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Abstract Background Infertility produces infertility-related stress in both members of infertile couples, especially for infertile women. Some studies verified the negative relationship between infertility-related stress and outcomes of infertility treatments. Effective mental health care during fertility treatment is urgently needed, but there has been a lack of efficient support services. To reduce the infertility-related stress of infertile women, expressive art therapeutic schemes will be organized and implemented by certified international expressive art therapists. Methods This study is a randomized controlled trial. Participants in the intervention group will receive expressive art therapies after the baseline investigation. Expressive art therapies will be led by the certified international expressive art therapist. The interventions include progressive muscle relaxation training, music meditation and drawing therapy. Participants in the control group will receive routine care. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) will be used to investigate the anxiety, depression, and infertility-related stress of all participants at admission and at discharge. Discussion This study will verify the effectiveness and efficiency of expressive art therapies for infertile women. The results will provide new knowledge on mental health care strategies for infertile women. Trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR2300070618. Registered 14 April 2023.

Background: Studies have shown that the Syrian war has significantly impacted the mental health of children, leading to increased levels of stress and anxiety. Various studies indicate that stress and anxiety levels can be modified using art therapy and psychological interventions. However, the utilization of art therapy grounded in psychological interventions for addressing the repercussions of war on Syrian children remains underexplored. Aims: This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an art therapy intervention based on the coping cat program in reducing the fear of failure in children affected by the Syrian war and experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS). Methods: The current study utilized a semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and followup (3 months) measurements, involving a sample of Syrian children aged 10–12 exposed to the war. From this population, 153 children who had relocated to the city of Salamieh due to the war were assessed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride et al., 2004). Out of these, 44 children with higher symptom scores were selected, and, based on entry and exit criteria, 20 of them were randomly assigned to two groups of 10 children: the experimental group (Expressive Art Therapy) and the control group. The art therapy intervention sessions used the Art Therapy Based on Coping Cat Program (Kalthom et al., 2023), and data was collected using the Performance Failure Apprehension Inventory (PFAI) questionnaire (Conrow et al., 2002). Data analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance and the SPSS 26 software. Results: The result of this research demonstrated that art therapy based on Coping Cat Program significantly reduced fear of failure and its dimensions (fear of experiencing shame and embarrassment, fear of loss of self-esteem, fear of an unknown future, fear of losing the love of important people, and fear of upsetting important people) in Syrian children (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that art therapy based on Coping Cat Program can reduce the levels of fear of failure and its sub-dimensions in children affected by the war, and it is recommended to replicate the experiment with a larger sample of war-affected children for further validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infertility produces infertility-related stress in both members of infertile couples, especially for infertile women. Some studies verified the negative relationship between infertility-related stress and outcomes of infertility treatments. Effective mental health care during fertility treatment is urgently needed, but there has been a lack of efficient support services. To reduce the infertility-related stress of infertile women, expressive art therapeutic schemes will be organized and implemented by certified international expressive art therapists. Methods: This study is a randomized controlled trial. Participants in the intervention group will receive expressive art therapies after the baseline investigation. Expressive art therapies will be led by the certified international expressive art therapist. The interventions include progressive muscle relaxation training, music meditation and drawing therapy. Participants in the control group will receive routine care. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) will be used to investigate the anxiety, depression, and infertility-related stress of all participants at admission and at discharge. Discussion: This study will verify the effectiveness and efficiency of expressive art therapies for infertile women. The results will provide new knowledge on mental health care strategies for infertile women. Trial registration: ChiCTR, ChiCTR2300070618. Registered 14 April 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expressive Art Therapy (EAT) is an emerging field of psychotherapy in India. The current study aimed to gather opinions on the efficacy of EAT from the point of view of practicing EAT professionals and traditional Mental Health Professionals (MHPs); and to understand the application of EAT for adolescents. A total of 45 MHPs from various fields participated in a recorded telephonic interview (15) and an online survey (30). Snowball sampling and convenience sampling were employed to access the participants. The thematic analysis of the interviews generated four major themes: therapeutic essence of EAT, EAT and adolescent's well-being, limitations of EAT, and application of EAT on psychological conditions. The online survey indicated that 29 MHPs were aware of EAT and substantiated the acceptance of EAT among the MHPs in India. The MHPs confirm the effectiveness of EAT for adolescents' well-being and other psychological conditions. The therapeutic benefits of EAT were confirmed overpowering the usage of therapy merely for inner expression. Nevertheless, the findings also highlight the limitations of this therapy. The current study also calls for further research with a larger sample size to gain an indepth insight into EAT from MHP's point of view in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effectiveness of expressive arts therapy in mitigating childhood trauma in incarcerated youth, with the aim of reducing the risk of mental disorders, violence, and recidivism by identifying and treating underlying trauma. The study involves 12 participants from the incarcerated youth population, 6 in each group; however, one participant in the control group dropped out of the study during the post-test due to non-attendance. The study used a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group received four sessions over a period of one week. The study found no significant reduction in PTSD symptoms using expressive arts therapy, analyzing for time measured (p=0.700), experimental group (p=0.037), and their interaction (p=0.568). This study found that expressive arts therapy did not significantly reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms in incarcerated youth, likely due to several factors. Future studies should address methodological limitations such as nonrandomization and explore alternative therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child Care Institutions (CCI) are often considered the best remedy for vulnerable children in India. Research suggests deteriorating mental health of the children residing at CCI and an inadequate mental health infrastructure aggravates this problem. An alternative therapy is vital to improve the current situation. Research confirms the positive effects of Expressive Art Therapy (EAT) for children facing mental health crises. In this paper, we aim to assess the effectiveness of EAT on the mental health, emotion regulation and resilience of these children. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was adopted for this intervention study. Forty-three children from two CCI in Goa participated in this study and were divided in to two groups. Group A (n = 18) received full intervention, whereas Group B (n = 25) received partial intervention. The quantitative analysis of psychometric data Group A showed significant improvement in their overall mental health and resilience scores. The qualitative content analysis of the art materials and interviews of same group supports the quantitative findings. Group B has also shown positive effects on some mental health and resilience constructs. Our findings reiterate the effectiveness of EAT for children in CCI and that this therapy could corroborate in their daily curriculum to promote overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early 1970s, and especially since South Africa became a democratic state under the governance of the African National Congress in 1994, many voices have called for decolonising the programs presented at universities. With this article, we as the authors of this article have concluded that, although the science of pastoral caregiving in the South African context has developed into a recognised authentic science, the development has followed Western cultural fashion with its emphasis on individualism. This is directly opposed to the more communal focus of African culture. This approach is also only one example of the differences between these two cultural groups. We investigated the possibility that expressive therapy can contribute to assemble a pedagogical design for a South African contextualised pastoral care and counselling model. The results of the investigation into three forms of expressive therapy are described in this article: First, Practical Theology as an academic discipline in South Africa is described; second, we look into contextualisation in pastoral care; and, in the third place, contextual pastoral care and counselling. The article concluded by the description of the three forms of expressive therapy and their possible place in contextual pastoral care. The research was done from a reformed perspective.

