Creative Arts Therapists Research Articles

Creative Forces programming with military families: Art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music therapy brief vignettes

LAY SUMMARY Creative arts therapists (art therapists, dance/movement therapists, and music therapists) administer assessments and interventions that support the holistic well-being of military families affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through participation in the Creative Forces: United States National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network, military families discovered strengths, inspired connections, and improved understanding of their relationships. Creative arts therapies (CATs) motivated engagement, which ultimately boosted family resilience. CATs are an integral part of interdisciplinary care to address behavioural and rehabilitative conditions of military families impacted by TBI and PTSD. Future research should examine the efficacy of creative arts therapies in improving resilience in military families.

Exploring the evocative qualities of masks' visual imagery and their associations with adversity and trauma.

Studies suggest a relationship between the emotional evocativeness of visual imagery and viewer responses, however, there is limited understanding of these associations, especially as they relate to viewers' personal experiences of adversities. In this exploratory study, we examined the relationship between the visual content of mask images and viewers' responses. In an online survey 699 participants (of n = 1,010 total initial participants) rated 98 masks based on valence, arousal, and personal relevance and completed the Life Events Checklist. The masks included those created by service members (SMs) with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depicting physical, psychological, and moral injuries and matched neutral masks created by creative arts therapists and arts in health scholars. The findings indicated that responses to mask image content (traumatic versus neutral) were associated with viewers' personal history of adversity and trauma. Specifically, images representing injury/trauma provoked stronger reactions on valence and arousal than neutral images. Moreover, participants with personal histories of trauma had heightened emotional responses to distressing imagery. These findings have implications for art therapists as well as for clinical and general populations in that these results highlight the potential impact of distressing imagery particularly for individuals with personal histories of experiencing or witnessing traumatic events.

Using multiple languages within an improvised fairytale during online arts-based collaborations

This article presents an illustration from an online creative arts project in which different languages were used by participants of a small group within fairytale-movement-music improvisation. The participants, consisting of creative arts therapists and students from different regions of the world, including Canada, New Zealand, and China, represented various world cultures and spoke different primary languages. A session was selected by the authors as it represented an example of a natural experiment that emerged from the global arts-based response to the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a unique case study of how art expression can contribute to communities during crisis events. The purpose of the article is to provide suggestions to guide future groups in the use of arts-based improvisation that might improve communication among participants who do not share a common primary language but have shared complex emotional experiences. In addition, the article includes a review of related education, dance, and drama projects that involve different languages and cultures as well as a drama therapy project that addresses the improvised dramatic communication of complex emotional experiences. Furthermore, the article offers a detailed review of one session from the project using an arts-based inquiry and suggests ways to apply multilingual imaginative storytelling within the communication of groups in community and educational cross-cultural settings.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Tapping for Pediatric Emergency Department Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluation of a Pilot Intervention.

Emergency-department (ED) staff may experience psychologic distress due to the stressful nature of their work. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this distress. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping, a somatic psychophysiologic intervention combining vibratory acupressure with elements of cognitive-behavioral and exposure therapies, can reduce psychologic distress. This study tested the short-term effect of 10-minute EFT tapping on the psychologic distress of pediatric ED staff responding to COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, diverse staff in the pediatric ED of a New York City teaching hospital participated in this single-group study. A licensed creative arts therapist led participants in 10-minute EFT tapping sessions. A self-report questionnaire with 7 items based on the Trauma Exposure Response framework was administered immediately pre- and postintervention. Standardized mean differences between both timepoints were calculated. There were statistically significant reductions for 6 of the 7 items studied, including stress (3.32-2.14), obsessive and intrusive thoughts (2.50-1.85), feelings of pressure (3.20-2.17), loneliness (1.84-1.44), and emotional and physical pain (2.28-1.70); all P < 0.001. No significant changes in professional satisfaction were reported following the intervention. Despite the limitations of a single-arm study design, a 10-minute brief EFT tapping session was a promising way to reduce short-term psychologic distress in pediatric ED health care workers. Future studies, including rigorous randomized controlled trials, are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of brief EFT tapping interventions in other settings.

African Wisdom Traditions and Healing Practices: Performing the Embodied, Contemplative, and Group-based Elements of African Cosmology, Orality, and Arts Modalities

This study on African wisdom traditions and their healing practices, as conducted through embodied modalities and in community settings, addresses a gap in mainstream discourse centered on Eastern meditation practices and Western cognitive therapeutic practices. During a research retreat in South Africa, traditional healers, creative arts therapists, and performers were invited to facilitate indigenous contemplative rituals and arts-based healing practices. The study intended to classify selected Southern African practices and question how they contribute to healing trauma, supporting well-being and enabling human flourishing. This article presents a definition, brief history, and the performed elements of five healing practices: Umphahlo, Umgidi Wokulingisa, Isicathamiya, Iintsomi, and Djembe drumming.

Revisiting the Experience of Art Therapists and Drama Therapists Working in Schools Two Years after the First Lockdown: A Qualitative Pilot

This paper follows a preliminary study that examined how 6 (n = 6) creative arts therapists (3 art therapists and 3 drama therapists) coped with the transition to remote therapy in schools during the first lockdown in Israel due to the Coronavirus&lt;span dir="RTL"&gt; pandemic. The preliminary research explored the therapists’ experiences and views about working online upon returning to regular in-person meetings. The current paper adds a follow-up interview examining their perspective on this period, two years later. The 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; set of interviews was analyzed using the Six-Key Model, which shed light on the various aspects of the therapists’ clinical experience as creative arts therapists. The follow-up interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis and informed by Lakoff’s views on metaphor. The results suggest that, at the time, the therapists were preoccupied with the viability of the treatment, considering their little experience in remote therapy and the need to incorporate their specific art medium into the therapeutic setting. The results also highlight specific similarities and differences between art and drama therapists. The follow-up reinforces the preliminary findings, reiterating the framing of this period as a liminal space, from which the therapists emerged personally and professionally transformed, and more resilient.

Compassion, collaboration, and community: Strategies for staff well-being.

Compassion, collaboration, and community: Strategies for staff well-being.

The Meaning of a Group Facilitation Training to Creative Arts Therapists Working in the Public Education System

Many creative arts therapists who provide group therapy to children and adolescents in the Israeli education system do not feel they were sufficiently trained as group facilitators. Group facilitation training was provided over the course of two consecutive years by a regional support center to over 40 creative arts therapists and their clinical supervisors working in the Israel Ministry of Education. A two-stage qualitative research project examined the participants’ experiences during this training. Interviews were conducted regarding the therapists’ first-year experiences. A questionnaire was administered at the end of the second year. Both were analyzed according to the Consensual Qualitative Research method. The research findings pertain to the participants’ perceptions of group arts therapy in the Israeli education system and included the development of unique group models, the advantages and power of group therapy at school, and the intimidating and disruptive experiences of school settings. The participants also provided their impressions of the training course: their growing confidence and skills, and the many changes required in group arts therapy at public schools to provide more professional and efficient service. The discussion centers on the value of group arts therapy in the education system and the steps needed to enhance therapists’ confidence and efficiency in this field.

The spirit of time and the spirit of depth: Psychodynamic approaches in public mental health services in Israel

AbstractThis article examines the interplay between psychodynamic psychotherapy and other approaches to psychotherapy in mental health services in Israel, describing the history of psychotherapy approaches, education and training, current dilemmas and service examples. Israel has a system of universal healthcare, education and social care which includes mental health services for all citizens and permanent residents. Mental health services and interventions are provided by psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, educational psychologists, social workers, clinical criminologists and creative arts therapists. Despite being public, accessibility is undermined by long waiting times, inequitable geographic distributions and cultural‐linguistic barriers. The interplay between approaches is clearly visible in public mental health services. Many therapists are trained primarily in psychodynamic approaches and receive psychodynamic‐oriented supervision. However, public services often cannot provide suitable conditions for psychodynamic oriented psychotherapy, and the therapists are required to adjust their interventions to treatment plans, reimbursement and reporting. This paper describes in detail two programs that implement psychodynamic approaches in the medical and education systems respectively. The first is “Lkol Nefesh” (“for every soul”) that provides long‐term intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy for individuals suffering from severe mental disorders. The second is the system of creative arts therapies delivered in schools that provide psychotherapy as part of special education services. The paper concludes with a discussion of the influence of the spirit of time on psychotherapy, and the opposite tendencies evident in the state of affairs of psychodynamic psychotherapy in Israel.

Creative Arts Therapists’ Engagement in Sexuality Dialogues With Clients: Pilot Study

A pilot research study examined how US graduate-level creative arts therapists (CATs) engaged clients in sexuality discussions as part of treatment, a mixed-methods concurrent design of survey research and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative survey obtained comprehensive data from over 130 CATs on their comfort and willingness to address sexuality in session. Limited qualitative data was gathered from four CATs during individual semi-structured interviews, which identified therapist qualities of being open, accepting, inclusive and nonjudgmental to contribute to clients’ overall well-being, and explored the impact of sex-positive and sex-negative theoretical frameworks. The findings indicated a high level of comfort, with over 80% of the CATs surveyed and all CATs interviewed addressing sexuality in various settings and across age groups.

Turbulence: Arts-based participatory action research on the experience of creative arts therapists and creatives who identify as Black and people of colour

Following the production of Turbulence, an original play featuring the experiences of creative arts therapists and creatives who identify as Black and people of colour (BPOC), members of the ensemble agreed to engage in an arts-based participatory action research process in which co-researchers drew on dramatic, visual, musical and poetic forms of inquiry to ask themselves about the realities and hopes faced by this community and the environmental conditions that would support their movement, growth and mobility. Findings emphasized the value and necessity of creative affinity groups together with sustainable structural, financial and relational support to encourage the hopes and dreams of BPOC students and professionals.

South Korean art therapists’ roundtable discussion on racism and ethnic discrimination: An arts-based inquiry

The purpose of this artistic inquiry is to explore racism and ethnic discrimination from both majority and minority perspectives. Four Korean female art therapy practitioners and students who temporarily lived in the United States (US) before returning to Korea share their lived experiences vividly through an arts-based roundtable discussion. Along with the cultural component of their experiences of racism and ethnic discrimination within the context of the US and Korea, the discussion reveals parallel experiences of the authors in their shifted positions as part of the racial minority and majority in the US and Korea, respectively. The authors also discuss visual self-reflexivity as an appropriate pedagogical frame to train creative arts therapists.

Examining Character Strengths of Creative Arts Therapists in Canada: A Survey Study (Examen des forces de caractère des thérapeutes en arts créatifs au Canada : une étude par sondage)

This survey study examined the most prominent character strengths in creative arts therapists (CATs) employed in Canada and how they apply their strengths in their work settings. The CATs (N = 156) first completed the 24-item Essential subscale (GACS-E) of the 72-item Global Assessment of Character Strengths (GACS-72) and then responded to open-ended questions directing them to report how they use their top character strengths in their work. The GACS-E subscale results indicated that the highest character strengths among CATs in descending order were kindness, curiosity, love of learning, and creativity. CATs’ self-reported top character strengths were creativity, curiosity, and kindness. The qualitative analysis yielded three main themes relative to how participants used these character strengths in their work: adaptability, building therapeutic rapport, and being authentic. The CATs utilized creativity, curiosity, and kindness together to become more compassionate and effective professionals who are flexible, build healthy relational bridges with their clients, students, employees, and supervisees, and provide genuine, empathetic care. Future Canadian and international researchers need to investigate how character strengths might be used differently by CATs in various roles such as therapist, supervisor, and educator.

A study on creative arts therapists’ human rights sensitivity

Human rights sensitivity is a psychological process with a critical role in encouraging and undertaking human rights advocacy actions. Creative arts therapists use art media to help clients with mental, physical, and social challenges. Many groups and minorities are vulnerable to blind spots related to human rights. Therefore, creative arts therapists are asked to convey high human rights sensitivity to help defend the human rights of clients in situations involving human rights issues. This study aims to determine the level of creative arts therapists’human rights sensitivity and examine its influencing factors. We conducted an online survey with creative arts therapists in Korea and analyzed the responses of 153 participants. The average sensitivity score is 75.97/150, with migrant workers’ labor rights scoring the highest and freedom from detention scoring the lowest. Creative arts therapists’ education (F = 6.348, p = .002) and work experience (F = 4.329, p = .015) significantly affect human rights sensitivity. However, education experience in human rights, education completion time, and certification are less significant. There is an urgent need for effective education that deepens creative arts therapists’ understanding of human rights and enables them to apply perspectives on human rights to the treatment they provide.

From Practice to Pedagogy: How Lessons Learned in the Field Helped Decolonize Creative Therapies Education (De la pratique à la pédagogie : comment les leçons apprises sur le terrain ont aidé à décoloniser l’enseignement aux thérapies créatives)

Mental health outcomes for First Nations Australians continue to decline as government spending continues to support the biomedical model. This article speaks to a decolonized model of creative arts therapy practice that could have major implications for creative therapies education. It speaks to the inherent theoretical imperialism embedded in Western theories and therapeutic practices, and proposes a way forward in navigating a currently colonized education system, while keeping true to the course’s underlying principles of social justice, equity, and connection. Two of the authors of this paper were part of a government-funded remote healing service, one as Manager and Creative Arts Therapist, the other as an Aboriginal Healer/Elder and Artist. The third author is a linguist and educator who works extensively with Aboriginal students. This article tracks how incorporating First Nations practices such as Etuaptmunk and Dadirri, while simultaneously deconstructing Western practice, paradigms, and systems, can have a profound impact on both practice and pedagogy. We take the lessons learned from working with First Nations people and communities from across remote Australia and embed them into a cocreated Creative Arts Therapies course within an Australian regional university.

Loss, adaptation and growth: The experiences of creative arts therapists during the Covid-19 pandemic

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, mental health professionals have been called upon to cope with various challenges, including the shift to telehealth without prior training, overload in the workplace, increased risk of infection, and personal stressors relating to the pandemic. This article presents the qualitative findings of a larger international mixed-method study that explored the experiences of creative arts therapists around the globe during the first year of the pandemic (Feniger-Schaal et al., 2022). Twenty creative arts therapists were interviewed between July 2020 and March 2021. Transcriptions of the interviews were qualitatively analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified: an experience of processing the losses caused by the pandemic, a restorative orientation that focused on adaptations the therapists made, and innovations that lead to personal and professional growth. Artistic engagement and creativity were found to be a resource when coping with losses and helped therapists adapt to the shift to tele-creative arts therapies (tele-CAT). Although this shift can lead to advances in the field of creative arts therapies, it requires further consideration, including the need for ethical guidelines, specific training, the development of digital methods that support the creative process, and dedicated supervision for therapists. The findings also point to the importance of psychological support to mitigate the burden therapists experience during stressful events.

Creating an inclusive community in your school through Barrier-Free Theatre

The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns that academic skills would wither away during the lockdown and with it, social-emotional skills. This is assumed to be as true for neurotypical students as for neurodiverse ones. When students return to their schools, how will they function again in their social environment? The key to addressing the transition back to the “new normal” is the arts, which encompass the whole child: cognition, emotions, social, and physical aspects. This article highlights how creating Barrier-Free Theater programs that include drama, music, dance, art, and creative writing could help all students regain the academic progress they have lost, and with the support of creative arts therapists, could lead to the blossoming of a welcoming and inclusive school community in which everyone, regardless of difference, is valued for their innate creativity and human spirit. Barrier-Free Theater can be integrated in classroom curricula, after-school programs, or with community-school partnerships. Creative arts therapists approach students from a strengths-based perspective. We share processes and strategies to incorporate Barrier-Free Theater, where participants are provided the opportunity to make choices, be respected, and learn through solving problems together. This holistic group process allows the arts to heal trauma and disconnection, while enhancing executive functioning and social-emotional connections.

Embodied Tree: Empowering Its Symbolic Strength Through Creative Arts Therapy

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2021) 7(2):138–148 DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2021/7/10 Embodied Tree: Empowering Its Symbolic Strength Through Creative Arts Therapy Abstract When fear and anxiety for the future gain ground inside of us, nature helps to restore our inner balance and strengthen our link to life. In a webinar for creative arts therapists, we used movements and art to connect with the wisdom of the tree. We embodied its symbolic power, which subsequently represented it in an art form. The tree’s resemblance to the human body and its use as a symbol in myths made it a vehicle to regain a sense of life’s continuation and transformation. As trees are interconnected through their roots, participants co-constructed a unity and a continuity with each other, a precious feeling in a time of isolation and absence of contact. Keywords: creative process, art and movement, interconnection, embodied tree, transformation 摘要 当对未来的恐惧和焦虑在我们内心占据主导地位时, 大自然有助于恢复内心的平衡, 加强我们与生命的联结。在一次为创造性艺术治疗师举办的网络研讨会上, 我们用动作和艺术与树的智慧连接。我们具身化了树的象征性力量, 随后以一种艺术形式呈现出来。树与人体有相似性, 它在神话中作为一种象征使用, 这使它成为重获生命延续感和转化的载体。由于树木通过它们的根部相互连接, 参与者在彼此之间共建了一种整体性与联结感, 在一个孤立和缺乏联系的时代, 这是一种珍贵的感觉。 关键词： 创作过程，艺术和动作, 相互连接, 具身化的树, 转化.

Creative Forces programming with military families: Art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music therapy brief vignettes

LAY SUMMARY Creative arts therapists (art therapists, dance/movement therapists, and music therapists) administer assessments and interventions that support the holistic well-being of military families affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through participation in the Creative Forces: United States National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network, military families discovered strengths, inspired connections, and improved understanding of their relationships. Creative arts therapies (CATs) motivated engagement, which ultimately boosted family resilience. CATs are an integral part of interdisciplinary care to address behavioural and rehabilitative conditions of military families impacted by TBI and PTSD. Future research should examine the efficacy of creative arts therapies in improving resilience in military families.

The Button Method: A Model of Collaboration with Creative Arts Therapies

ABSTRACT The authors discuss a creative clinical intervention that derived from collaborative treatment facilitated by art and dance/movement therapist counselors. This interdisciplinary method, called “the button method,” expanded into a learning tool in graduate education and professional development trainings. As the method evolved, music therapy was integrated to enhance both the workshop and classroom experiences. The authors describe a five-step model for collaboration using the button method. Examples and considerations are offered as illustrations for clinicians across mental health disciplines interested in exploring collaborative work with creative arts therapists.