Examining arts psychotherapies practice elements: Early findings from the Horizons Project

Abstract

Background: Arts Psychotherapies (art, music, drama and dance/movement) have been integral to mental health care services for several decades, however consensus and transparency about the clinical process is still being established. This study investigates practice with a team of six arts psychotherapists working with severe mental illnesses in London, inpatient and community services. The study examines what in-session practice elements are used, whether there is consensus about what the practice elements are and why the arts therapists use them. Method: The methods employed in the first phase of the project are interview-based with thematic analysis, repertory grid technique and nominal group techniques used to analyse the data with the aim of triangulating results to establish greater validity. Results: The results showed that there is scope for developing a shared language about in-session practice elements within a mental health context. However the research examining the timing and reasons for employing those practice elements is still being undertaken. In this study the first results from an extract of the interviews illustrates a complex relationship between theory and practice. Conclusion: From the findings so far it would appear that within this specific context it is possible to see that there are ways of categorising the therapist’s actions that becomes comparable across the arts psychotherapies. From the therapist’s personal descriptions of his or her own practice, there also appears to be a close correlation between arts psychotherapies in a mental health community and inpatient context. Additionally, evidence-based practice models such as mentalisation-based therapies appear to have a close correlation.