Objective To explore the effect of expressive art therapy on psychological and physiological symptoms of female cancer patients. Methods 151 patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy were randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group by convenient sampling method. All patients were tested with the psychological distress and quality of life scale and patients' satisfaction questionnaire after chemotherapy, and the data were statistically analyzed. Results (1) The scores of psychological pain thermometer were 4.64 ± 2.21 in the control group and 2.10 ± 2.04 in the experimental group respectively, which indicated that the score in the control group was significantly higher than that in the experimental group and the difference was statistically significant (t = 7.037, P < 0.05); (2) In terms of emotional function, cognitive function, social function, general health status, fatigue, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, loss of appetite, constipation and diarrhea, the improvement of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group, the difference was of statistical significance (P < 0.05). (3) The patients'satisfaction questionnaire indicated that the number and percentage of those who were very satisfied, relatively satisfied, dissatisfied and very dissatisfied in the experimental group were 40 (51.9%), 31 (40.3%), 5 (6.5%), 1 (1.3%) and 0 (0) respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the control group (27 (42.2%), 29 (45.3%), 23 (35.9%), 5 (7.8%) and 0 (0) and the difference was statistically significant (χ² = 16.554, P < 0.05). Conclusion Expressive art therapy can effectively reduce the psychological pain of patients during the chemotherapy, improve the quality of nursing service by enriching the activities during hospitalization, truly achieve the care of body heart spirit society, so as to help patients improve their ability to deal with cancer and quality of life, improve the relationship between doctors and patients, promote the deepening of chronic disease management and care mode and contribute to the great health of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early 1970s, and especially since South Africa became a democratic state under the governance of the African National Congress in 1994, many voices have called for decolonising the programs presented at universities. With this article, we as the authors of this article have concluded that, although the science of pastoral caregiving in the South African context has developed into a recognised authentic science, the development has followed Western cultural fashion with its emphasis on individualism. This is directly opposed to the more communal focus of African culture. This approach is also only one example of the differences between these two cultural groups. We investigated the possibility that expressive therapy can contribute to assemble a pedagogical design for a South African contextualised pastoral care and counselling model. The results of the investigation into three forms of expressive therapy are described in this article: First, Practical Theology as an academic discipline in South Africa is described; second, we look into contextualisation in pastoral care; and, in the third place, contextual pastoral care and counselling. The article concluded by the description of the three forms of expressive therapy and their possible place in contextual pastoral care. The research was done from a reformed perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group therapy has been widely discussed in terms of factors that work. Most of the previous work in this field is related to verbal psychotherapy, but it should not be assumed that non-verbal, activity-based groups, as well as combined group forms, have the same operating mechanisms as verbal psychotherapy groups. Thus, there is a need for more knowledge concerning the therapeutic mechanisms that other types of groups rely on. This article describes and discusses the expressive art therapy group at an eating disorders unit in Norway. Particular emphasis is placed on linking specific elements of a case example to a framework for describing therapeutic factors in groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents with acquired brain injuries suffer from social and community withdrawal that result in isolation from their peer groups. The review highlights the evidence of effectiveness of expressive art interventions in the form of theatre for populations with difficulties in physical, emotional, cognitive, or social functioning. A systematic search from 1995 to May 2007 was carried out and 10 studies were retrieved that focused on drama-based treatments and programmes used to improve aspects of social or community integration for a broad range of populations. The studies were published in English in Canada, the USA, and the UK. Current evidence supports the effectiveness of drama therapy in terms of improvements in psychological health, emotional intelligence, cognitive function, social integration, but not necessarily community integration. The findings indicate that theatre skills training might facilitate community integration in addition to social integration in adolescents with acquired brain injuries if it is formally measured as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of a limb is a traumatic and far-reaching event and often represents a struggle for survival, psychosocial adaptation and re-defining of self. In this case study presentation, a patient's relationship with disability is explored by means of a comprehensive model in understanding and assessing the trauma journey. The value of projective techniques and narrative therapy will be highlighted in the process of re-defining self. It is hoped that professionals working with patients with limb loss will be able to intervene constructively and engage in taking-it-back practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]