The authors used artistic inquiry to study intersubjectivity in a weekly, stimulated creative arts therapy studio experience for one year. They found that the conversion of meaning from the meta-verbal, imaginal, aesthetic language of dance and visual art into verbal and textual discourse required complex translational processes. Personal…

The intrinsic benefits of art making may be implicated in how and why people with mental illness turn to art therapy to aid their recovery. In this longitudinal multiple case study adult participants (N = 12) with severe and ongoing mental illness were recruited through their involvement in diverse community mental health art therapy programs. An…

Punk culture is based on an ideology that emphasizes questioning conformity and creating a space for individuality within community. It has inspired fans to create their own music and art as part of their quest for authenticity. Art therapy informed by punk culture can be a way to create a culture of connection while also building resiliency and…

Art therapy master's programs are required to include research coursework in their curriculum; however, they differ in content and types of required projects. Students encouraged to conduct studies that increase the evidence base of art therapy may struggle to do so. This article describes a research collaboration that allowed a master's level…

The purpose of this study was to explore the anxiety and stress-reducing effects of drawing, using different drawing materials by promoting the development of student confidence. The drawing activities were designed to foster the exploration of identity, emotion, and sense of self, while encouraging the exploration of materials and mark making.…

Little research exists on using clay as an anxiety-reducing intervention with patients in psychiatric hospitals. This article reports on a study that used a one-group, pretest/posttest design with 49 adults in a psychiatric facility who created a clay pinch pot. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used as a pre- and posttest measure.…

Organizational scholars and neuroscientists suggest that when people are more emotionally engaged, they learn more effectively. Clinical art therapists suggest that the experience as well as the expression of emotions can be enabled or constrained by different materials. So then, what materials can be employed by management educators to achieve…

Asthma is a common, chronic respiratory disease that can be costly to both society and the individual. In addition to increased absenteeism, children with asthma may also be at a greater risk for developing comorbid anxiety and depression. Various complementary psychological treatments have been effective at reducing both asthmatic symptoms and…

School anxiety is one of the main problems faced by teachers and school counselors. This problem attracts special attention for teachers - practitioners, as it is a clear sign of school maladaptation in children, which adversely affects all spheres of their life: not only the studies but also communication, both inside and outside the school,…

This study examined the effectiveness of an antecedent art intervention on reduction of off-task behavior for a 3-year-old child with autism. A single-case reversal design was used to show that one-on-one art task instruction occurring prior to large group instructional sessions produced decreased levels of off-task behavior when compared to…

This brief report describes a preliminary study that examined the association between implicit aspects of parent-child relationships as assessed by the Joint Painting Procedure (JPP) and self-report measures of the quality of mother-child relations and children's adjustment at home and at school as reported by the mothers. Forty mother-child dyads…

The arts therapies are becoming more commonplace as psychotherapeutic interventions for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and associated mental health conditions in educational settings and are now used in many educational provisions. The justification for their use would seem to be largely based on the…

In this art-based research project an art therapist utilized reproductions of historic documents and letters discovered in an old building to create a body of three-dimensional art that chronicled local and family history and inquired into societal prejudices of the past. The resulting sculptures and altered books were exhibited in the Missouri…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Research Center is a government facility that has a long history of groundbreaking research. Art therapy research began at NIH in 1958 with Hanna Kwiatkowska, whose work contributed to the foundation of art therapy with families, and with Harriet Wadeson, who conducted psychodynamic art therapy…

This study examined the psychological effects of art making in a sample of 57 undergraduate students. One week prior to final examinations, participants were randomly assigned to either an art-making group or a control group. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered before and after participation. Art making activities included painting…