ABSTRACT
The lack of literature on online art therapy and research participants' remarks about feeling underprepared to transition to teletherapy underscores that more research must be conducted on the subject. Going forward, graduate-level coursework in the field should address virtual art therapy and training on how to conduct art therapy online should be implemented. Other opportunities to learn about virtual therapy may include consulting with other clinicians and completing online training programs for tele counselling. This chapter offers suggestions and raises ethical considerations for a tele art therapy practice. Online approaches to art therapy are novel and it uses the terms virtual, online, and tele art therapy interchangeably. Tele art therapy, a subset of teletherapy, emerged in the late 1990s. The bulk of art therapy literature written before the COVID-19 pandemic focuses on implementing online computer programs that can be used to facilitate art therapy and adapting analogue art therapy practices to suit online platforms. In contrast, tele art therapy literature published during the pandemic includes surveys and descriptions of art therapy programs and services developed in response to stay-at-home orders. To conclude, the chapter offers suggestions and raise ethical considerations for online art therapy practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the format of the International Program of Art Therapy in Thailand (IPATT) program before and during the COVID pandemic. A survey will contrast the strengths and weaknesses of online learning as experienced by IPATT students who participated in the program in-person as well as online. The IPATT studio is equipped with audio-visual aids for instructors to present art therapy theories and a studio working area with a wide assortment of art materials that allow students to work experientially. In addition to art therapy education, having students in the studio also gives them opportunities to learn relational literacy inside and outside class time, such as confronting or allying, deepening or skipping, and encouraging or letting go. The student survey that contrasted in-person and online classroom experiences revealed that face-to-face teaching gets a higher score in 3 out of 9 quality sub-categories;most aspects remain the same in both classroom settings. There are advantages and disadvantages to sharing art and personal experiences online, where group dynamics can be different, benefiting some group members but not others. While there is a preference for face-to-face education, the small student survey shows that most IPATT students accept online education as an alternative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Teaching and learning took on new meaning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically for those programs not designed for online course delivery. While some accredited graduate art therapy programs already offered online learning and low residency options when the COVID pandemic hit, most were designed for in-person experiential learning with an art studio space. The author, an instructor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, U.S., was preparing to teach a content course that relied on art-based experientials, one of the "signature" pedagogies in art therapy education. She had to rebuild the course with careful attention to various modes of communication to hold a safe learning space. This chapter outlines and exposes pedagogical, technological, and personal rationale behind her choices. It provides new knowledge or aspects to consider when making changes to course delivery post-pandemic. Overall, the chapter aims to inspire the readers to reconsider the philosophies of teaching and how one can creatively and effectively meet the students where they are in their cycle of learning, whether one teaches online, face-to-face, or a hybrid of the two. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Supervision in art therapy is a relationship of learning. It provides opportunities for individuals less experienced in the field to reflect about their practicum work under the guidance of someone more experienced. This chapter covers the psychological effects of virtual art therapy interventions, such as through videoconferencing, which increased with the arrival of the COVID pandemic. It examines the complex ideas of virtual art psychotherapy and its virtual healing qualities since "[i]n analytical psychotherapy ... the main pivot of treatment is transference". Just as Schaverien describes the transference of past experiences as being made "live", the chapter describes how virtual art therapy is "live-online". The interaction with clients through virtual means provides the therapists with new opportunities, such as meeting clients in their own space or allowing a digital method, like the Zoom Whiteboard, for clients to create art without having to buy art materials. The use of the Schaverien Talisman and Scapegoat concepts can be applied in a more intimate way by meeting clients virtually at their own home. Thus, with the added virtual element to therapy, we are squaring the Schaverien triangle. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Digital community for art therapists retains lasting principles grounded in a rich history of connection and innovation. Virtual engagement within the field continues to forge strong bonds that unite our professional need for belonging, support, and knowledge online. As technology grows and develops so art therapy's use of its tools, platforms, and applications for community, engagement, and practice. Art therapists have come a long way from the field's small beginnings and activity online. This chapter begins with an overview of the importance of digital communities for the field of art therapy and touch upon past, present, and an imagining of future developments. It presents examples that highlight the sustaining impact and implications of digital community for emerging and practicing art therapists, including how the COVID pandemic shed new light and considerations about the necessity of online connection for the field. A time capsule experiment explores what digital community might look like for art therapists by 2030. With time capsule responses having been collected at the beginning of 2020, some of the predictions have already become reality through the necessities imposed by the COVID pandemic, such as extensive use of videoconferencing to deliver art therapy in a time of social distancing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Response art is images made by art therapists to support their work. It is widely used in practice and supervision to contain challenging material experienced in session, explore and identify deeper meaning including countertransference, to conceptualize treatment and to demonstrate understanding and meaning to clients and others. Response art carries meaning whether it is used in person or in a video session. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic brought impediments to in-person verbal exchanges in traditional therapy and supervision and offered opportunities to expand our communication skills in creative ways. In this article the author encourages art therapists to turn to their own images. Examples of response art contribute to the discussion, encouraging effective use while challenging art therapists to expand its applications. Looking closely at our tools supports their effective application and expands their potential utility. © 2023 Intellect Ltd Notes from the Field. English language.
