Art Therapy Sessions Research Articles

Estudio de caso en diálisis: El niño que construía castillos

Patito es un niño de tres años y medio que acude a la unidad de diálisis. A través de su caso podremos analizar y reflexionar sobre las características tan particulares que tienen dichas unidades, y observar el proceso emocional que sufre el niño en las diferentes sesiones de Arteterapia. Con ello nos planteamos no solo qué consecuencias psicosociales tiene el contexto hospitalario de forma general, sino específicamente en las unidades de diálisis pediátricas. Patito nos da la oportunidad de analizar algunas de las complicaciones que pueden surgir y cómo afectan al proceso arteterapéutico, reflejando de este modo algunos efectos que la diálisis tiene en los pacientes. Reflexionaremos sobre el tipo de sesiones que se pueden impartir o emprender en Arteterapia y cómo en el espacio de diálisis conviven las sesiones grupales e individuales al mismo tiempo, por lo que señalaremos aquellos elementos que deben tenerse en cuenta en estos contextos. Con este artículo pretendemos contribuir al conocimiento de cómo las arteterapeutas podemos intervenir en la unidad de diálisis pediátrica de la manera más apropiada.

764-P: Art Therapy as a Novel Mental Health Therapy Aimed at Reducing the Psychological Burden of Living with Type 1 Diabetes

Objectives: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is strongly linked with an increase in stress, depression, and anxiety. Mental health care is widely acknowledged to be an essential component of T1D clinical care. However, it has proven challenging to identify a successful model of mental health care for T1D. We investigated whether art therapy could be used in the psychological care of patients with T1D. Art therapy allows for the expression and exploration of complex emotions related to illness in an age-appropriate manner, and has been shown to be an effective mental health therapy in other chronic illnesses, but has not been studied in T1D. Methods: We evaluated the effectiveness of an art therapy intervention for stress management in T1D patients. We administered a 17-question questionnaire to 22 sequential patients referred to the on-site art therapist. Mean age of the subjects was 13.1 +/- 7.5 years (range: 8-40 years) and mean duration of diabetes was 5.3 +/- 5 years. The subjects saw the art therapist a mean of 7 +/- 6.4 visits prior to completing the questionnaire. Results: All participants found the sessions stress reducing and planned to continue with ongoing therapy and to incorporate strategies learned into diabetes self-care. The most common responses associated with art therapy were “calm,” “safe,” “feeling understood,” “less overwhelmed.” The average A1c prior to receiving art therapy was 8.7+/-1.8%, and fell to 7.7% +/- 1.5% after a mean of 7 art therapy sessions. Conclusions: Art therapy was a well-received effective mental health treatment in reducing stress in T1D. In this sample, glucose control improved as well. Art therapy is a novel modality in the psychological care of patients living with T1D that can alleviate some of the psychological burden of the disease, a treatment that will be studied in a larger trial. Disclosure C. Lampron: None. R. Goland: None. N. Leibel: None.

Effects of Art Therapy Program on Anxiety and Depression among 6-12-Year-Old Burned Children

INTRODUCTION: There are various ways to relieve physical injuries, but less attention has been dedicated to the treatment of psychological injuries in burned children.
 AIM: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of art therapy using painting and music on reducing anxiety and depression in burned children.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a three-group randomized clinical trial with a pre-test-post-test design that was performed on 60 children aged 6–12 years. The patients were admitted to the Burn Center of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, within 2018 were selected using convenience sampling method and randomly divided into three groups, namely, two intervention (subjected to art and music) and one control group. Ten 45-min-long art therapy sessions were conducted every day. Anxiety was measured with parent-version of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale, and depression was measured using Maria Kovacs Children’s Depression Inventory Questionnaire. The control group only benefited from the routine services of the center.
 RESULTS: Before the intervention, the total mean scores of anxiety in the burned children in the painting, music, and control groups were measured at 90.4 ± 5.4, 84.8 ± 6.8, and 77.4 ± 13.8, respectively. However, the total mean scores of anxiety after the intervention in the burned children in the painting, music, and control groups were estimated at 53.3 ± 4.4, 45.9 ± 8.4, and 72.4 ± 12.9, respectively (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the mean of depression total score before the intervention was measured at 38.7 ± 3.4, 32.8 ± 5.4, and 28.9 ± 5.4, for painting, music, and control groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Moreover, the total mean score of depression after the intervention in the painting, music, and control groups was obtained as 29.9 ± 4.0, 19.3 ± 3.8, and 25.2 ± 4.9, respectively (p < 0.001).
 CONCLUSION: Art therapy using painting and music led to the reduction of anxiety and depression in children with burns; therefore, it is recommended to use the technique for this population.

