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A Critical Exploration: South Asian Therapists’ Experiences with Transnational South Asian Women Survivors of Violence
No full textMembers of the South Asian (SA) diaspora have become the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, with more than 75% of SAs being foreign-born. However, empirical studies on the mental health needs of transnational SA women survivors of violence remain limited, despite significant rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. This population is described as experiencing cultural and systemic factors that constrain help-seeking and service access. Existing literature identifies the lack of cultural sensitivity as a major barrier to care, which calls for more relevant research. Given these realities, the present study addressed existing gaps by examining the experiences of U.S.-based therapists from the SA diaspora in providing therapy to transnational women survivors of violence⎯a perspective that is rarely centered. It also explored these providers’ experiences navigating coloniality and themes of gender-based violence (GBV) within therapeutic work. This critical dissertation was situated within decolonial, feminist, relational-cultural, and trauma theoretical frameworks. Nine SA therapists with experience working with transnational SA women survivors participated in two meetings involving (1) semi-structured interviews and (2) reflexive participant collaboration and co-creation of critical poetry. The study drew on Critical Narrative Inquiry (CNI), grounding findings in a context-sensitive framework that considers the participants’ narratives as shaped by sociocultural, political, and historical power dynamics. It also integrated the Listening Guide (LG), a feminist, voice-centered approach to explore how these narratives interact with intrapsychic processes. Findings show participants’ therapeutic efforts involved deep attunement to layered lived contexts while negotiating structural and systemic realities. Simultaneously, responses to coloniality and GBV varied, producing layered, polyphonic narratives. From these findings, I offer implications for clinical practice, policy, and community-based interventions
Inspiring Empathy : A Descriptive Review of a Musical Composition
No full textThis study explored the experiences of college professors using an assessment approach, descriptive review, to assess undergraduate music compositions. College professors, and educators in general, often debate best practices around assessing student work. A literature review showed a debate amongst music educators over approaches to assessing student compositions, with rubrics being especially controversial. Descriptive review uses collective discussion and a series of non-judgmental exercises that aim for participants to become more intimate with a student and their work. As an assessment technique that had been used to look at student artwork, albeit at the elementary grade level, descriptive review has the potential to be a fruitful method for looking at student musical composition. An exploratory research design was used to examine the adaptation of the descriptive review process to music composition at the undergraduate level instead. Two descriptive review sessions with eight music theory-composition faculty were conducted to gather impressions of using descriptive review to assess undergraduate music compositions. These impressions were coded and thematically analyzed in relation to four research questions: What are the experiences of participants in a descriptive review of a musical composition? What are the perceptions of participants regarding the efficacy of the descriptive review design for assessing college student\u27s musical compositions? What challenges and future uses, if any, do participants see in implementing descriptive review as an assessment practice; how would they compare descriptive review to their own assessment practice(s)? What modifications, if any, would participants suggest to the descriptive review process? Findings reveal that the overall design of the descriptive review was considered efficacious with debate over the paraphrasing and syntax rounds. Possible challenges included time commitment and institutional expectations around quantifiable grading. However, participants also saw opportunities to embrace descriptive review in their classrooms and department meetings. Finally, participants suggested clearer instructions and modeling of descriptive language and modifications to the order and structure of some rounds. The findings from this exploratory study indicate that descriptive review provides unique insight and can be helpful in assessing music composition as well as in wider conversations around assessment.
Keywords: music composition, descriptive review, assessmen
“Can You Hear Me?” Teacher Stories About State-Mandated Standardized Testing
No full textThis study strives to understand teacher perceptions as a meaningful examination of state-mandated standardized testing\u27s impacts on students and its outcomes by asking:
How do teachers experience the impact of state-mandated standardized tests on the students as evidenced in their stories?
What are the benefits and disadvantages to the use of state-mandated standardized tests?
To what extent has state-mandated standardized tests created inequalities in the educational system?
