A diorama, a three-dimensional scene created within a box or vessel, can be used in art therapy to explore aspects of the sexual self, including: sexual identity, fantasy, and desire, as well as issues pertaining to self-image, gender identity, and sexual empowerment. Based on case examples in workshop settings, the sexuality diorama intervention…

Background: Arts therapies take different forms, including music, dance and drama therapies. Access to meaningful activities is limited for people with an intellectual disability. Music, dance and drama therapies could be relevant strategies to improve well-being of people with an intellectual disability. To encourage the inclusion of these…

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…

Christine Wang was a pioneering art therapist in Washington DC and Baltimore in the 1960s through the 1980s and the first Chinese-American art therapist in the United States. This biographical inquiry re-presents her role through interviews, historical documents, and publications. She made notable contributions to art therapy practice, research,…

The author started an artistic gratitude practice in March before the pandemic shut everything down. Every day the author writes something to be grateful for, and randomly selects two art supplies from a mason jar. Then, a postcard-sized artwork is made using those supplies and a gratitude journal as a prompt. While this practice has been deeply…

People with intellectual disability (ID) generally tend to have difficulties expressing their thoughts and feelings verbally. Art-based therapies rely less on cognitive ability and verbal skills and aim to promote mental health. Drama therapy provides a playful framework to communicate problematic issues and to foster social skills.…

Climate change is a well-documented challenge for human societies where human actions have spurred global warming leading to climate breakdown. Ecological disasters are already affecting the mental health of many people, and this is escalating. By painting elephants, I address "ambiguous" loss and demonstrate the power of art therapy to…

Cancer is an overwhelming and life-altering diagnosis. Receiving this type of diagnosis typically requires traditional medical therapeutics, but relaxation and healing techniques that reduce stress and calm fears are also beneficial. Artmaking and visual journaling are healing techniques used to improve emotional and psychological health among…

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…

This article presents qualitative research that further defines community art therapy and provides practice approaches of art therapy practitioners who work in community contexts. The researcher collected data through interviews with 32 art therapy practitioners working in community programs in 36 countries. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and…

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…

To examine the complex layers of those who are multi-racial/ethnic/cultured, the mixed-identity of the first author -- an art therapy doctoral student -- is first deconstructed, followed by the delineation of systemic and historical contexts. This viewpoint further examines how the therapists' multiple identity[ies] informs and intersects with…

During the unprecedented time of COVID-19, one art therapist noticed that her clients created images expressing their loneliness. To foster a sense of community catharsis, the art therapist worked with her clients to create an art display at a public mall to enable the general population to receive secondary therapeutic support for their own…

This viewpoint conveys insights about the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) from the perspective of two students who trained under ETC co-creators Vija Lusebrink and Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn. The structure of the ETC is based on relationships among various kinds of information processing, and the function of the ETC is to provide…

A Deleuzian epistemology can inform a new framework for contemporary art therapy practice. The conception of the art therapist as a nomadic force within de-territorialized spaces may accurately reflect current employment realities in which art therapists must traverse diverse settings, populations, and client needs within a single practice. The…