Art Therapy Sessions for Cancer Patients: A Single-Centre Experience

Introduction: Cancer and anti-cancer therapies are often associated with pain, loss of self-worth, anxiety, and depression. Alternative therapies such as art therapy are available to improve patients’ quality of life, by reducing asthenia, depression, anxiety and pain. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of art therapy, namely theatre and plastic art workshops, on well-being and quality of life of participants in the Lucien Neuwirth Cancer Institute. Methods: A prospective study was conducted at the Lucien Neuwirth Cancer Institute (France), between April 2018 and July 2018. Cancer patients followed at the Institute have been asked to participate in 10 2-h sessions, once a week, based on theatre and plastic art workshops. Self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate both psychological and quality of life domains, but also satisfaction and well-being, before (pre-test) and after the last session (early post-test), as well as 1-month post-experimentation (late post-test). Results: Among the 14 patients who were enroled, the QLQ-C30 questionnaire revealed a pre-test median score of 50.0, an early post-test score of 51.5, and the late post-test revealed a score of 48.0. The anxiety test revealed median scores of 8.0 (pre-test), 6.0 (early post-test) and 6.0 (late post-test), respectively. The depression test reported median scores of 4.0 (pre-test), 5.0 (early post-test) and 6.0 (late post-test), respectively. The median well-being score difference observed between the beginning and the end of sessions is +2.13. The minimum satisfaction score observed is 3.50 out of 10, and the maximum is 10 out of 10. The median is between 7.00 and 10.00. Conclusions: Art therapy sessions had an impact on patients’ welfare. We also reported a trend towards amelioration of quality of life that could probably be confirmed in a larger population, and potentially with a different methodology.

Art therapy and social function in palliative care patients: a mixed-method pilot study

ObjectivesTo evaluate the influence of art therapy in reducing palliative symptoms, on social availability and on perceptions of aesthetics in hospitalised palliative care patients. The secondary objective was to evaluate...

Response art in art therapy practice and research with a focus on reflect piece imagery

ABSTRACT This ‘practice innovation’ paper provides an overview of the development of ‘response art’ which is growing as an integral part of routine clinical practice in art therapy. I provide a literature review of the use of art therapist generated images made before, during and following clinical work. There is a particular focus on post-therapy ‘reflect piece’ imagery which is the subject of the research described in this paper. The purpose of the research is to examine practitioners experience when using art immediately following a session, and how making art in this context, may facilitate the discharge and release of powerful or complex affects and part-processed feelings aroused during their clinical work. Secondly, how developing the themes, gestures and visual motifs systematically between sessions may deepen empathy and attunement, and thirdly, how both forms of visual expression may contribute to the supervisory process. Plain-language summary Response art refers to the visual, creative, art-based responses made by art therapists as part of clinical practice. The generic term is ‘clinical art-making’ and refers to art made in response to any client-related experience, work-based dynamic material or experiences deriving from the clinical context. The term ‘reflect piece imagery’ is used to describe the artworks therapists make immediately following an art therapy session and is the focus of this paper. The potency and clinical usefulness of this form of response art has led to an art-based research project which I have been leading over the past two years. The second part of this paper presents examples from the research and draws together the findings from this and previous research to form an evidence-base from which practice methods and further research in this area can be developed. The literature review traces the emergence of the use of clinical art-making in art therapy practice in North America and Britain and refers to the definition, contexts and application of therapist generated artworks. The current research design described is art-based and demonstrates the use of visual research methods (McNiff, 1998, 2013, 2018) which may also be of interest to the reader as well as contributing to the practitioner-researcher paradigm.

