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Syfte: I denna studie undersöktes bildterapeuters berättelser om hur de arbetar med affektmedvetenhet i bildterapi. Metod: En kvalitativ studiedesign användes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra bildterapeuter. För att utvinna data valdes tematisk analys. Bearbetning av intervjuerna utgick ifrån fyra dimensioner av affektmedvetenhet enligt Monsen, Eilertsen, Melgård och Ødegård (1996): Uppmärksamma, Tolerera, Icke-verbalt uttryck samt Verbalt uttryck av känslor. Resultat: Analysen av intervjuerna resulterade i nio teman/bildterapeutiska arbetssätt för ökad affektmedvetenhet hos klienten: Lägga märke till känslor, Synliggöra omedvetna känslor, Synliggöra mer medvetna känslor, Växla mellan tanke och känsla, Reglera överväldigande känslor, Omstrukturera, Kroppsfokus, Öppna bilden och Låna bilden. Slutsats: Genom om att belysa bildterapimetoder med fokus på affektmedvetenhet tydliggörs viktiga tekniker och aspekter, såväl icke-verbala som verbala. Resultatet kan generera idéer till interventionsforskning kring bildterapeutiskt arbete med affekter. / Aims: In this study, art therapists' stories of how they work with affect awareness in art therapy were examined. Methods: A qualitative study design was used with semi-structured interviews with four art therapists. The thematic analysis was based on four dimensions of affect awareness: Affect awareness, Affect tolerance, Nonverbal and Conceptual expression of affect (Monsen, Eilertsen, Melgård & Ødegård 1996). Results: Analysis of the interviews resulted in nine themes/art therapy methods for increased affect awareness: Paying attention to affect, Highlighting unconsiousnes affects, Highlighting more aware affects, Switching between thought and affect, Regulate overwhelming affects, Restructure, Body focus, Opening the image and Borrowing the image. Conclusion: By highlighting art therapy methods focusing on affect awareness, important techniques and aspects, both non-verbal and verbal, are clarified. The result can generate ideas for intervention research on art therapy with affects.

Background. This paper reviews the efficacy of a community psychosocial arts program focused on building mental health capacity within post-Ebola Liberia. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the outcome effects of two groups using pre- and post-treatment data. We hypothesized that there would be a difference in symptoms pre- and post-treatment, and the longer program would yield more significant results. Methods. There was a total of 870 child participants. Of 40 sites, 24 were selected for a 5-month treatment (TG1) while the remaining 16 sites received 3 months of treatment (TG2). Paired t tests and a mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse pre- and post-psychological stress symptoms (PSS) for samples from both groups. Results. Separately, treatment group 1 (TG1) and treatment group 2's (TG2) paired t test yielded significant results (p < 0.001) for the decrease of PSS. The mixed-model ANOVA found that there were significant differences in total pre- and post-test PSS and a significant difference in PSS means over time. Conclusions. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant decrease in reported symptoms in both treatment groups pre- to post-intervention and a significant difference in total symptoms over time. However, the findings do not indicate that the longer programming was statistically different compared to the shorter programming. The study presented had gaps in data, largely due to limits in research during the crisis. However, this paper provides a unique case study for challenges that can be faced for project evaluation in emergency settings.

