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Toward Holistic Mental Wellness: A Literature Review of Mindfulness-Based and Focusing-Oriented Art Therapies
Get PDFModern day living, for all its benefits, is synonymous with record levels of stress. The mental health clinician’s role is to assist clients in accessing the skills and tools necessary to reduce and alleviate the symptoms of stress-induced anxiety. Mindfulness is emerging as a potent and effective tool to restore one’s state of well-being. Likewise, engaging in art therapy has been shown to reduce stress and foster resilience. Grounded in humanistic and existential theories, this literature review aimed to assess the impact and effectiveness of two intermodal holistic therapies, specifically mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) and focusing-oriented art therapy (FOAT). A critical review of the literature on mindfulness, focusing and art therapy revealed a positive correlation supporting increased measures of well-being and self-efficacy in various populations. Adults who received mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and partook in therapeutic art making have been found to benefit by increased confidence, self-compassion and resilience. Children and adolescents, who are especially receptive to expressive therapies, were found to be excellent candidates for MBAT due to the nature of its non-verbal and sensory-based methods. Benefits for youth included improved levels of self-confidence, increases in positive mood, improved relationships and decreases in anxiety and stress. While further research is necessary to determine the short and long-term impacts of arts-based mindfulness interventions, there is little doubt that holistic mental healthcare is here to stay
Building Community: A School-based Art Reflection Method for Newcomer Students During COVID-19
Get PDFAdolescent students who migrated during the COVID-19 pandemic are especially vulnerable to negative mental health outcomes. Research supports that school-based services provide protective resources to newcomer students that may be inaccessible outside of public-school settings. Expressive art therapies are some of the most successful interventions used with newcomer students, and the context of the pandemic offers a new opportunity to study the benefits of arts-based methods within their classrooms. For adolescents navigating cultural adjustment in the midst of a pandemic, trauma-informed research signals that community-building is a key strategy for protecting students from negative mental health symptoms. Art and craft theory gives intention to the materials and directives that art therapists can utilize in practice. With this research in mind, an art and writing method was conducted over three weeks in January 2022 at a public high school. Participants of the study included students ages 14-19, who migrated within the 2021-2022 school year. Languages spoken within the group included Spanish, Urdu, and Portuguese. This method was successful in revealing the relationship-building benefits of art and written reflection within this setting. Informed material choices, conducted by the art therapy intern, proved to be a beneficial aspect of its design. This method indicates the success of expressive art therapies with newcomers students, but leaves more to be researched within the fields of expressive therapies and education. Although public schools provide many important services for newcomers students, art therapy can be recognized as a valuable tool for facilitating cultural adjustment
Simple but not Easy: An Examination of the Test-Retest Reliability of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Exploration of a Meditation App for Stress Management with High School Students
Get PDFStress can have a negative effect on overall well-being, trigger physical disease, and contribute to mental health disorders. The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is frequently used in research. However, there are limited studies on the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 with adults, and no studies could be identified that tested this issue with adolescents. Meditation apps are often recommended for stress reduction, but they have not been widely studied for use in high school. This study investigated the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 and examined the feasibility of using a meditation app with high school students. First, a comprehensive review examined prior studies of PSS-10 test-retest reliability. Second, the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 was investigated with a sample of high school students over 24-hour, 3-week, 6-week, and 9-week time intervals. Third, the test-retest reliability results from the high school study were compared to the results from comparable intervals in prior studies. Finally, the frequency of independent use of the meditation app was measured, and thematic analysis was used to explore the students’ experience. Most significantly, this study appeared to be the first one to investigate the test-retest reliability of the PSS-10 exclusively with an adolescent population. Quantitative results showed that the PSS-10 demonstrated excellent 24-hour test-retest reliability but may not be stable for longer intervals. Frequency analysis confirmed that most students did not use the meditation app independently. However, evidence from qualitative findings indicated that the meditation app showed promise for use in a high school curriculum. This study provides several recommendations for the use, analysis, and interpretation of the PSS-10 with both adults and adolescents. It also outlines a plan for high school stakeholders who would like to advance the use of a meditation app