House as a mirror of self: A case study of a twenty-one-year-old female in an inpatient psychiatric hospital

The concept of house has been universally significant since its development some 8500 years ago. Its mythic and metaphoric meaning permeates the language, art, poetry, and music of virtually all cultures. Yet, contemporary art therapy literature has focused little on the significance and meaning of house imagery when it emerges as a choice of subject matter in the image making process. I present this case study in the hope that it will inspire the reader to think further and more deeply about the house should it emerge as an impromptu theme in art therapy. I provide a brief introduction of a 21-year-old African American female followed by a discussion of her artwork - the construction of what she described as her dream home made in art therapy sessions over a three-week period during an inpatient psychiatric stay. I employed a fairly traditional interpretive style to illustrate how the client’s house and its various elements presented as a symbol of her ego-self and reflected how she viewed herself both as an individual and in relation to the outside world.

P41 Art therapy and rheumatology: using a collaborative approach to address the emotional needs of a child with Marfan syndrome

Abstract Background 1:1 art therapy sessions have been offered to rheumatology patients at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow since 2012, supported by the Teapot Trust. A relationship is established between child and Therapist, allowing safe exploration of difficult issues. We describe a new way of collaborative working to include input from other professionals within therapy sessions. Methods A 10 year-old girl was referred to art therapy by the consultant rheumatologist to help her process an existing diagnosis of Marfan syndrome. She displayed intense anger towards her family, lost all confidence socialising and became extremely distressed when having medical examinations. The child identified anger towards her family was because she perceived a lack of honesty about her condition making her feel worried she would die, which in turn prevented her from socialising. The child noticed she became distressed when clinicians didn’t ask permission to examine her. It was apparent that the child needed a joined up approach with the art therapist and consultant rheumatologist collaborating to communicate the child’s views to all professionals involved, which at times involved the consultant rheumatologist joining art therapy sessions. The child identified her own goals for art therapy: Not saying mean things when I’m angry and think of other ways to express my anger Get my confidence back Progress in therapy was measured using Goal Based Outcomes and Psychlops Outcome Measurement Tools allowing the child to report on her own progress. Results Through Goal Based Outcomes, she communicated her anger ‘was getting better’ and she felt confident enough ‘to go on a trampoline’. Family sessions were used to help the child speak honestly with her parents about her diagnosis and prognosis. Having her consultant rheumatologist at sessions enabled her to ask questions like ‘why do I have this,’ ‘will I die’ and ‘can I go on roller coasters.’ Through Psychlops, she communicated her anger was related to feeling embarrassed and exposed during examinations. The art therapist supported the child to explore her body boundaries and to create rules clinicians should follow when examining her. The consultant rheumatologist shared these rules with the rheumatology MDT. The MDT encouraged the child to create a poster to be displayed in the paediatric outpatient clinic, which raised her confidence. At subsequent medical examinations she has been able to communicate her wishes to clinicians instead of becoming distressed. The child is also socialising more and can communicate her feelings at home without becoming angry. Conclusion This collaborative approach supported the child to process her diagnosis by creating a safe and honest space for her feelings to be explored whilst reducing barriers to engaging with clinicians. We have since used this methodology with other members of the rheumatology MDT. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The house as symbolic representation of the self: Drawings and paintings from an art therapy fieldwork study of a closed inpatient adolescents’ focus group

BackgroundAmong many other areas of application, art therapy is also an adjuvant component used in adolescent inpatient psychiatric treatments. Here, we aim to investigate how the house, as representation, could be used as a metaphor of the self in art-therapeutic treatments for this population. MethodWe used a qualitative approach to investigate the outcome of a 3-month period of fieldwork focusing on art therapy in a psychiatric inpatient unit for adolescents aged 15 to 18 years. The art therapy sessions utilized a single specific theme, the house, to investigate whether such a topic would lend itself to express past and current painful experiences and to help the adolescents reconstruct themselves. ResultsBased on the regular participation of 9 adolescents (3 males and 6 females), we detail 5 vignettes to illustrate the findings. In sum, patients’ house drawings and paintings: (1) represent a means of expressing current mental states (e.g. to convey confinement, transition, movement); (2) point to past painful experiences (e.g. broken, abandoned, porous, burning houses); (3) allow sensual and physical contact with art materials. Finally, over time, via the art therapeutic process and by focusing on the house by re-building and re-defining the interior and exterior spheres, better mental health may be achieved through topic-related aesthetic and inner transformations. DiscussionThe results suggest that this topic might also be more generally applicable to art therapy in other psychiatric clinics and settings.