Avhandlingens övergripande syfte var att undersöka bildterapins möjlighet att bidra till inre förändring och förbättrad hälsa hos individen. Med inre förändring avses en strukturell och varaktig förändring som sker på ett psykologiskt djupare plan, till skillnad mot en yttre och mer tillfällig förändring. Den bildterapeutiska behandlingen bygger på en kombination av bildskapande och olika grad av reflekterande, bearbetande samtal. En triangulär relation, patient – bild – terapeut, är det som på ett avgörande sätt skiljer bildterapi från andra verbala behandlingsmetoder. Avhandlingens design var främst kvalitativ, med undantag för delstudie I som var en review. I delstudie I granskades studier om bildterapi för tre olika patientgrupper. En kvalitetsbedömning genomfördes med två olika system för evidens. I delstudie II djupintervjuades kvinnor om upplevelser av inre förändring och om den visat sig i utvalda målade bilder. Intervjuerna analyserades med deduktiv och induktiv innehållsanalys. I delstudie III ställdes via e-post två öppna enkätfrågor till bildterapeuter om vad de uppfattade som en inre förändring hos patienten. Data analyserades med tematisk analys. I delstudie IV genomfördes en sekundäranalys av intervjuerna från delstudie II. Utifrån ett teoretiskt perspektiv undersöktes förekomst av vitalitetsaffekter och grundaffekter samt deras betydelse för inre förändring. En deduktiv innehållsanalys genomfördes. I avhandlingen beskrivs inre förändring och förbättrad hälsa ur tre olika perspektiv; en grupp kvinnliga patienters upplevelser, en grupp bildterapeuters uppfattningar samt ur ett teoretiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visar att bildterapi kan bidra till en varaktig inre förändring som innebär identitetsförändring, förändrat beteende och förbättrad hälsa. Kvinnor som inte upplevt en inre förändring fann att bildterapin var ett stöd i vardagen. Existentiella frågor om meningen med livet var centrala både i kvinnornas och i bildterapeuternas utsagor. Resultatet visar att den terapeutiska alliansen och förmågan att utveckla en reflektiv distans till bilden är avgörande för om en individuell inre förändring är möjlig. Vidare är det viktigt med ett utforskande förhållningssätt och samtal om bildens betydelse för att en inre förändring skall kunna ske. En bildterapeutisk förändringsprocess innehåller vitalitetsaffekter och grundaffekter. Den leder till ökad insikt och medvetenhet om känslor. Den förbättrar självbilden, ökar autenticitet och autonomi, samt ger vidgade perspektiv. Avhandlingen bidrar till ökad kunskap om inre förändring och förbättrad hälsa genom behandling med bildterapi. Genom att beskriva och visa på att inre förändringar sker, beskriva vad i terapin som upplevs och bedöms som en inre förändring och att bekräfta inre förändring utifrån bakomliggande teorier, kan avhandlingen bidra till att avmystifiera den konstnärsmyt som ofta omger bildterapin och göra den mer förklarbar. Avhandlingen kan bidra till förbättrad kommunikationen mellan bildterapeuter och vårdgivare avseende metodens möjligheter och begränsningar. Vården kan därigenom överväga att använda bildterapi både som ett komplement eller ett alternativ till annan behandling. / The overall aim of the dissertation was to investigate the ability of art therapy to contribute to inner change and improved health in the individual. Inner change refers to a structural and lasting change that occurs on a psychologically deeper level, as opposed to an external and more temporary change. Art therapy treatment is based on a combination of image creation and a different degree of reflective, processing dialogue. Art therapy is distinguished from other verbal therapies by a triangular relationship, patient – image – art therapist. The thesis design was primarily qualitative, except for study I, which was a review. Study I involved examination of studies of art therapy for three different patient groups. A quality assessment was carried out using two different evidence systems. In study II, interviews were carried out with women about their experiences of inner change and whether these were exhibited in selected painted images. The interviews were analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis. In study III, two open questions were sent to art therapists about what they perceived as an inner change in the patient. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Study IV entailed a secondary analysis of the interviews from study II. Based on a theoretical perspective, the occurrence of vitality affects and basic affects and their importance for inner change were investigated. A deductive content analysis was conducted. This thesis describes inner change and improved health from three different perspectives: a group of female patients, a group of art therapists and a theoretical perspective. The results show that art therapy can contribute to a lasting inner change that involves identity change, changed behavior and improved health. Women who did not experience an inner change found that art therapy provided support in everyday life. Existential questions about the meaning of life were central to both the women's and the art therapists’ statements. The results show that therapeutic alliance, attachment and the ability to develop a reflective distance to the image is crucial to whether an individual inner change is possible. Furthermore, an exploratory approach and reflective dialogue about the importance of the image is important for an internal change to occur. An art therapeutic process of change contains vitality affects and basic affects. It leads to increased insight and awareness of feelings. It improves self-esteem, increases authenticity and autonomy, and provides widening perspectives. The thesis contributes to increased knowledge of inner change and improved health through treatment with art therapy. By showing that inner change occurs, describing what, is experienced and perceived as inner change, and by confirming inner change by theories, the thesis may demystify the myth of artistry that often surrounds art therapy and make it clearer. The thesis may contribute to improved communication between art therapists and caregivers with regard to the method’s possibilities and limitations. Caregivers can therefore consider using art therapy as a complement or as an alternative to other treatments.

The researchers in this project studied the prevalence and impact of burnout among first responders, after which they produced CRISP (Creative Resilience Initiatives for Service Providers), a groundbreaking art therapy-based program published in an electronic book format aimed at addressing burnout and fostering resilience among first responders. Our program aims to foster resilience by integrating art therapy's Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) model with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and anti-racism strategies. The ETC model aligns with inclusive and diverse practices as it emphasizes a system-focused approach in using creativity, self-reflection, and cultivation of effective body-mind empathy. The CRISP eBook features 18 arts-based activities, each accompanied by relevant psychoeducation and self-reflective questions. These activities engage first responders in kinesthetic, sensorial, perceptual, affective, cognitive, and symbolic components of information processing in the ETC, utilizing multifaceted creativity as a powerful tool for building resilience and countering burnout signs that can lead to depersonalized and biased practices in their work. Future studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of art interventions, such as those explored in the CRISP eBook, in addressing the unique stressors faced by first responders.

Philophonetics-Counselling is a specific form of a bodily-oriented expressive therapeutic approach, defined for the purposes of this study as an approach that uses the non-verbal bodily modalities of movement, gesture, visualisation, and sound, as well as forms of artistic expression, as elements of a process, which furthers the physical and psychic integration of an individual. In view of the recent rise in bodily-oriented therapeutic processes, this study intends to describe and explore the role of especially bodily representation, but also mental representation in the phenomenon of the transformation and representation of sensory-emotional experience in the developing psyche. This is achieved by exploring the essence of described ‘lived experience’ of Philophonetics-Counselling, which is a means not only to elicit this phenomenon of transformation, but also to gain access particularly to bodily representation and bodily knowing. This exploration is guided primarily by a dialogue with object relations theory, exploring conceptualisations provided by Bollas, Ogden, Winnicott, Bion, and Klein. This dialogue is also, however, informed by contemporary bodily-oriented theorists, including Merleau-Ponty, Gendlin, and Shapiro. . The essence of this experience is explicated from qualitative material according to the Duquesne Phenomenological Research Method, which requires of the researcher to allow the inherent constituents and dynamic process to emerge such that the phenomenon can present itself to his/her awareness as it is in itself. Following this, by engaging with psychological theory in an attempt to understand this explicated structure, specific attention is given to the manner in which bodily representation and bodily knowing, particularly as applied or encouraged in therapeutic process, is intimately involved with thetransformation and representation of sensory-emotional experience. This research process reveals a means to rework and explore perhaps more directly the representations of self and other. Furthermore, through the open-ended and playful engagement with both the theory and the material, this descriptive-dialogical study concludes with the notion that although linked to the phenomenon of transformation and representation, consciousness, understood in terms of psychic truth, seems to extend beyond the seemingly differing mentalities of both mind and body, as perhaps dwelling in (the) neither flesh nor fleshless… / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted