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Facing the difficulties in expression and communication in adults with West Syndrome, art favours the development of mental representations through the artistic works. But there are few studies on the evolutionary development, elaboration and adquisition of new concepts concerning this aspect. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the conceptual development by means of the Art Therapy in a subject with this Syndrome, employing the single case N=1 methodology with the reversal design ABAB. A hyphotesis whose objective was to mesure the semantic memory, the adquisition of concepts and the categorization of meanings was established. Typified tests were executed as a Pre-post measurement system. The treatment results were analysed in comparison with the base line and the casuality effect. The index of the measurement of the PEM effect was used as a statistics. Although the statistical data shows moderately effective results in the treatment of two measurement options from the VD and are questionable in the other, the results of the Post test showed an increasing in the scores nonetheless. This encourages replication of this type of studies in the functional aspects of the cognitive processes, as are the semantic relations in individuals suffering from West Syndrome or other development alterations. CONTENTS Introduction. The West Syndrome. The semantic memory and the organization of concepts. Method. Results. Discussion. Conclusions. Bibliographic references. Ante dificultades expresivas y de comunicación en personas adultas con Síndrome de West, el arte favorece el desarrollo de las representaciones mentales a través de las obras artísticas. Pero hay pocos estudios sobre el desarrollo evolutivo, elaboración y adquisición de nuevos conceptos que haga referencia a este aspecto. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue evaluar el desarrollo conceptual mediante Arteterapia en una sujeto con este Síndrome, empleando la metodología de caso único N=1 con el diseño de reversión ABAB. Se estableció una hipótesis cuyo objetivo fue medir la memoria semántica, la adquisición de conceptos y categorización de significados. Para ello se pasaron unas pruebas tipificadas como sistema de medida Pre-Post. Se analizaron los resultados del tratamiento en comparación con la línea base y el efecto de causalidad. Como estadístico se utilizó el índice de tamaño del efecto PEM. Si bien los datos estadísticos muestran unos resultados moderadamente efectivos en el tratamiento en dos opciones de medida de la VD y son cuestionables en otro, por el contrario, los resultados de las prueba Post mostraron un incremento en las puntuaciones. Esto anima a la réplica de este tipo de estudios en los aspectos funcionales de los procesos cognitivos, como son las relaciones semánticas en individuos con Síndrome de West u otras alteraciones del desarrollo. &nbsp

The significant gap between the prevalence of child sexual abuse and disclosure underscores the need for new, innovative, and creative screening tools to identify victims to end the abuse and provide these victims with appropriate treatment. This article presents the cumulative efforts of a series of innovative studies dealing with sexually abused survivors and offenders that concentrates on preventing, assessing, screening, and treating Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). We start by describing the need and rationale for using the arts for purposes of identification and treatment. We discuss how these arts help bypass censorship and dissociation mechanisms involving the body as a critical factor during the assessment and the treatment. Each of the articles is then presented. The introduction is organized to show how non-verbal techniques for the prevention, screening, assessment and treatment of sexual abuse in chidren can move beyond verbal techniques that are known to be limited in their effectiveness.

Background A proportion of veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research has shown reduced effectiveness of commonly offered psychotherapies in military personnel. Some research suggested the usefulness of art therapy for veterans with PTSD, but its mechanism of operation has been unclear. The current project aimed to establish participants’ perceptions of any impact of group art therapy and some of the perceived mechanisms of change. Method In a grounded theory design, single semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine veterans who had received group art therapy, two art therapists, and a veteran's wife. Interviews were transcribed and analysed. Findings Theorised categories included (a) art therapy group as “the family”, (b) “the gentle conductor”, (c) trust, (d) doing the work, (e) art therapy as "a communication tool", (f) "points of recognition", (g) "making things concrete", and (h) "not a cure". Limitations Shortcomings included a homogenous sample who all attended art therapy alongside other interventions, reliance on subjective and unmeasured symptom change, and researcher effects related to qualitative methodology. Conclusion The developed grounded theory is consistent with existing evidence and neuropsychological theory. Group art therapy may enable some veterans to prepare for verbal-only therapy, by offering a safe space in which to approach non-verbal traumatic and trauma-related contextual material in a controlled way. Artworks may provide a bridge to facilitate communication of experiences within subsequent verbal therapy and with loved-ones. It is suggested to replicate the project at different sites. Elements of the developed theory may be investigated further to establish its transferability.

Entering into an image is a familiar yet undefined term. In this art-based, heuristic enquiry into how we enter into images as place, the author considers what meaning the concept of place has in a...

There are growing numbers of young children with complex life-limiting conditions as well as varying degrees of physical, sensory and cognitive limitations currently surviving birth.As a trainee ar...

Trans people experience high levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and attempts, as well as poor experiences seeking mental health support. There is limited research into the experie...

Few studies have investigated brain responses to different art media. Investigations into brain processes during art making have highlighted important structures. Neuroimaging tools have been used ...

Art therapists need specific instruments to measure treatment outcomes. The development of assessment instruments for special purposes, such as measuring key elements of the therapeutic process, is...

Objective Anthroposophic painting therapy (APT) is a specific form of art therapy that aims to activate self-healing capacities through painting aquarelles. Methods The Anthroposophic Art Therapy Assessment-Paint’ (AART-ASSESS-P) was developed to measure pictorial expression and validated in the framework of a comprehensive cohort design study. The validation study examined 68 breast cancer patients with fatigue. Art therapists made pre- and post-assessments of spontaneously drawn water-color paintings with a preliminary version of the AART-ASSESS-P (58 items). Inter-rater reliability (IRR) for the items was examined with Cohen's weighted Kappa (κw). Additionally, a reliability- and factor analysis (FA) were conducted. Convergence criteria were patients’ self-report measures: the Satisfaction with Painting Therapy, Inner Correspondence with Painting Therapy and the Self-Regulation Questionnaire. Results IRR for the items was heterogeneous (κw= 0.09-0.89, Mean κw= 0.40, SD = 0.17). Thirty-six items were excluded due to insufficient IRR and item-total correlation (κw= Conclusion The AART-ASSESS-P is the first reliable instrument to measure pictorial expression during APT.

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, ma...

This qualitative study explored how online individual art-therapy based (ATB) self-help tasks could support international students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Twenty-two students partici...

BACKGROUND There are not many drugs for teen depression, and many antidepressants are not recommended for people under the age of 14 years. Thus, cognitive behavioral therapy, such as art therapy, is widely used in the treatment of adolescent depression. Group painting therapy (GPT) is a psycho-art treatment that allows the artist to engage in the creative process of painting. METHODS Chinese and English databases were searched with a combination of words, including "Adolescent depression", "Group painting therapy", "Art therapy", and "Depression". A meta-analysis of the literature was carried out using the Cochrane system (RevMan 5.3). RESULTS Six randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in this study, of which 4 (66.66%) adopted the correct random assignment method, and 1 (16.67%) adopted a hidden detailed assignment scheme. One (16.67%) article adopted a blind method to evaluate the results. After GPT, depressed adolescent patients' positive emotion scores improved significantly [mean deviation (MD) =4.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) (3.79, 5.45), P

Objective The aim of this study is to develop a drawing test form and it’s scoring system for measuring depressive symptoms of breast cancer patients.Methods We enrolled 95 breast cancer patients in this study which was conducted from September 2016 to May 2018. First, we observed items of the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) which were significantly different between patients with and without depression, and also we reviewed previous studies on the drawing style of Korean women with depression. Second, we developed the Drawing Test Form for Depression (DTF-D) by composition of those drawing styles observed significant items in previous literatures and formative elements of DDS which was significantly different between depressed and non-depressed group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to define the appropriate score of the DTF-D in accordance with the depression measured with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score >9.Results We developed the DTF-D by compositing 8 items including Harmony, Tilt, Symbol, Space utilization, Surrounded, Description, Pen pressure, and Quality of line. The ROC analysis revealed the optimal cut-off score of 7 points of DTF-D in accordance with the clinical depression (PHQ-9 score >9) with the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve showed good discrimination (0.82), sensitivity (0.85), and specificity (0.64).Conclusion The DTF-D is expected to serve as an evaluative projective drawing test from for identifying depression in breast cancer patients.

This case study describes art therapy with a client diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Throughout 26 group art therapy sessions, significant emotional and behavioral changes unfolded al...