Primary-school-based art therapy: exploratory study of changes in children’s social, emotional and mental health

ABSTRACTAIM: This exploratory mixed methods study aimed to inform future research by investigating if teachers and children from one primary school perceived any changes in children’s social, emotional and mental health difficulties following art therapy and if so, what the children perceived as helpful about the sessions. METHODS: The study included 45 children and 10 class teachers within one UK primary school. The researchers analysed routine questionnaires from teachers and a children's evaluation interviews, triangulating these with data from a teacher focus group. RESULTS: The findings show significant and medium effect sizes for positive teacher-rated changes in children’s overall stress, conduct, hyperactivity, and procsocial behaviour and a large effect on perceived impact of children’s difficulties on their lives. Teacher-rated emotional distress and peer problems showed small changes that did not reach statistical significance. The positive changes were corroborated by the teachers' and children's qualitative reports. Aspects of art therapy which children found particularly helpful were; making and thinking about art; expressing, thinking and learning about thoughts and feelings; and sessions being fun. CONCLUSION: The study highlighted perceived positive changes and no negative changes in children’s SEMH difficulties. However, future research is necessary to examine clinical effectiveness.Plain-language summaryIn this article we describe a research study which aimed to explore if teachers and children perceived any changes to children’s social, emotional or mental health difficulties after the children attended art therapy within their primary school. We were also interested in learning from the children if they thought anything in particular had been helpful about their art therapy sessions in order to inform future research and the development of this particular approach to art therapy.The art therapists asked the class teachers to fill out a Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires at the beginning and end of art therapy. The class teachers also attended a focus group so we could learn more about their general observations of the children before and after attending art therapy. The art therapists also interviewed the children to learn if they perceived any changes since coming to art therapy and if so, what in particular they thought had helped bring about these changes.We found that statistical analysis of the questionnaire scores mostly agreed with what the teachers and children said and that there was generally some positive change to the social, emotional and mental health difficulties the children had been experiencing. The teachers also let us know that some of the children still had residual problems. The children emphasised that making and thinking about art along with expressing, thinking and learning about thoughts and feelings had been particularly helpful. It was also important to the children that the sessions were fun.In conclusion, the teachers and children in this primary school perceived art therapy as helpful to the children and that it merits further research in order to develop the approach used by the art therapists and to see if it is effective in larger research studies including more children, schools and art therapists.

Structured Short-Term Group Art Therapy in Patients with Fibromyalgia. A Pilot Study

Research background. The causes of fibromyalgia (FM) are unclear and diagnosing FM is complicated, which limits treatment options, and no treatment to date has proven fully effective in alleviating its symptoms. In current studies, where art therapy has been applied in the case of FM, art therapy has been part of a multidisciplinary intervention. The authors were unable to find any published data on the effects of art therapy on FM. The aim of the research was to determine the effect of group art therapy on pain, emotional state, and feeling of health and comfort of FM patients. Research methods. Intervention included ten structured art therapy sessions. The participants were 20 women between the ages of 39–64 years. In order to assess the results of therapy, a self-rate questionnaire was used. Therapy session changes were registered using pain and fatigue NRS and semantic differential scales of feeling of health and comfort. The outcome of group art therapy was assessed with a pain and fatigue NRS, and an Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q2). An open question was used to study the expectations of participants at the beginning of therapy and the main result of the therapy upon its conclusion. Research results. During the group art therapy session, pain and fatigue decreased and the feeling of health and comfort improved. This was confirmed by the content analysis of open questions. Following therapy, a significant decrease had taken place in the subscales of the Emotional State Questionnaire in depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia-panic; a substantial decrease in pain and fatigue took place in patients with heightened baseline measures. Conclusion. The changes following the therapy session confirm the results of earlier studies on the positive effects of psychotherapy and art therapy sessions on pain. The pilot study provided promising results for the application of structured short-term group art therapy with FM patients. Keywords: group art therapy, fibromyalgia, pain, fatigue, emotional state.Keywords: group art therapy, fbromyalgia, pain, fatigue, emotional state.