This study utilized a Narrative Research approach with [descriptive] interpretive qualitative research. Questionnaires and interviews were analyzed using the Thematic Inductive Analysis approach. The theoretical framework was adopted from Robinson & Robinson: centering educating students around four core purposes of personal, cultural, economic, and social. Three themes were identified and informed the five findings in this study. The first finding states that teachers’ experiences of the impact of state-mandated standardized tests on students were overwhelmingly negative. The second finding found seven benefits and nine disadvantages in using state-mandated standardized tests. The third finding shows that there are inequalities created by state-mandated standardized tests in the educational system. These include: 1) Students in Special Education or English Language Learners; 2) Teachers; and 3) Technology. The fourth finding informed that states in the United States have different policies regarding the strictness of state-mandated standardized testing yet did not result in different stories from the participants across the states. The final finding informed that the teachers’ experiences within this study are all student-centered. These findings all demonstrate that there is a need for changes in state-mandated standardized testing that puts the student as the forefront
Reimagining “Embodiment” in Dance/Movement Therapy: Unraveling the Roots of Oppression in Our Bodies and Our Practice—A Literature Review
Get PDFThis thesis explores the intertwined roots of power, privilege, and oppression embedded in the term “embodiment” within Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) and how it is applied in the profession via a review of the literature. By locating the body as the vessel of experience, including trauma and oppression, this work challenges the dominant understanding of embodiment as solely about connectedness and groundedness, questioning why connection to the body is so often equated with psychological health. While the mind has been historically privileged over the body, DMT’s emphasis on bodily experience presents a unique opportunity to decolonize our dominant understanding of embodiment. This work asks us to let go of deficit-based ideologies, questioning how DMT might facilitate the reclamation of a private, self-defined experience of the body. It examines shifts in language and alternative frameworks that center nonjudgmental engagement with the body while de-pathologizing clients by shifting blame from individuals to the oppressive systems that shape and constrain bodily experience and our (in)access to authenticity. Through these strength-based perspectives, this thesis argues for an approach to embodiment that is not prescriptive but expansive, allowing individuals to define what embodiment means for them on their own terms and by their own definition
How Does An Art Therapist Build Rapport With Socially Isolated Older Adults?
Get PDFThis study was done to explore the fundamental aspects that are woven into the report-building process and the therapeutic alliance with socially isolated older adults. Research has been done on the effects that social isolation and loneliness have on this underserved population, however report building is less researched and can be translated into the mental health field. Person-centered therapy, developmental stages of older adults, and the growing field of art therapy and its benefits are also well documented. This qualitative arts-based study takes the intersectionality of these topics by observing three sessions with two separate residents and analyzing the results. Each session involved an art intervention that was catered to the individual’s goals and desires. The purpose of these sessions was to observe how the therapeutic relationship between the resident and the intern shifted and changed over time. The findings were themes including consistency, empathy, trust, and reciprocal learning that are fundamental building blocks to creating strong rapport between the therapist and the resident. When this essential relationship is built, more therapeutic healing can be done. These findings can be utilized to help train or teach other mental health professionals, art therapists, social workers, or staff that interact with older adults to better support their well-being
How Can Art Therapy Help Veterans and Service Members With PTSD? A Literature Review
Get PDFThis paper seeks to research the usefulness of art therapy with veterans and service members with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Theoretically, art therapy is thought to work by allowing access to non-verbal memories to be expressed and transformed into a trauma narrative, to be stored in memory in a way that does not interfere with daily life the way PTSD symptoms do. The method used is a literature review, which studied research articles about art therapy being used to treat veterans and service members with PTSD. Other included topics are the history of PTSD, current theories about PTSD and the brain, the wide array of formats and protocols for treatment in use when applying art therapy to military populations, and barriers to treatment. Learnings from this experience include the discovery of common themes identified among the research articles. These themes consist of containment and safety of the group, non-verbal expression, symbols, externalization, and pleasure. Through these themes, this literature review reveals a set of important components of effective treatment for PTSD in military veterans and service members through the use of art therapy
