This research explores the role of the art therapist in a nonclinical setting. The research dissects the experiences of nine art therapists who participated in an artist residency that was informed by art therapy but was not clinically based. The spectrum of literature reviewed focused on the professional identity of art therapists and therapists as well as social action art therapy and working with Native American cultures. A qualitative approach was utilized through the conduction of a focus group along with four individual interviews, which were both enhanced by a parallel art making process. Analysis of the data resulted in four significant themes: illuminating strengths and activating existing resources, containment, chaos, and finding hope amidst inadequacy. The findings were triangulated with the art therapy literature reviewed on the identity of the art therapist as well as leading art therapists’ visions for the field’s future. The research accentuates the complexity and significance of art therapists participating culturally informed, with underserved communities and redefining their role in order to carry out that purpose. In sum, the research offers insight into how art therapists can creatively and with great sensitivity, “meet clients where they are at”.

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 study discusses the intergenerational impact of mass incarceration on families. The general literature repeatedly described the negative effects of mass incarceration among children who have an incarcerated parent by pointing to the difficulty of educational attainment, social exclusion, stigma, substance abuse, and the exacerbation of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior (Kjellstrand & Eddy, 2011; Miller & Barnes, 2015; Turney, 2014). Unfortunately, most incarcerated individuals are parents and most incarcerated women are mothers (Scudder, A., et al., 2014, and Miller, et al., 2014). Through the use of art, service providers (artists, clinicians, etc.) that facilitate parent based programs in correctional facilities or re-entry programs can alleviate the trauma caused by incarceration that affect the emotional and mental well-being of families. Two organizations that provide art programs to incarcerated parents participated in a qualitative study about the effective use of art in their programs. Themes from the interviews discussed the value of cultural humility, as well as the role of social justice and restorative justice frameworks when providing art-based programs for parents. The lack of trust, compassion, and empathy were barriers in the process of delivering services to families. Since the creative process is inherently inclusive and actively engages its participants (e.g., therapists, patients, observers), the results of this study point to art creation as a vehicle that promotes trusts and supports family relationship restoration in order to intercept the cycles of intergenerational trauma.

This qualitative case study explores the long-term effects of domestic violence through the lens of art therapy treatment. The study is based on a twelve-week long art therapy treatment group for women who have experienced domestic violence. The study includes a literature review and a qualitative analysis of the participants’ artwork and details of their experiences of domestic violence related trauma. The research focuses on two participants and utilizes textual and visual analysis to identify four emergent themes: Family and identity, hope in moving forward, support and connection, and freedom. The findings discuss the value of art therapy in revealing coping skills, strengths and internalized fears related to domestic violence trauma. The women in the study illuminate an increase in awareness of internal resources and hopeful narratives for healing. The study demonstrates the potential of art therapy to make visible the long-term effect of domestic violence, and assist in the treatment of survivors.

A number of studies have examined variables associated with medical use. However, most of the studies deal with samples that are not easily generalizable to other populations. In particular, no study is known to have looked at general medical use among people seeking services for marital and family problems. In this study, medical use of participants from the marriage and family therapy services at Brigham Young University Comprehensive Clinic was investigated to determine the best predictors of general medical use. Best subsets multiple linear regression showed that the best overall predictors of general medical use were anxiety and hostility.

The purpose of this study was to better understand how virtues and values affect marital intimacy. Ten married couples were given a marital satisfaction assessment and participated as individuals in 1-1/2 hour interviews which were audiotaped and then transcribed. Using grounded theory and also the constant comparative method, researchers were able to generate a theory involving a core theme of showing love for self and other, which strongly contributes to increased intimacy. This process is connected to living virtues and to becoming other-oriented. Two different ways of "being" were found to be connected both with showing love, living virtues, increasing intimacy: other-orientation (a focus on the other including her well-being) and self-orientation (a primary concern with meeting one's own needs and desires above all else). These orientations were connected with secure attachment style and insecure attachment styles, respectively. Secure attachment was connected with sets of beliefs and thoughts, affect, and behavior characteristic of this way of being that increase security in the relationship. Orientation and attachment style, whether other-oriented and secure or self-oriented and insecure, seemed to be mutually determining. A Virtue Cycle connected with these processes was described, in which one who lives virtues genuinely towards their partner often experiences an increased love for their partner and closeness in the relationship. The receiver often perceives virtuous actions given by her partner to be a sign of his love for her, which leads to feeling loved and feeling closer, and wanting to give to partner which leads her to increase her living of virtues, increasing her other-oreintation. Living of virtues was generally associated with increased intimacy for both Other-oriented and Self-oriented couples, though increases were greater and more lasting in Other-oriented (OO) couples. Implications are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to phenomenologically explore and describe the influence family storytelling has on the formation and transference of beliefs. This study was a case study of one family who was identified as engaging in family storytelling. The participants were selected based on their participation in a 2004 pilot study, "A Phenomenological Examination of Family Recreational Storytelling." The results of the 2004 pilot study were analyzed for belief-centered themes. It was upon those themes that questions for this study were based. For this study it was hypothesized that: 1) storytelling strengthens family bonds and connections; 2) storytelling facilitates the creation of individual and familial beliefs; 3) these beliefs either facilitate or constrain the functioning capability of the family and its individual members; and 4) as this phenomenon is more fully understood, powerful interventions can be utilized by therapists and implemented in the field of marriage and family therapy. For the current study, it was concluded that family storytelling influences beliefs, which in turn affects individual action. Additionally, an individual's overall perspective on life is capable of being shaped by the tone and nature of the stories that children are told by their parents. Finally, this study provided insight into how clinicians can coach families to implement storytelling as a therapeutic intervention. Information regarding how parents used stories and the characteristics of the story, storyteller, and setting was outlined. How children used storytelling to form and establish beliefs was explored.

The cost of health care continues to increase. Based on the biopsychosocial model of heath care, it has been shown that the treatment of psychological and social problems can have a cost offset effect on the cost of medical care. While this offset effect has been shown in an MFT population, there are no known studies that have looked at predictors of the change in medical use by those that receive marital and family therapy. This study looked at psychological and social measures of individuals who received marital and family therapy. These measures were evaluated based on the change from intake to one year post intake using best subsets multiple regression. The model for males showed variables that could be affected using a cognitive or cognitive-behavioral model of therapy. The model for females showed variables that could be affected using the emotionally focused model of therapy. The implications of this study are that a therapist could be the most effective in conjoint therapy if they apply concepts from both cognitive and emotionally focused therapeutic models.

Despite a call by researchers for estimates of the treatment clinical and cost effectiveness for relational problems, very little has been done to answer this call. The present study is an examination of actual treatment costs and recidivism rates for patients treated for a relational problem (either in individual or conjoint therapy sessions) in the CIGNA network. Despite the fact that this study compares treatment provider cost-effectiveness for treating relational problems, analyses do not control for average amounts paid by provider license type. Policymakers and third-party payers may use such clinical-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness data to make decisions regarding treatment of relational problems and funding allocation. The present study is also the first to compare the costs of couples therapy versus family therapy for relational problems.