This qualitative study examines how art interventions are aligned and integrated with emotionally focused therapy (EFT; Johnson, 2020) in the treatment of relational distress with couples. EFT is a brief humanistic evidence-based treatment, grounded in attachment theory, with experiential and systemic approaches to intervention that engage underlying emotion to create more secure bonds. Notably scant literature exists blending art-based and verbal approaches in EFT, despite the importance of verbal imagery in EFT intervention and the experiential nature of expressive therapies. In this study, NVivo qualitative data analysis software facilitated thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with five clinicians who integrate the two approaches. Theory-driven analysis with skills of the Emotion-Focused Therapy-Therapist Fidelity Scale (EFT-TFS; Denton et al., 2009) examined alignment and divergence from the EFT model. Patterns in the data revealed a conceptual framework for integrating art interventions with EFT that prioritized fidelity to the EFT model. This framework provides structure and language to describe art interventions in a granular way at the session level, with considerations for the progression of treatment through the steps and stages of EFT in the context of considerations for the therapeutic alliance. This framework has wide applications in clinical practice, teaching, and empirical inquiry integrating art interventions with EFT.

In this study, 5 women with co-occurring DSM-IV-TR diagnoses in a residential treatment center for homeless veterans and their families received group mindfulness oriented art therapy during an 8-week intervention. Two of the participants were utilized in this case study research to explore how a mindfulness can be implemented in group art therapy and what impact this may have for the female veterans. The study included a qualitative analysis of the veteran’s artwork and the participants’ account of their own behavior. The findings revealed that participants used the art process to express a developing awareness of avoidance and denial often associated with both substance abuse and PTSD. The participants’ artwork and self-reports indicated enhanced flexibility in focus of attention, self-awareness, and self-regulation. The study demonstrated the potential of mindfulness oriented art therapy for enhancing healthy coping strategies.

This research examined the emergence of transference and countertransference within an interracial client-therapist relationship. The literature reviewed in this paper encompasses the different manifestations of transference and countertransference within the therapeutic space, cultural transference and countertransference, the way in which culture presents itself within the therapeutic environment, and the emergence of culture within the art psychotherapy relationship (in the case of this research, the focus was on areas of race and ethnicity as it pertains to culture). A case study approach was utilized with an 8-year-old Hispanic female and her family who received services from an African American art therapist. The findings indicate that [cultural] transference and countertransference are inevitable and should be closely monitored. The findings also suggest that art can serve as an effective tool for highlighting cultural factors. The research reinforced that cultural themes will naturally manifest as treatment progresses, and the dismissal of these cultural matters can result in negative consequences for the client, therapist, and the therapeutic relationship. This research also highlights the lack of attention given to culture within therapy, the need for more therapists to become trained in areas of culture to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse clientele, and for a greater sensitivity and attunement to cultural issues.

This research explores the experience of stigma and its effect on identity formation in young adults who suffer from chronic mental illness. Data was gathered in the form of personal narratives and art-making through a a semi-structured, qualitative focus group. It was categorized and coded in order to better understand the experience of both public and internalized stigma in relation to the developmental milestones that characterize the important transition from adolescence to adulthood. Analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of three overarching themes: 1) The challenges of coping with a stigmatizing system, 2) Internalized stigma as it relates to the formation of adult identity, and 3) The use of art to combat stigma and facilitate self-discovery. These themes were examined against existing literature pertaining to the stigma of mental illness, identity formation in young adults, and the use of art to combat stigma and promote healthy identity. The findings of this research emphasize the insidious nature of stigma and ofer support for the ability of art-based programs to empower young adults who face the challenges of mental illness.

The principal objective of this paper is to explore attachment, empathy, and mentorship in a group of adolescents that participated in an art therapy based workshop. The premise for research formed when researchers participated in the week long Summer Arts Workshop (SAW) with Latino youth from a lower SES area in Los Angeles. Through the theoretical lens of attachment researchers inquired if participating in this workshop contributed to a corrective emotional experience due to the relationships with both peer and adult mentors. Utilizing the methodology of a focus group we collected data with an art therapy based directive, which aimed to uncover the impact the workshop had on the lives of four individuals who participated in the workshop each year. After the data was analyzed researchers found that SAW contributed to prosocial behavior by way of healthy attachment and increased empathic understanding. This paper supports ways community art outreach may prove to be a reparative experience for adolescents. This study may offer understandings to both therapists and educators interested in helping at-risk youth. Findings may support research indicating the artistic process enhances empathic understanding and healthy relationships with peers and adults.

This qualitative research study is informed by a grounded theory approach and explores the use of art therapy as a treatment for cumulative trauma. This paper reviews the current literature focusing on both cumulative trauma and related studies which address the nature and impact of “big T” and “little t” events and accumulated lifetime adversity. There are remarkably few studies which highlight the concept of cumulative trauma in both general psychology and art therapy literature, and there appear to be no existing studies addressing the treatment of the state of cumulative trauma to date. For this study, a series of interviews with three experienced art therapists is presented and accompanied by the researcher’s visual representations of the felt sense of each of the interviews. The artwork is used in conjunction with each of the interview transcriptions to guide the process of data analysis. Axial coding analysis of the artwork and interview data results in the groundbreaking development of an art therapy treatment approach for cumulative trauma in four phases. The theory addresses each trauma according to the client’s level of subjective distress. Through this theoretical model, the client’s state of “allostatic load,” which can be understood as a state of distress which surpasses the individual’s ability for adaptive coping, is addressed systematically according to the trauma that is felt to be most subjectively impactful to each individual client.

