The purpose of this project was to compare IQ scores obtained using the Leiter International Performance Scale to those obtained using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R).

In the attempt to explore the world of work as an arena for mental health services, this report can be considered as having two major goals. The first is to provide a review and discussion of many of the issues that impact on and are part of the industrial social work field. The meaning of work will be discussed, from both an historical and psychological point of view. Aspects of the community mental health ideology will be presented, especially in relation to the world of work. A brief review of various types of mental health programming will be discussed, as well as some of the issues pertinent to evaluation of employee programs. The second major goal is the presentation of an evaluation study of the Columbia Assistance Program for Employees. The newness of this program, along with the meager existence of evaluation studies of employee programs, resulted in obstacles to evaluation design and data analysis. However, as an exploratory and descriptive study, this report is an effort to assess a program that represents an innovative interface between mental health professionals and working people.

Discriminant analysis was conducted to examine the empirical use of psychosocial variables and stressful life events scales in classifying depressed and non-depressed American Indian adolescents using a standardized criterion measure. Subjects attending a Bureau of Indian Affair boarding school were administered a mental health screening survey and were interviewed within four weeks using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule f or Children-Revised (DISC-R). Three models of discriminant analysis were used to determine the overall and incremental variance contributed by the stressful life events scales and the related psychosocial variables (i.e., gender, perceived social support from family and from friends, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms) to the criterion variable of depression. Results indicated that none of the models contributed significantly to the overall and unique variance in the classification of the groups. It is recommended that psychosocial correlates other than those that had been identified in this study (e.g. substance abuse, suicide behaviors, etc.) need to be examined and considered in future examination of American Indian adolescent depression.

Although research has been conducted on journaling, spirituality and art making separately, few studies investigate the potential for these modalities when combined together in a therapeutic context. This investigation explored the way that combining art making and journaling can contribute to spiritual growth and development during times of transformation. Specifically, by using self study and archival research approaches to conduct a systematic analysis of 5 of my previous journals and 5 of my previous art pieces which were created during times of transformation. Components illustrating spiritual growth such as contemplation, awareness, meaning making, connection, externalization, values and beliefs (Aten, 2011; Bryne & McKinlay, 2012; Hieb, 2005; Wiggins, 2011) were indicated. During this investigation, spirituality was examined through transpersonal and existential perspectives. The findings of this study suggest that examining a person’s core values, beliefs and how they seek meaning and connection with others is beneficial because it may be the source of unproductive thoughts, behaviors and feelings which motivate an individual to seek psychotherapeutic treatment. This study also illuminates the potential for spiritual development and maturation in spaces of disconnection.

This research study explored the integration of Art Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to treat clients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The study explored how art therapy and EMDR can be combined effectively. First, a literature review investigated previous research connecting trauma and its neurological impact, as well as the subsequent causes, symptoms and criteria for PTSD, as well as the connection between neurobiology to art therapy and EMDR. Second, an in-depth interview with a licensed MFT and registered art therapist who is also a certified EMDR practitioner portrays the ways combining art therapy and EMDR to treat clients with PTSD can be done, and how a therapist experienced effectiveness of this treatment, its purpose, techniques, as well as the benefits and challenges of integrating these two treatment can inform others. Information gathered from the interview was transcribed, systematically categorized, and analyzed, resulting in three overarching themes; incorporating the body and mind, combining techniques of Art Therapy and EMDR and populations treated with this integrative modality. Third, a discussion of findings within the context of the larger literature review expanded the meaning of these findings, offering considerations for future clinical applications and research in the young field of integrative trauma treatment.

This study endeavors to explore the use of Helen B. Landgarten’s Family Art Assessment as a consultation service, in community mental health clinic settings. This research is a continuation of a pilot project initiated by director of the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic, Dr. Paige Asawa, MFT, ATR-BC, in which Dr. Asawa implemented the Landagarten Family Art Assessment at a local clinic with five families. The initial results of that study were examined and analyzed by Meirav Haber, who used a survey and an art response component to document the participants’ experience. In this study, a focus group was conducted, which consisted of various stakeholders in the agency from administration to the clinicians who participated in the initial pilot project. They shared their thoughts and feelings about the experience in a semi-structured conversational setting. The focus group recording was transcribed and analyzed into three themes: procedural recommendations, assessment conceptualizations, and therapeutic relationship indications. This indication pertained to the formation and stability of the therapeutic relationship between the family and its primary clinician, which must exist prior to conducting the Family Art Assessment. A synthesis of the existing protocol, focus group conversation, and the literature reveals that it is beneficial to have both the assessing art therapist and the primary clinician present in the therapy room during the consultation of the Family Art Assessment, in order for the results of the assessment to be as authentic and valid as possible. These results may contribute to a better understanding of the possibilities of having art therapy consultations as this local clinic, and to promote collaboration between art therapists and mental health professionals.

This paper investigates how the meditation practice and the self-reflective art of an art therapy trainee informed clinical work with an adolescent client. The self-reflective process included Jon Kabat-Zinn’s 29-minute body scan meditation, a review of the client’s artwork, and a response painting. This course of action was documented in a visual journal form. A hermeneutic interviewing process, or a process of open-ended questioning and dialogue, was used to find out whether or not the therapist’s understanding of the client’s experience matched with his own understanding. His responses were utilized to examine the validity of the findings. The findings support the concept of art psychotherapy as an advantageous approach to opening communication with adolescents because of its ability to permeate defenses (Linesch, 1988; Wadeson, 2010). They also support the idea that responsive art-making increases the empathic response of the therapist (Moon, 1999) and awareness of counter-transference issues (Franklin, 1999). Additionally, meditation facilitated the reflective art process by promoting clarity, focus, and authenticity, and thus, greater insight. There is limited research about the integration of meditative practices in art therapy. The research also indicates that attuned suggestion, although based on the therapist’s subjective experience, encourages the client’s sense of feeling understood. The field of art therapy would benefit from more research about methods of interpretation that avoid the arrogance of assumption. More self-reflective research is needed in our field because these methods increase the competence of practitioners.

This paper is an exploration of how art therapy informed by studio practices plays a role in addressing the challenges of immigration and acculturation, specifically looking at women from Latin America. This also investigates the mental health needs of immigrant Latina women particularly struggling with acculturation. The seven women participants were selected from Dolores Mission Parish in Los Angeles, California. The women created art on two Saturdays in response to the directive presented by the researcher, involving the exploration of their individual journey and experience of immigration and acculturation. The art was studied in a qualitative method with a presentation of the art, the analysis and the findings. The art demonstrates that the creative process can create a sense of community, a feeling of empowerment, and act as a catharsis, or “desahogo”, in relieving psychological distress from the acculturation process.

This paper is a personal account of the discoveries made during a heuristic study in which the researcher sought to deepen her understanding of the difficulties of ending treatment with adolescent male clients as a female art therapist in training. Through the analysis of reflective artwork created during and after termination at a boys’ home, the researcher uncovered multiple themes as they related to the therapeutic relationship, attachment, transference/countertransference, dreams, vicarious trauma, self-care, and the ambiguity of termination. After reviewing the potential dangers of harmful termination and the paucity of literature on its effect on at-risk youth in group homes, this researcher chose to explore the personal meaning of this topic utilizing heuristic and arts-based methodologies. The process of data collection followed Moustakas’s six heuristic steps, corresponding to each day of the week. Each week, an archival termination art piece was analyzed and a corresponding questionnaire composed of four research questions and an art response was completed. After four weeks of data collection, two cumulative art pieces were finished to summarize research findings. Further dissection of the collective data was completed through a theoretical lens of attachment theory. Results suggested that reflective art making was proven useful to this researcher as a living record of the termination process and therapeutic relationship. To encourage self-care, deeper introspection, and monitoring of one’s expectations of termination, this creative modality could be utilized by other art therapists to externalize, cope with vicarious trauma, contain and process the complicated feelings of letting go.

The use of story and art therapy with children in treatment is explored in two case studies. Stories used as interventions for the participants include picture book stories and self- generated narratives. The study’s participants also created art responses that took forms as illustrations and self made books. Research questions that were investigated were: When children receiving art therapy engage with stories created by others, how did they respond? ; When children receiving art therapy create their own stories, how did they respond? ; What themes emerge in the art? Main subjects of the study were clients ages 6 and 8 receiving individual and family services from the therapist’s agency at The Whole Child. A case study approach was used to highlight themes and identify psychologically meaningful content in existing picture books for both participants. Biographical data and also responses to interventions were recorded in assessment and progress notes. Based on the results, the therapist found using picture books as interventions in therapy created a safe space where it helped clients to open up about personal feelings or situations that would be difficult to express or even discover on their own.