Adolescents and Art Therapy: Exploring Safe Spaces Through Telehealth
Get PDFThis thesis discusses an art therapy intervention in a virtual partial hospitalization program (PHP) with an adolescent population. Research involving the use of safe spaces in therapy, telehealth, adolescent group development, group dynamics, and digital technology in art therapy was explored. The intervention involved adolescent clients depicting a visual safe space using digital tools and exploring the concept of safety through telehealth. After the intervention, clients reported an increase in self-reported mood on average. Common themes found in the artwork include physical safety by holding boundaries and being around items or people they felt comfortable around. Personal artistic responses were included, which explored personal feelings and responses to the client’s comments. A discussion exploring the future use of technology in art therapy and the use of this intervention is included
Development of a Method - All in the “Letters”: Exploring the Relationship Between Expressive Arts Therapy and the Grieving Process with Adolescents
Get PDFThere are more than 5.3 million bereaved youth in the United States (Judi’s House/JAG Institute & The New York Life Foundation, 2022), a number that is only growing. Finding effective therapeutic interventions for bereaved youth is an ethical imperative. This capstone thesis considers the relationship between expressive therapies and bereavement work with adolescents, specifically the use of expressive arts therapy. Grief theories are explored in a literature review, along with a survey of existing empirical research conducted using expressive therapies with bereaved populations. Few empirical studies have focused on expressive arts therapy and bereavement work with adolescents, an observation which sparked the method developed as part of this capstone thesis. Offered to seven parentally bereaved adolescents attending virtual peer support groups, the method was a multimodal experiential consisting of two complementary “letter-writing” prompts: the first was to “write a letter” to the person in their life who died, and the second was to “write a letter” to themselves at the time of or before the death. Responses shared by group members influenced how the method developed, and informed the artistic reflections included in this capstone thesis. Experimenting with this method strengthened the writer’s belief that the relationship between expressive arts therapy and bereavement work with adolescents merits further exploration
Parental Support, Dance/Movement Therapy, and Early Childhood Self-Regulation – A Literature Review
Get PDFSelf-regulation is one of the main factors to contribute to successful social-emotional development during early childhood. Healthy attachment patterns between the parent/caregiver and child relationship, as well as safe and supportive environments in school contribute to children’s abilities to develop and learn to use self-regulating skills. This literature review explores the relationship dance/movement therapy has with the enhancement of parent-child relationships during early childhood, which is potentially contributing to the development of early childhood self-regulation. Using a citation chasing method, and research in online databases, inclusion criteria for resources consisted of peer reviewed quantitative, qualitative, arts-based, and mixed methods research studies. Effects of self-regulation skills and the predictability for later life successes were examined to determine how these skills prepare children for current and future challenges. Differences in culture and environment were researched to compare how the development of self-regulation is understood across different lenses, as well as evaluating different dance/movement therapy techniques to analyze the benefits they pose on children’s ability to self-regulate. Findings suggested that dance/movement therapy and parent-child dance/movement therapy support the development of self-regulating techniques during early childhood. This literature review will contribute to the field of dance/movement therapy by allowing other professionals in the field to further explore how through dance/movement therapy, children and their caregivers can benefit by developing self-regulating skills that will allow the child to succeed in individual and group settings
Music of the Parts: Exploring Clinician Reflexivity, Internal Family Systems, and Community Music Therapy: A Critical Review of the Literature
Get PDFThis capstone thesis aims to explore internal family systems and music therapy as tools for enhancing clinician reflexivity in community settings. Relational awareness is identified as a key skill within the broader definition of reflexivity. Various approaches in music therapy, internal family systems and the combination of IFS and the expressive therapies are described and connected to lift out common themes that provide greater understanding of how IFS and music therapy may complement each other to enhance relational awareness. Results indicated that embodiment is a key skill that is practiced within IFS and music therapy which could help develop relational awareness. Furthermore, musicking within an IFS framework provides a mechanism of organization to better support the therapist’s self-care and use of self. Lastly, the many roles played by the music therapist may indicate many parts of the music therapist, such as Musician and Wounded Healer. This way of viewing the music therapist identity provides a potential starting point for reflecting on relational experiences