This research seeks to utilize an art experiential to explore the potential of art and art making as a means to stimulate empathy towards refugee populations. Researchers attempt to show how art can evoke empathy and inspire social action by communicating the experiences of marginalized communities, specifically Syrian refugees. This research follows a qualitative approach utilizing appropriate quantitative methodologies for data analysis. The research design includes experiential art based focus groups, implementation of guided relational viewing (Potash & Ho, 2011), surveys, response art, and verbal discussion. The data analysis observes for common themes among the three parts of the experiential, and assesses for graphic empathy (Potash & Ho, 2011) and empathic imagination (Kapitan, 2012). Our inquiry explores how participants from two groups, undergraduate studio art majors and first year art therapy graduate students, understand and relate with the experience of Syrian refugee children through art viewing and making. Researchers’ examine how these processes may act as a way to stimulate empathy and act as a catalyst for social action. After analyzing the participants’ response art and their discussions about the art viewing and making process, researchers identified four major themes distinguishing the two groups, and three major themes the groups had in common. Researchers’ examination of pre- and post-surveys on attitudes and behaviors towards refugees indicated changes that informed the conclusions of this research. Researchers conclude with a discussion of the results and how the results inform answers to the research questions and future implications.

This capstone project explores the themes and principles of the Clinical Art Therapy MFT graduate program at Loyola Marymount University to a clinical case study. The purpose of the study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the connections between academic learning and its clinical application, and to illustrate the role of academic learning in identity formation for a student. It incorporates the therapist’s own art making process as a part of the inquiry strategy. Personal identity, as defined by Mason and Vella (2013) are “those things that distinguish individuals from each other”, and which may require effort “something to be invented rather than discovered” (p.236). In art making, the process and the creation of the art product support the assumption that the creation of identity involves an internalization of social influence and it requires invention. Identity formation in children, according to social theory, occurs in context of the family, and significant others, whereas values and attitudes about self place them in society. Art teachers can use this to help “problematize mythical and stereotypical representations of childhood and family relations and increase awareness of multiple viewpoints (Trafl, 2008). These viewpoints can be reflected upon in art therapy increasing self-awareness by contemplating alternative viewpoints and perspectives in a supportive environment. Cognitive psychologists understand self-awareness as a key indicator of personal identity (Leary and Tangney,2003. p3). Henriques views the human ego as a self-awareness system (as cited in Schaffer, 2005, p. 50), with the capacity to use ones mind as an analogy of the minds of others, including differences in perspective and in recognizing the limits of what others know (p.50). According to Mason and Vella (2013), individuals develop a self-image via their reflection very early in life, and they may decide to change themselves due to the judgments of the people they interact with, or perhaps, rebel against change. These stages of development transform identity. The self-portrait can assist in one’s examination of one’s changing self and evolving self-schema contributing to self-awareness in the context of the therapeutic relationship. Charles Horton Cooley, interested in the development of the self, formulated The Looking Glass Self-Theory (as cited in Schaffer, 2005, p.53) which posits that people’s self-image is based on how they suppose others perceive them, and that the looking glass self is actually the product of an active process of construction through the developing mode of imagination (p.53). This phenomenon can play out in the therapeutic relationship as transference and counter-transference, and can be used to examine personal identity in the process of reflecting upon one self, in the supposition of how the other perceives them. The art therapist’s identity evolves in the context of the therapeutic relationship, whereas she is providing her self to the other, and in her understanding of how she is perceived by the other, that her self-awareness and self identity becomes known to her.

This research examined the usefulness of art therapy techniques in the assessment of attachment in couples treatment. This case illustration consisted of one couple who were invited to complete four questionnaires, participate in individual and joint art making tasks. The participants also engaged in conversation and discussion about their art and their experience throughout the art making process. The data was then analyzed and categorized into three emerging themes: (1) Relational dynamic between participants (2) Relationship and response to the art, and (3) Integration of shared and personal experiences. Through the discussion of themes, researchers found that art techniques, specifically the nonverbal joint drawing task, was a beneficial and useful tool to assess a couple’s attachment.

This research is a qualitative art-based case study exploring the facilitation of resilience through the observation of a resiliency-building art therapy group with adolescents. The researcher was the subject and utilized both direct and participant observation of a ten-week resilience-based art therapy group to gain a better understanding of how an art therapy group in a school setting is run. Reflective art making that mirrored the art directives given in the group were incorporated by the researcher to gain a deeper and more personal understanding of the resilience building process. The literature review covers a broad range of resilience and a variety of methods for observing therapy. The weekly art directives were based on the resilience literature and designed to develop personal strengths, self-discovery, communication, self-reliance, problem solving, flexibility, and future planning. Themes identified within the analysis include: flexibility, structure, anxiety, cohesive relationships, and creativity. The researcher found that flexibility in the co-facilitators and structure in the art therapy program are key elements in a successful group. Through this study the researcher identified the usefulness of direct and participant observation of therapy for developing clinical skills and highly recommends both be included in therapeutic training programs.