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the effects of visual art therapy (VAT) on cognition, psychological and functional ability of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and low education. Methods A single-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted among 127 older adults with MCI, mean age 73.6 years, and level of education in years, median (range) = 0 (0–9). The intervention group received 12 VAT sessions over 6 weeks. The control group received 6 health education sessions. The outcomes measures at baseline, immediately postintervention, at 3-month, and 6-month follow-up included global cognitive functions, depression, mental well-being, and instrumental activities of daily living functions. Results The intervention group demonstrated greater improvement than the control group in global cognition (β = 2.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16, 3.97, p < .001, standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.75) and depression (β = −2.01, 95% CI = −3.09, −0.93, p < .001, SMD = −0.93) immediately postintervention. The effects on cognitive functions were sustained at 3 and 6 months follow-up. The differential effect of VAT on mental well-being and functional ability compared to health education were undetectable. Discussion VAT can improve cognitive functions and mood status of older adults with MCI who have no or low education. Clinical Trials Registration Number: PACTR201901731800445. This trial was registered with Pan African Clinical Trial Registry: www.pactr.org.

Objective: to study the effectiveness of art therapy methods in the complex treatment of neuropsychological disorders and quality of life improvement in patients with relapsing-remitting and secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).Patients and methods. A group of 42 patients (5 men and 37 women, mean age 32.9 years, mean EDSS severity 3.8 points) with MS underwent outpatient continuous active art therapy cycle. The mean group training cycle duration was six months. The comparison group included 15 age- and sex-adjusted individuals without neurological disorders. Tests on various drawing topics were carried out before and after a three-month therapy course. We used Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to assess the severity of anxiety and depression and the SF-36 scale to evaluate the quality of life (QoL).Results and discussion. Before the art therapy start, light blue, yellow, pink, blue, and green colors prevailed in the drawings. There was no predominance of any color depending on MS severity or course. The green color predominated in this test in the control group, and the light blue color was significantly less represented. The art therapy course did not lead to a significant change in the severity of MS according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). After the art therapy course, the color scheme of the drawings was mainly represented by red, light blue, green, yellow, and blue colors. In addition, a red-orange color appeared in the drawings, which was completely absent before the course. Positive trends were noted according to HADS: a decrease in anxiety by 23% and depression by 19%. The physical component of QoL assessed by the SF-36 scale did not change substantially, but the psychological component significantly improved by 11%.Conclusion. The predominance of light blue color observed in MS is associated with damage to the nervous and musculoskeletal systems, and blue color – with psychological problems and depression. However, after a course of art therapy for MS, red, red-orange, yellow, and green colors representation increased significantly, which indicates an increase in positive attitude, a decrease in the level of depression, and an improvement in QoL.

Background Infertility is associated with increased anxiety, depressive symptoms and mood disorders. Unfortunately, mental health is not often addressed in infertility treatment and infertile patients could be at higher risk of self-administration of not prescribed drugs or/and be exposed to alternative emotional treatments. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate the use of psychotropic medication and to evaluate the frequency of psychiatric diagnosis among infertile women seeking assisted reproductive technology (ART) therapy. Methods All infertile women starting treatment at an ART clinic who agreed to participate in the study were included. Patients were submitted to a structured psychiatric interview, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). Current and lifetime use of psychotropic medication were assessed. Results Ninety patients who agreed to participate completed the research protocol. A total of 12/90 were on current use of psychotropic medication.Thirty-six out of ninety patients had at least one psychiatric disorder. Mood disorders were detected in 19 of the 90. Anxiety disorders were highly frequent, reaching 27/90 of the patients, as agoraphobia the most common diagnosis (12/90). Limitations The study has several limitations, such as the absence of a control group of fertile patients and strict inclusion criteria, in which only subjects that spontaneously agreed to participate were enrolled. Conclusion Women suffering from infertility seeking ART treatment are at high risk for depression and anxiety disorders and a considerable number of them are in use of medication. Its implications on infertility treatments and offspring are uncertain.

Only a few studies in the arts therapies in general and in the field of visual art therapy in particular have begun to address process variables and their relationship to outcome variables.The pres...

In low–middle income countries the number of patients suffering from PTSD (from adult onset trauma) and from complex-PTSD (who have suffered from childhood emotional, physical and sexual abuse, dep...

Festival art therapy is a proposition for identity-in-the-making within events. The intensity and immersion of personal narratives within festival themes can extend identity into free association. ...

Art therapy research supports the benefits of creative expression for well-being. Counseling literature highlights the necessity of therapist well-being. Art therapists often have art practices tha...

