Reducing Stress In Creative Spaces: Art Therapy With Adults Living With Physical Disabilities, A Literature Review, Kelly Brennan
Reducing Stress In Creative Spaces: Art Therapy With Adults Living With Physical Disabilities, A Literature Review, Kelly Brennan
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Historically and currently, adults living with physical disabilities encounter life dilemmas, triggering high levels of stress. Despite the seriousness of these situations, the support and recognition of the struggle such obstacles cause tend to go ignored by society. Since persons living without disabilities do not personally feel or even perceive the gravity of the stress, accessibility demands remain overlooked. Monumental changes in political and societal constitutions take time, however, current methods that are often used with individuals coping with stress are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapy. These treatments reduce stress among varied populations, specifically when treating individuals living …
“Calming Watercolors”: Using Mindful Art In Treatment Of Mood Disorders, Patrick Macleod
“Calming Watercolors”: Using Mindful Art In Treatment Of Mood Disorders, Patrick Macleod
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Art and mindfulness serve as separate approaches for both mental health treatment and relaxation. This thesis aimed to explore the meaning of a mindfulness-based art directive as perceived by individuals dealing with mood disorders, and its possible influence on their levels of mood and anxiety. The history of mindfulness and expressive therapies are explored, and the benefits of each approach are highlighted. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy are discussed as ways to enhance the relationship between mind and body, to reduce the suffering that comes from mental and physical pains, and to prevent …
Mindfulness-Integrated Art Therapy & The Cultivation Of Self-Compassion: Development Of A Method, Mollie German
Mindfulness-Integrated Art Therapy & The Cultivation Of Self-Compassion: Development Of A Method, Mollie German
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
This capstone thesis explored the links between the research on self-compassion and a mindful art therapy approach in treatment for mental health. Through a critical review of the literature on mindfulness, art therapy, and self-compassion the author extracted the overlapping themes that support well-being theory. It was identified that mindful art therapy approaches that focus on the development of emotional regulation, identity development, resiliency, and wellbeing overlap with those same themes in the self-compassionate approach to treatment for mental health. Many of the approaches were found to not only reduce pathology but also increase wellbeing simultaneously through a positive psychology …
Treating The Trauma Within: Dance/Movement Therapy And Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, A Literature Review, Alexandra Welych-Miller
Treating The Trauma Within: Dance/Movement Therapy And Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, A Literature Review, Alexandra Welych-Miller
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a form of sexual assault that affects a large percentage of the world population. Whether the abuse occurs once or chronically across a period of time, sexual trauma caused by CSA can contribute to severe post-traumatic symptoms throughout the lifespan. These symptoms can affect an individual’s mental health and relationship to their body. Because sexual abuse directly violates an individual’s body, it is important for practitioners to find creative ways to treat its lingering effects. Many researchers have turned to body-based interventions, such as dance/movement therapy (DMT), to explore the treatment of trauma symptoms in …
Considering Art Therapy For Adults With Fear Of Cancer Recurrence (Fcr): A Literature Review, Max Roberts
Considering Art Therapy For Adults With Fear Of Cancer Recurrence (Fcr): A Literature Review, Max Roberts
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a major problem for many cancer survivors. As cancer treatments improve and more people are surviving cancer, FCR will likely become a larger problem in general for the healthcare system. Art therapists working with cancer survivors need to be prepared for addressing FCR as they are likely to encounter this clinical issue. A literature search was conducted and no research investigating art therapy specifically for FCR was found, indicating there is currently no empirically supported approach to art therapy for FCR. Mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies appear to be efficacious for reducing effects of FCR. …
Expressive Mindfulness: A Trauma-Sensitive Expressive Arts Therapy Group Method, Meghan Daly
Expressive Mindfulness: A Trauma-Sensitive Expressive Arts Therapy Group Method, Meghan Daly
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Mindfulness and expressive arts therapy are both supportive of directing attention in a manner that promotes integration and function of a person. In this paper, a trauma-sensitive method was created for use in a day treatment setting for adults with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). This method utilized expressive movement, visual art making with three different materials, and creative writing to encourage mindful, non-judgmental acceptance of the present moment; a sense of relaxation; and an overall increase in quality of life. During development of the method arts-based research informed the choice of materials, music, and structure of the group. …
Art Therapy And The Recovery Process: A Literature Review, Michelle Sharp
Art Therapy And The Recovery Process: A Literature Review, Michelle Sharp
Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses
Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a multi-faceted disease that has physical, mental, and financial consequences for the individual and for society at large. The global burden of disease related to substance use disorder is 5.4 percent worldwide according to World Health Organization (2014). There is a need to expand knowledge of the illness as well as create a more effective treatment method. The demand for addiction-based treatment is rising. There is a need to explore and strengthen research on therapeutic approaches to help individuals to combat substance use disorder and aide in the recovery process. Art therapy, according to …