Prior research suggests that creating art can reduce mental health symptoms, such as anxiety. It has also been proposed that creating art within the geometric shape of a circle may confer additional therapeutic benefits. However, it remains unclear whether creating art within a circle or creating art with no restrictions reduces anxiety in both…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine how college students perceive and manage stress and anxiety in the university setting and explain their perceptions of the effects of MBAT, NCT, and MO on stress, anxiety, and general student functioning. Participants: 58 undergraduate college students participated in post-test interviews…

This study set out to quantitatively examine the influence of art practice on art therapy students' subjective well-being. A total of 158 Korean art therapy graduate students participated in the study, completing the Art Practice Scale and Concise Measure of Subjective Well-Being. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and…

There is little research on the transformational processes of creative arts therapies (CATs) students during training compared to other healthcare professions. CATs training relies on arts-based experiential learning that can develop the therapist's creative self-beliefs, psychological mindedness, and perspective-taking. This single group pre-post…

In 2015, programmatic accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) was initiated for art therapy education. The study examined art therapy faculty's perception of the CAAHEP accreditation process through a nation-wide online survey research. The mixed-method analysis supports the complexity of the…

The Person-in-the-Rain (PITR) drawing scoring system primarily assesses stress, excluding consideration of color usage. In contrast, the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) effectively evaluates psychopathological disorders and provides a comprehensive assessment of color usage. This study aimed to: (1) develop an alternative scoring system…

This mixed methods study assessed the emotional impact of therapeutic art techniques in reducing subjective anxiety by comparing three options for drawing a self-portrait: literal self-portrait, mandala, and free drawing. Undergraduate college students (n = 60) were provided with a mood induction procedure and then randomly assigned to a drawing…

The proportion of students studying in higher education institutions who are experiencing mental health needs is increasing and becoming a serious concern. Using participatory arts projects may be key to enabling students to maintain well-being despite the pressures inherent in their student role. Therefore, this study aimed to ascertain whether…

Chinese students accounted for 40.4% of international students in South Korea in 2022. Universities in China require doctoral degrees to teach art. Creative arts therapy (CAT) has increasingly gained attention. In this study, we investigated the experiences of six Chinese students in a study abroad program for creative arts therapy in South Korea.…

This qualitative study addressed the problem of lack of racial and ethnic diversity in American graduate art therapy programs. Seven current art therapy students or recent graduates of color from one predominantly White institution participated in individual semi-structured interviews and a group meeting. Results of thematic analysis yielded four…

Medical students report high levels of psychological distress compared to the general population, yet they also underutilize mental health services. Our Mindfulness-Based Art Workshops (MBAW) combine two established, formal interventions: (a) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, an 8-week group series teaching mindfulness practices, shown to reduce…

This quantitative study investigated whether a "mandala set" consisting of 143 mandalas drawn by art therapy graduate students depicts archetypal patterns and stages as defined by Kellogg's "Archetypal Stages of the Great Round of the Mandala" and if these patterns explain events in their professional development. Eight…

This randomized controlled study examined the effects of creating open circle mandalas with divergent instruction type (distraction and reflection) and medium type (resistive and fluid) on state anxiety, mood, and mindfulness. The design followed a 2 (instruction type) x 2 (medium type) x 3 (time) mixed experimental design. Reflective writing…

The Compassionate Arts Psychotherapy (CAP) program integrates self-compassion and arts psychotherapy practices, which are informed by a compassionate arts media (CAM) continuum. A mixed methods pilot program evaluation with a pretest-posttest single group design, followed by an open-ended survey, was conducted. Participants included 18 graduate…

This study investigated art therapy-based self-help online tasks (ATB-SHOT) as a means to support university students during the COVID-19 lockdown by (a) measuring effectiveness on mood repair (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Self-Assessment Manikin scales, pre- and postintervention) and (b) correlating outcomes with participants'…