Helpful and hindering events in art therapy as perceived by art therapists in the educational system

This study examined significant events in therapeutic sessions as perceived by art therapists working in the school system. Sixteen female art therapists employed by the Israeli educational system filled in the Helpful Aspects of Therapy (HAT) questionnaire each week during the 2015–2016 school year immediately after the therapy session about a specific pupil they had selected. We implemented an open-ended qualitative analysis based on a thematic analysis. The findings were compiled into five main categories according to the main source generating the events: (1) Helpful and hindering events originating from the therapist, (2) Helpful and hindering events originating from the client, (3) Helpful and hindering events originating from the group, (4) Helpful events originating from the creative work, (5) Helpful and hindering events originating from the surrounding environment. The findings suggest that the human factors in therapy, that is, the interactions and relationships between the therapist, the client and the group all entered prominently into the meaningful events across categories. In addition, the joint observation of the artwork was perceived as an important element in the art therapy sessions.

Group art therapy for the management of fear of childbirth

Background: Even though most pregnant women might have some concerns regarding the mode of delivery some women may experience a heightened fear of childbirth (FOC), which may make pregnancy a disturbing and discomforting experience for them. Clinical FOC leads to an increase in C-section demands and the ratio of C-section births. Therefore, management of FOC is essential for improving public health. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy of group art therapy for the management of FOC.Methods: To understand the effectiveness of group art therapy, we designed a quantitative study. The population studied was pregnant women with subjective complaints of FOC attending an outpatient pregnancy follow-up clinic. Effectiveness of group art therapy intervention was assessed in comparison to group psychoeducation for FOC. The primary outcomes of the study were determined as Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A (W-DEQ) scores below 37, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores below 14 and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores below 10 at the end of the 6th session for the art therapy group. We expected to find significant differences in the primary outcome measures between the two groups. The secondary outcome of the study was the difference between the two groups regarding the mode of actual delivery. 30 women volunteers in the third trimester of pregnancy attending a public women's hospital with moderate levels of FOC were included in the study. They were randomly distributed to 2 groups. The first group (n = 15) received six sessions of group art therapy. The second group (n = 15) received six sessions of psychoeducation for FOC.Results: By the end of the six weeks, Beck depression scale (BDS) scores, Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS) scores, and W-DEQ scores decreased significantly in the art therapy group in comparison to the psychoeducation group (p < 0.001). FOC was considerably decreased in the art therapy group in relation to the control group at the end of the treatment. Most of the women (n = 12) in the art therapy group had natural deliveries while those in the psychoeducation group had C-sections (n = 10).Conclusions: Our findings suggest that art therapy is an efficient method for reducing clinical FOC and levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnant women in the final trimester. This arts therapy programme enabled these shifts in behaviour by helping women face and express their fears through their artwork (drawing) and then gain control over their fears (mandala-making, puppet-making, taking photographs and collage-making) within a secure base and an on-going social support system provided by the group structure. Group art therapy seems to be a cost-effective therapeutic approach for targeting a larger number of people in a limited time with a limited number of therapists.

The effect of art therapy on the quality of life in patients with a gynecologic cancer receiving chemotherapy

ObjectivesMost art therapy research has involved patients with malignancies other than gynecologic cancer. The current study aimed to assess the impact of an art therapy intervention on the quality of life (QOL) in patients with gynecologic cancer who were receiving chemotherapy. MethodsThis was a prospective, non-randomized, pilot study. Eligible patients had a primary or recurrent gynecologic malignancy scheduled to be treated with at least 6 cycles of chemotherapy over 18 weeks. The intervention consisted of five sessions of art therapy during the chemotherapy. Patients completed a Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaire prior to starting chemotherapy, and again at completion of the fifth session. Differences between the FACT-G scores were examined by paired t-tests. An increase in the mean FACT-G score indicated an improvement in QOL. At each session, the patients completed a separate, supplemental questionnaire to subjectively rate the benefit of the session and to express their experience with the art intervention. ResultsTwenty-four patients enrolled. Eight did not complete the study, leaving 16 evaluable patients. The mean FACT-G score pre-chemotherapy was 82.3 (95% CI: 75.5, 89.2), and post-art therapy was 78.6 (95% CI: 71.7, 85.5). The mean change in QOL was −3.7 points (95% CI: −10.7, 3.2, p = 0.270). A supplemental questionnaire indicated that 15 of 16 patients felt that art therapy was beneficial at each session. ConclusionsFACT-G scores did not significantly change over the course of chemotherapy in patients with gynecologic cancers receiving art therapy. Several published studies have indicated that chemotherapy is associated with a decline in QOL. Our results suggest art therapy may help to prevent or mitigate this decline.

