Art as a Group Psychotherapeutic TechniquePSY 496

University of Maine at Farmington

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Chris RobertsPSY 4965/7/15

Art as a Group Psychotherapeutic Technique

One of the most crucial aspects of psychotherapy and counseling sessions

that determines how a clients will benefit during and after time with a practitioner

is the clients’ ability, and openness, to expressing emotion and challenging oneself to

be aware of personal feelings. Sometimes it becomes very difficult for individuals to

express emotions, thoughts, and feelings on aspects of life. This is a challenge that

can trouble all ages, genders, and psychiatric groups. Reseach and literature done in

the past has found that group art therapy to have a positive effect on sexually

abused women (Brooke, 1995; Waller, 1992), juvenile offenders (Hartz & Thicke,

2005), behaviorally disordered students (Rosal, 1993), emotionally troubled

children (Tibbets & Stone, 1990), and students with somatic symptoms

(Philippopoulos & Lucas, 1983).

Group art therapy has been used as a resource for psychiatric patients since

the 1970s. It is a therapeutic technique that has many variations and differing forms.

One similarity found in the differing articles on art therapy is that the techniques

followed an Adlerian approach. These individuals were students struggling in school

grades between third and twelfth. Alfred Adler was a psychotherapist in the early

1900s and focused on the social element of psychotherapy. He focused on these

aspects alongside the re-adjustment period that clients go through as they grow in

sessions and incorporate it into their lives within the community.

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Art Therapy Connection (ATC) is the name of the group that works with

students between the grades of third and twelfth. This group is a yearlong program

founded within the town of Chicago, Illinois. The group has a focus on the idea of

community and aiding individuals to possess a feeling of belonging in their

environment. The reasoning behind the Adlerian concept within this program

revolves around the thought that all aspects of human experience is influenced by

culture and society.

After understanding that an Adlerian approach is found within a program

that focus on art as a therapeutic technique, it becomes apparent to question the

chose of art over other beneficial psychotherapeutic techniques. This question was

answered in the article that focused on the ATC program presented earlier in this

paper. The program focused their work and research on a student population of

various ages and genders. In the article speaking about the ATC program, the

authors explained their reasoning behind the choice of art as a therapeutic

technique for group.

Art reflects life with the reality of change and its many choices.

Feelings that a student is unable to express verbally often can be

released while creating art. The way an idea or experience is

expressed gives the student and the art therapist clues into

understanding what the student is experiencing and feeling.

(Sutherland, Waldman & Collins)

This aspect of emotional expression is one of the focal aspects of art therapy in both

individual sessions and group atmospheres. The idea of emotional expression was

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presented to members of this ATC program with the groups’ creation of “The Wall”.

The ATC program created a wall covered in white paper in a room semi-public from

the surrounding environment. Students would go to this room to write emotions

and feelings that they were going through. Rules such as no names, cuss words or

gang signs were established early on, and the characteristic of respect was spoken

about within the group. The aspect of mutual respect between the students and

professionals was one of the many aspects of the program that benefited student

growth and development. Respecting a student’s right to feel angry, sad, or

frustrated, and allowing the expression of those emotions, can help the student feel

more connected with his or her friends and community, and possibly help raise the

student’s self esteem (Sutherland, Waldman & Collins).

Art therapy as technique of emotional expression and therapeutic

psychological method has also been found to benefit individuals at a college level

within universities. Art was found to be a manner of expression for both

intrapersonal and interpersonal concerns within the cognitive thought of students

older then the sample found in the work of the ATC program. A creative-arts

therapy group was established in 2007 and the article written by Boldt and Paul

narrates the success that the program had following its’ establishment.

These groups combine the strengths of a traditional process group

with the benefits of participation in the expressive arts. The creative

process draws students in, invites insight and introspection, and

facilitates outward sharing as they build intentionally meaningful

relationships. Students can share their experiences and insights with

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each other as they explore their identities, shaping and molding

themselves along with their art. While some students express

reluctance about traditional group therapy, a creative-arts therapy

group may offer a compelling alternative with similar benefits. (Boldt

Paul)

When analyzing the description of these groups conducted at Baylor University, an

Adlerian approach is presented similar to that of the ATC program. With the work of

interpersonal and intrapersonal issues, along with the challenge of emotional

expression, students grow through their journey alongside the group.

After researching past methods of group art therapy for differing groups of

individuals, it is important to look into the conclusions and results that were found.

Looking into the work done by the ATC program, it is important to look at the rates

of graduation. This is important because of how the group was made up of

individuals whom were identified as being at risk of failing or dropping out of

school. Through the work of a group art therapy method, and the freedom to

respectfully express emotion through the artistic media, the groups’ graduation rate

improved thirty-six percent. This increase was found when comparing the groups’

graduation rate of 2007 to that of 2008. It was found that seventy-eight percent of

students in the ATC program graduated from high school. This percentage is higher

than the fifty-six percent graduation rate of the entire student body.

Although this finding has strong quantitative evidence of beneficial aspects of

group art therapy, there are also many findings of qualitative illustrations and

narratives that show individual growth. Quantitative results were a focus in the

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work of Drapeau and Kronish as they worked with psychiatric patients. In their data

collection these two researchers worked with twenty-six psychiatric patients for

twelve consecutive weeks. The groups consisted of between six to eight patients,

and each session of group lasted two hours. The work done by Drapeau and Kronish

suggests a large amount of benefits for participants of creative art therapy groups. A

great illustration of an individual benefited through the work of artistic media can

be found when comparing the first and last images created by a member of group

whose art is presented below.

Early on in group, when the first picture was illustrated, the images’ creator spoke

about the evil in her life and how she was surrounded by darkness. Figure eight

illustrates that the illustrator has shifted towards seeing the world with a feeling of

peace and openness. This may imply that participating in creative arts therapy lets

individuals’ within the group obtain an enhanced quality-of-life (Drapeau &

Kronish). The work found within this research also suggests that creative arts

therapy helps patients become more trustful of others, improve their perceptions of

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perspective, enhance self-esteem, and become more secure in expressing personal

feelings (Drapeau & Kronish).

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References:

Boldt, R. W., & Paul, S. (2011). Building a Creative-Arts Therapy Group at a

University Counseling Center. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy,

25(1), 39-52.

Drapeau, M., & Kronish, N. (2007). Creative Art Therapy Groups: A Treatment

Modality for Psychiatric Outpatients. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art

Therapy Association, 24(2), 76-81.

Sutherland, J., Waldman, G., & Collins, C. (2010). Art Therapy Connection:

Encouraging Troubled Youth to Stay in School and Succed. Art Therapy:

Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 27(2), 69-74.