Communing with Lions: A Critical Literature Review Exploring Pan-Asian Lion Dance Traditions through the Lens of Expressive Arts Therapy
Get PDFLion dancing is a cultural art form practiced in numerous Asian and Asian diasporic cultures across the world. While the dance has been studied both in a historical and ethnographic manner, little research exists on its therapeutic benefits. This capstone thesis explores lion dancing through the lens of the expressive arts therapies to uncover the therapeutic factors underlying the practice. It applies the Chadian dance/movement therapy framework as well as various expressive arts therapy frameworks to the lion dance. The literature review indicates that lion dancing has the potential to be therapeutic in a number of ways, which include: 1) the promotion of the mind-body connection, 2) the practice of dramatic embodiment, 3) the exploration of narratives and symbols, and 4) dyadic mirroring and attunement. From the results of the literature review, this study identified populations that could potentially derive the most benefit from participating in lion dancing and presents a model for incorporating lion dancing and its elements into an expressive arts therapeutic space
Respectability, Code-Switching, and Expression: Examining the Experience of Black Expressive Arts Therapists Through a Sociolinguistic Lens
Get PDFThis literature review explores how the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching can be applied to expressive arts and expressive arts therapy to describe the experience of Black expressive therapists. The review outlines the evolution of the term, reasons why individuals switch codes, and how this affects their experience. The understanding of code-switching is then examined in expressive arts and the expressive arts therapy field. A history and understanding of code-switching in Black communities is also explored, connecting Black experiences of code-switching and expressive arts therapy programs. A discussion suggests that culturally relevant practices are implicitly discouraged due to dominant expectations. Future research suggestions include under-researched cultural practices and less obvious applications of code-switching
Exploring the Benefits of Expressive Arts Therapy with Spoonies: Building Connection in the Endometriosis Community
Get PDFThe aim of this thesis is to explore, through expressive arts therapy and its techniques, the power of the arts to build community, dispel depression and anxiety in relation to social isolation, and combat the traumas of living with and in chronic pain; more specifically, this thesis explores the power of the arts and community to improve the mental health of those living with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. Extensive research reveals a significant gap in the literature in relation to mental health care catered to those living with endometriosis, across continents, practices, and languages. By using theoretical frameworks from a variety of multidisciplinary approaches, this thesis explores the benefits of community via peer support, and the benefits of community building between endometriosis patients and their practitioners; the researcher developed a method to invite the full human experience back into the world of chronic illness and medical care
Using Natural Materials in Art Therapy to Address Accessibility and Well-Being in Low-Income Older Adults
Get PDFThis study investigated the implementation of natural materials during the artmaking processes in an older adult art therapy group (eco-art therapy), and its effects on their well-being and the role of accessibility in their lives. An open-studio approach was applied to emphasize the artmaking process being driven by the participants independently, while also sharing a collaborative space and creating community with each other. There was an exception to this condition in this study, being that the participants were encouraged to ask for assistance in using unconventional materials in their artwork if they felt they needed it. The participants were older adults, aged approximately 40-60 years old, who had experienced being unhoused and/or came from low-income backgrounds. Many of the participants lived with chronic physical and mental health conditions and are currently living in subsidized housing. Each art therapy directive was designed to serve a particular purpose or challenge the participants depending on their comfortability and familiarity with specific visual arts and natural materials. The data collected were pre- and post-process objective, observational notes created by this author. Findings suggest that the dual implementation of the visual arts with natural materials positively impacted group participants, highlighting several themes; 1) Art as a Therapeutic Process Through the Engagement of Natural Materials 2) Community and Social Connection, 3) Mental Health and Reflection, and 4) Shifting Organizational Structures and Its Impact. This exploration provided an opportunity to practice an intermodal and holistic approach within a group setting, whilst harnessing the healing capabilities of nature-based therapy and mediums. Art therapists can begin to integrate these holistic practices and theories into their methodologies to better contain and support a client’s evolving needs