The Art Therapy Working Alliance Inventory: the development of a measure

ABSTRACTTwo studies present the development and validation of the Art Therapy Working Alliance Inventory measure, based on Bordin’s [1979. The generalizability of the psychoanalytic concept of the working alliance. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 16, 252–260] conceptualisation of the therapeutic working alliance. The measure captures unique aspects of the art therapy working alliance that take into account the client’s relation to the art medium in the presence of the art therapist. The measure’s reliability and validity were examined. In Study 1, 40 art therapy students, who participated in art therapeutic simulations as clients during their training programme, rated the measure in its development phase; in Study 2, 104 art therapy students completed the final questionnaire and the Working Alliance Inventory in regard to therapeutic simulations. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three main factors: perceiving the art medium as an effective therapeutic tool (Art Task); the affective and explorative experience during art-making (Art Experience); and, acceptance of the art therapist’s interventions in the art medium (Art Therapist Acceptance). Associations were found between Art Task and Art Therapist Acceptance with each of the working alliance components, as well as between Art Experience with the Bond component. Implications for practice and research are discussed.Plain-language summaryIn verbal psychotherapy, a strong therapeutic alliance between client and therapist is necessary to achieve therapeutic goals. In art therapy, this alliance includes a third object: the art medium, comprised of art materials, artmaking and artworks.In this study, we developed and tested a new questionnaire for art therapy service users which measures the client-art medium alliance formed in art therapy. The new questionnaire is based on the Working Alliance Inventory, a well-known measure used in psychotherapy (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989) and is called the Art Therapy-Working Alliance Inventory.In order to measure the alliance between the client and the art medium, the Art Therapy-Working Alliance Inventory asks about three main areas: the client’s perception of the art medium as a therapeutic tool (Art-Task), the client’s affective experience of his/her artwork (Art Experience), and the client’s acceptance/rejection of the art-therapist’s interventions in the art medium (Art Therapist Acceptance).We asked 104 art therapy students to assume the role of clients in simulated art therapy sessions and then fill out the questionnaire at the end. We found a strong association between the two alliance scores; in other words, the stronger the alliance between the client and the art therapist, the stronger the alliance between the client and the art medium.Thus, we concluded that the Art Therapy-Working Alliance Inventory can serve as a useful tool in the research of art therapy practice.

Implementation of Resident-Driven Art and Humanities Curriculum to Improve Wellness in Radiation Oncology: Preliminary Results

Art and Humanities in medicine has been significantly lacking in resident education. Art therapy is a proven technique to improve mental health outcomes that can be applied to residents in order to improve wellness. In an effort to improve resident exposure to art therapeutic techniques and evaluate burnout related endpoints including stress, vitality, and motivation, a Resident- run humanities curriculum was implemented. Starting in May 2017, Art therapy sessions were designed and led by a Resident with previous Art Experience. One-hour sessions were designed to reflect and discuss the experience of being a member or resident in Radiation Oncology department through an art form. Baseline surveys were taken prior to starting the session, including demographic information, exposure to art, stress level, fatigue, motivation, and vitality. Participants also took Post- Activity surveys to evaluate changes in stress, fatigue, mood, vitality, and motivation. Sessions were geared for residents, but the whole department was invited to participate. Art supplies were funded by the Radiation Oncology department. There have been three art therapy sessions, one hour each, since the implementation of the curriculum. Number of participants ranges 3-8 participants each session. Majority of participants fall in the 25-29 age groups. Two participants were consultants, greater than 45 years old. All participants had previous exposure to artistic expression, however only one was currently enrolled in an art program outside of work. A total of 16 surveys were completed for all three sessions. Composite averages of endpoints on survey showed baseline current rotation stress 4.625 (0-10 high), pre activity stress level 4.25 (0-10 high), fatigue 4.75, (0-10 worn-out), excitement to be a doctor 5.0625 (0-10 love job), pre-activity mood 6.0 (0-10 Very happy), pre-activity vitality 5.37 (0-10 full of pep) and motivation (0-10 very motivated). Post- activity survey results showed a decrease in stress by 1.13 points, a decrease in fatigue by 1.56 points, and an improvement in excitement by 1.125 points, mood by 1.25 points, vitality by 2 points and motivation by 1.75 points. Overall, the resident driven art therapy sessions for residents and faculty showed positive improvement in all burnout related endpoints and wellness categories. Further sessions and participation are required to characterize the degree of improvement. We plan to continue sessions incorporating other art forms, such as dance, sculpture, and writing. These sessions are easily reproducible and can be implemented in all residency programs across specialties to improve wellness.