Magic at Work! Exploring How Expressive Arts Therapies Support Healing from Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Developing a Method for Adolescents
Get PDFThis thesis investigated how expressive art therapy interventions based on imagination, creativity, and magical thinking can help facilitate adolescents\u27 emotional development and healing. The study focused on how adolescents can grow and heal from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and/or trauma by revisiting imaginative play and creativity, where the impossible is possible and magic exists; a place where they can explore and play again through externalized methods. The use of imagination in the healing of adolescents was explored through the development of a two-phase intervention (a) creating their own mythical creature and (b) building a home for their mythical creature. There are three key findings of the present research. First, the imagination plays an important role in creativity, self-expression, and empowerment. Second, through the imagination, internal and external thoughts can be explored and invited into consciousness for deeper meaning-making. Third, through imagination, symbolism of unconscious thoughts can be explored through externalization and within a container that allows for a sense of safety and healing. The results of this thesis suggested it is possible that expressive arts therapies, used with adolescents with multiple ACEs and/or trauma, can allow for healing and growth
The Therapeutic Intersection of Dance and Sport in Trauma, A Critical Review of the Literature
Get PDFTrauma is the psychological and physiological response to environmental triggers as a protective measure. Adolescents with trauma histories or trauma symptoms are introduced to new environments as they grow and mature into adulthood; however, without the appropriate skills or understanding, these maturing youth cannot appropriately adapt to new environments or communities without the activation of the autonomic nervous system and its protective behaviors (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn). Dance/movement therapy and sports-based therapies are two body-based modalities that utilize movement to engage youth in the therapeutic process and to treat trauma symptoms. This literature review explores the ways in which dance/movement therapy and sports-based therapies can inform the research and practice of one another as well as exploring how the two modalities intersect. The search for literature regarding dance/movement therapy, sports-based therapies, trauma, and adolescents was conducted online via the search engines Google Scholar and Lesley Library Online. After an initial search for modality-specific research, more research was conducted in the same fashion regarding neuroscience, polyvagal theory, and neurobiology. Overall, the literature for dance/movement therapy proved to center around the creative movement process and internal reflection whereas the sports-based therapies literature centered around goal-oriented team-centered engagement. Recommendations are made for future research for each modality as they pertain to the application of adolescents with trauma or trauma histories
“I Don’t Know What You’re Expecting But I Can Make Something Here”: Epistemological Beliefs of Adult Undergraduates and the Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Process
Get PDFAbstract
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a term for various methods by which universities accredit student experiential learning. One such method is the academic portfolio, a written reflective process in which students demonstrate that their personal or professional learning fulfills university outcomes. Proponents of academic portfolios claim that they also improve student critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Research on traditional undergraduates suggests that differences in critical thinking and problem-solving are related to epistemological development, but little research has been done on adult undergraduate epistemologies or how student epistemology may affect PLA portfolio work. This study attempts to answer two questions: (a) To what extent are there differences between the epistemological beliefs held by adult undergraduate portfolio students as compared to adult undergraduates who take only traditional courses? (b) What are the experiences of adult portfolio undergraduates regarding tacit knowledge articulation and what impacts does this articulation have on their personal epistemologies during the portfolio process? The study follows a sequential mixed methods design, utilizing the Epistemological Beliefs Inventory (EBI) and an open-ended interview to answer the research questions. A total of 82 undergraduate students participated, all of whom were 25 of age or older. Findings suggest that successfully completing a PLA portfolio may facilitate epistemological development specifically in the areas of problem-solving and critical thinking. However, it is possible that the epistemological beliefs of those who complete portfolios may not differ substantially from those held by adult undergraduates who do not engage in portfolio work. Additionally, even students who complete portfolios successfully may find the process unclear and frustrating for reasons that may be related to their epistemological beliefs. Although more research is needed on adult epistemologies and how the PLA portfolio process may affect them, PLA professionals should understand and consider student epistemological beliefs when developing portfolio processes and advising students