Art Therapy Commons^™

Postpartum Depression: Healing Through Archetypes And The Expressive Arts Therapies, Macushla Roulleau

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis is a literature review investigating treating postpartum depression through the expressive arts therapies and feminine archetypes. The expressive arts therapies explored for treatment are dance, music, art, and drama. Meditation, mindfulness, and writing are also included. The importance of expressive arts therapies in treating postpartum depression is of interest now because of the increasing number of mothers who experience postpartum depression who are looking for alternatives to treatment beyond, or complementing, traditional talk therapy and medication. A search for literature on treating postpartum depression with expressive arts therapies and archetypes was conducted on-line using the Lesley University database ...

Examining The Use Of Expressive Arts Therapies In Neurorehabilitation Treatment Planning, Rebecca J. Horner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Those undergoing neurorehabilitation after stroke and traumatic brain injury report a diminished sense of overall wellness. This paper examines the conceivable benefits of introducing expressive arts therapies, which is the therapeutic use and combination of the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other intermodal creative processes, into physical therapy and neurorehabilitation treatment planning. Expressive arts therapies have the capacity to engage with an individual’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual states concurrently. They simultaneously offer the ability to promote an increased sense of well-being, address mind-body disconnects, and process trauma non-verbally.

The sections of this narrative literature review focus ...

A Student Reflects On Their Time Volunteering For Hospice, Myah A. York

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship

Hospice is a special healthcare option for patients with terminal illnesses. With an interdisciplinary care team working together to meet patients' medical, emotional, and spiritual needs, hospice care can be provided in a number of different settings. As a hospice volunteer, I interact with members of the community and offer care and support at a time when it is most needed. This paper examines the impact of my involvement and participation as a hospice volunteer on the welfare of others and my personal development.

Literature Review: The Relationship Between Art And Anxiety, Madeline R. Armendariz Sullivan

University Honors Theses

In this literature review, several articles and studies are discussed to address the question: What is the relationship between making art and anxiety? Within the literature discussed, three themes are reviewed: the effects of making art on anxiety, the long-term impacts of making art, and making art and other psychological conditions. The literature reviewed suggested that making art significantly improves the symptoms of anxiety, helps participants achieve meditative, or flow, states, improves the participants' emotional regulation and quality of life, and that making art helps with comorbidity and even other psychological conditions besides anxiety disorders.

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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Exploring Challenges And Triumphs Within The Transgender Community Through Comics-Based Research, Carly Caldwell

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

Transgender people are marginalized and pathologized within our society, which leaves transgender individuals vulnerable to numerous negative outcomes. The minority stress model describes the factors experienced by marginalized communities contribute to adverse outcomes (Meyer, 2015). Health care professionals are often not properly equipped to serve the needs of transgender individuals due to marginalization and pathologization. Used to challenge harmful stereotypes, as a form of cultural resistance, and to incite social change comic books and zines have been used as forms of expression for individuals with marginalized identities. Through the creation of a comic book, I aimed to educate others, encourage ...

An Extended Literature Review Exploring How Relational Cultural Therapy And Emotion Recognition Impact The Therapeutic Alliance, Prairie Boschulte

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

This research explores existing literature involving the role of Relational Cultural Therapy and emotion recognition on the therapeutic alliance. This exploration is accomplished through an extended literature review focusing specifically on emotion recognition, RCT, and the therapeutic alliance, with an additional focus on art therapy. The themes discussed center around emotional expression and recognition, rupture and repair in the therapeutic relationship, and connection, disconnection, and mutual empathy through a relational-cultural lens. Themes and patterns were identified within this area of study and how this field of research has developed over time. This study found support for therapist emotion recognition abilities ...

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 ...

An Exploration Of Art Therapy Services Offered To University Community Members During Transition, Julia Arias, Marissa Gonzales, Melissa Gonzalez, Raegen Valdes

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined art therapy services offered by Loyola Marymount University's Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic to university students and staff amidst the transition back to in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of interventions and clinical themes that emerged as a result of the services offered to members of the university as they transitioned back to in-person services. Two focus groups were held to gather data from participants and facilitators of the workshops. The analysis of this data led researchers to find that the art therapy ...

Exploring Arts Based Assessments For Relevancy In Art Therapy Research, Anjelica Cortés, Denielle Dominguez, Hayoung Lee, Naomi Nessim, Ciera D. Olson

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the integration of art assessments with cancer patients as a tool for determining potential scholarly value. Qualitative data was collected from two clinicians who ran weekly art therapy groups with women who are undergoing or who have survived breast cancer treatment. Both groups were 10 week modules structured as open studio groups, and each clinician was subsequently interviewed by the researchers who used a series of formatted questions to assess how the four art assessments were offered to participants, how participants responded to the invitation to engage in assessments, and how the clinician’s reflected on patients ...

Developing Cultural Humility Using Art-Based Group Practices: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Dani De Herrera, Amanda Ramirez, Vivien Chia, Yu Liu, Vanessa Perez, Victoria Mason

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

As the state of the world continues to evolve through means of social justice and technology, the discussion of cultural humility as the evolution of cultural competence is a growing topic in the field of mental health and the art therapy community. The following mixed- method research explores the impact of art materials, group processes, and creative practices in the development of cultural humility. Six graduate students from the Marital and Family Art Therapy Program at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) designed the following collaborative ethnography. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data to answer the question: How can group art-based practices ...