The Contribution of Art Therapy to the Dissociative Disorders

Abstract

AbstractResearch has shown that childhood trauma is a critical component in dissociative disorders (Putnam, 1989). Traumatic imagery and frightening emotions are right brain functions (Brende, 1984). In order to explore concepts of brain hemispheric lateralization and distinct right brain functioning in extensive dissociation, the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) scores of 114 engineering students were compared to the DES scores of 92 drawing students on a university campus. The DES measures the level of dissociative experiences. The engineering curriculum was presumed to require more analytical, left brain skills while the drawing class tasks were assumed to utilize more visual, right brain skills. The data were separated into three levels of scoring. A chi-square calculation found differences in dissociative scoring levels between the groups that approached significance at the .05 level. This suggests that brain lateralization may play a role in dissociative processes. Since art therapy may employ t...