Questionnaire on the Experience of the Art Therapy Group in Psychosomatics from Patient View (FEKTP) - Construction and Validation of a Measuring Instrument

Art therapy is a clinically accepted method of therapy, but there are still very few studies that deal with the efficacy, change factors or mode of action of art therapy. In particular, there is a dearth of research instruments and psychometrically verified research tools specially fitted for art therapy which measures the experience dimensions of the art therapy group from the patient's point of view. Hence, it provides evidence of its effectiveness, better understands the art therapy group processes and serves quality assurance. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate the questionnaire on the experience of the art therapy group from patient view (FEKTP). This questionnaire is based on Grawe's and Yalom's conceptions of change factors in group therapy. 133 patients participated in the study and completed the FEKTP directly after the 6th art therapy session. Patients additionally received established questionnaires concerning clinical symptoms and experience processes at the beginning and end of treatment. Factor analysis demonstrated a clear factor structure of the FEKTP, which corresponded to the theoretically predicted subscales to the greatest extent. The test psychometric main quality criteria of the FEKTP (reliability, validity and objectivity) can be classified as acceptable to good range. The criterion validity appear to be given, but should be examined more exactly in future studies. Thus, a valid instrument for the systemic detection of general change factors for art therapy is now available. The questionnaire can be recommended for research as well as clinical contexts.

A case study on the collage art therapy for immigrant youths

The purpose of this study is to analyze how immigrant youths’ experiences of collage art therapy were shown in their emotional changes. Research question is as follow: How do the emotional changes of immigrant youths, who participated in the collage group art therapy program, appear in their art works? For this end, 3 immigrant youths were chosen from a multicultural preliminary school. And they participated in 10 sessions of collage group art therapy. As a qualitative research, this study analyzed the cases on immigrant youths’ emotional growth, based on the participatory observation and interpretation of the symbols and components in their art works. The results were as follows: Components like symbols, meanings, individual conflict and desire, have positively changed throughout the whole sessions. Their early works showed negative symbols and passive actions as unconscious defense mechanism. Their mid-term works showed their concentration on art activities and dynamics with interest and creativity in art medium. Their late works showed positive symbols like achievement desire and adaptation to reality. Therefore, this research has significance in that it provides basic data of developing collage art therapy program for immigrant youths, implying the possibility of their positive adaptation to Korea.

Quantitatively Improved Treatment Outcomes for Combat-Associated PTSD With Adjunctive Art Therapy: Randomized Controlled Trial

This article describes a randomized, controlled trial (N = 38) that compared art therapy in conjunction with cognitive processing therapy (CPT) to CPT alone for veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants were randomized to either the experimental condition of 8 sessions of CPT and 8 sessions of individual art therapy or to the control condition of 8 sessions of CPT and 8 individual sessions of supportive psychotherapy. Outcome measures included the Beck Depression Inventory–II (BDI–II), PTSD Checklist–Military (PCL–M), and self-ratings of perceived treatment benefits. Experimental group participants had statistically significantly greater reduction in PCL–M and BDI–II scores compared to the control group and the perceived benefit of treatment was greater for art therapy as compared to CPT.

Proyecto ARPA: Arteterapia con personas amputadas. Resultados, reflexiones ético-metodológicas y conclusiones del estudio

El proyecto Arpa es un estudio piloto de investigación cuantitativa llevado a cabo en la Unidad de Cirugía Vascular del Hospital del Mar y centro Fórum de Barcelona durante los años 2016 y 2017. En el presente artículo se expone el desarrollo, resultados y limitaciones del mismo, así como las dificultades encontradas y las cuestiones ético-metodológicas derivadas.El estudio ha ofrecido sesiones de Arteterapia a 9 personas intervenidas quirúrgicamente por una amputación. Los resultados obtenidos muestran mejoras en síntomas de depresión y autoimagen y datos contradictorios en autoestima y respuestas psicológicas de duelo. El cuestionario diseñado por el equipo indica una satisfacción alta aunque inespecífica de la atención recibida.Se concluye la presencia de efectos positivos, si bien son necesarios estudios con muestras de mayor tamaño y rigurosidad en su metodología.