An autobiographical, narrative art therapy approach to treat drug addiction was co-developed at the Methadone Clinic of Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The 10-session art ther...

The formation of a professional identity is a continuous process. A Ghanaian art educator shares her experiences of studying to become an art therapist in the United States by exploring her use of ...

In this paper, I describe my experience of the aesthetic countertransference in relation to one patient’s artwork in an Art Therapy group as part of a Therapeutic Community for people with a diagno...

In a 2015-2016 UK survey of 35, 248 adults, 7% reported experiencing sexual abuse as children (Flatley, 2016). This review considers the value of Art Therapy (AT) in recognizing individual needs and experiences and support victims to manage the lasting impact of abuse. Three main bodies of research were identified: the use of AT in childhood sexual abuse (CSA) investigations; the use of art therapy in the treatment of the psychological sequelae of CSA victims in childhood and adulthood; and an assessment of how art therapy compares to other therapeutic approaches for CSA victims. The review highlights that AT particularly benefits rapport building between victim and therapist/investigator, alleviates some psychological consequences of sexual abuse - particularly anxiety, post-traumatic stress and dissociation (Pifalo, 2002). Through engaging the limbic system, AT may also provide a communicative form, building a narrative where verbal communication is hindered (Cohen-Liebman, 1999). However, the analysis brings attention to several weaknesses in the current AT research: available studies tend to have small sample sizes and few quantitative findings (Eaton et al, 2007). This review concludes by identifying the need for research which considers the clinical implications of AT in CSA cases for the future.

In order to advance Chinese culturally-appropriate art therapy practice, a qualitative study identified key indigenous factors. The investigation documented contextual adaptations made by 7 Taiwane...

Women hospitalized on an antepartum unit can benefit from an open studio art therapy group. A case description follows six women over five group sessions. Several common experiences that occurred t...

Basándose en el concepto de integración cerebral desarrollado por autores como Daniel J. Siegel (2018) y Bessel van der Kolk (2017), el presente artículo trata de relacionarlo con diferentes métodos utilizados en arteterapia que tienen en cuenta las nuevas disciplinas de la neurociencia, la psicopatología del desarrollo y la neurobiología interpersonal a la hora de plantear su enfoque para abordar el trauma.

Este artículo muestra brevemente el proceso y los resultados del trabajo de investigación homónimo. La susodicha investigación es un acercamiento al concepto de observación dentro de la práctica arteterapéutica. El estudio se centra en los aspectos del rol de observadora que deberían integrarse en el de arteterapeuta, para nutrirlo y dotar a la persona de herramientas que le permitan poder llevar a cabo una mejor práctica. Para hacerlo, se parte del análisis de la propia experiencia durante las prácticas y de la de otras estudiantes así como de profesionales arteterapeutas, investigando y reflexionando sobre cómo estas distintas experiencias pueden ser tomadas como fuente primaria de conocimiento para contribuir a la mejora de la formación de la profesión en arteterapia. Como técnicas de recolección se utilizan el propio cuaderno de campo, la entrevista y el cuestionario. Mediante la triangulación de los datos, de esta investigación cualitativa surgen 6 diferentes categorías (Observación, Supervisión, Contratransferencia, Terapia personal, Emociones prácticas y Cualidades facilitadoras). Así, además de poner el foco en la observación, también se atiende a lo contratransferencial y transferencial como estructural en el entendimiento propio de la disciplina, valorando el espacio de supervisión y terapia como necesario acompañamiento a la formación y al ejercicio de la práctica. Finalmente, se concluye la observación como esencial dentro del papel de arteterapeuta, haciendo hincapié en la importancia de la propia autobservación de la estudiante o profesional y recalcando la revisión de ambos términos en la formación.

Teaching 5-7-year old children with fear problems to cope with them is a substantial issue for many parents. The techniques that rapidly and effectively correct problematic child fears are essential for child psychologists. This study aims to reveal how to work effectively with children’s fears through short-term psychological support. A total of 90 students enrolled at various schools in Moscow between the ages of 5-7 participated to the study with a high number of fears. The study utilized the “Fear House” technique developed by Panfilova to determine the fears of children. The art therapy technique “Eliminating fears”, developed by Venger was also used to help children cope with their fears. The application indicates that there was a significant decrease in children’s fears.

One of the key pillars underlying a successful outcome in psychotherapy is the personal relationship between the therapist and the client. However, when the therapist is absent for a long period of...