ABSTRACT
The Summer Arts Workshop (SAW) is a community-based art therapy program with a social justice focus. It has been offered through the Helen B. Landgarten (HBL) Art Therapy Clinic at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) since 2007 in partnership with Dolores Mission School in Boyle Heights, a historically under-resourced part of East Los Angeles. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders in Los Angeles, the SAW leadership team adapted the workshop to an online format. The authors took advantage of the online format to extend the reach of the workshop to several school sites in marginalized communities in Los Angeles County, including a juvenile hall high school, which is a prison for youth in a state youth detention centre. The greatest challenge in adapting to an online format was preserving the core component of the workshop: building trust and healthy attachments through expressive art making. The authors overcame this and other challenges and succeeded in providing connecting experiences for participants and facilitators during a time of social isolation and collective anxiety. This chapter shows how teletherapy can bridge gaps of access, particularly for marginalized populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an increased need for mental health support. Art therapists, like other mental health providers, made rapid decisions to transition from in-person to virtual formats. The Canadian International Institute of Art Therapy (CiiAT) in Victoria, Canada, provides online diploma and certificate programs in art therapy with a requirement for practice in settings, such as hospitals and community organizations. Due to contact restrictions in early 2020, the non-profit Proulx Global Education and Community Foundation, which oversees CiiAT, set up a Virtual Art Therapy Clinic (VATC) to meet the needs of practicum students and serve clients dealing with anxiety and other challenges. Students could continue with their practicum while providing accessible and affordable art therapy services to clients at home. VATC uses the Jane Application as its video conferencing and scheduling platform, which is privacy compliant following Canadian regulations. Clients can virtually receive art therapy services from VATC anywhere globally by setting up appointments with supervised CiiAT student art therapists. This chapter describes a CiiAT student-initiated pilot quantitative research study in which student art therapists recorded their clients' anxiety levels before and after virtual art therapy sessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a model for combining Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and art therapy for the Gen Z population (young people born in the United States between 1997 and 2007). Adolescents and young adults have increased rates of depression, anxiety, addiction, reports of loneliness, and suicide attempts compared to previous generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these worrisome trends. The chapter offers techniques for enhancing eight phases of EMDR through a variety of art therapy directives identified in multiple case studies. Art prompts, scripts, and case studies for art directives offer readers a comprehensive understanding for creative case conceptualization using EMDR with adolescents and young adults. When EMDR and art therapy are combined, these two disciplines can be incredibly effective and transformative, serving as a new avenue to meet specific needs of young people. Newer research revealing the unique stage of brain development during adolescence reinforces the need to enhance EMDR protocols for adolescents and young adults with the creative interventions of art therapy. This comprehensive model includes a conceptual framework to understand this generation and to provide ideas and directives. Each creative intervention is designed to be replicated by clinicians to help young people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Background: Case study: Conclusion(s): The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) to present post-COVID-19 syndrome, which involves a variety of ongoing neurological, neuropsychiatric, neurocognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection followed by a severe course of COVID-19 treated in long term pharmacologically induced coma in a visual artist, which impacted on her artwork;(2) to present QEEG/ERP results and neuropsychological testing results in the evaluation of the effectiveness of a comprehensive neurotherapy program, with individualized EEG-Neurofeedback, and art-therapy in the reduction of post-COVID-19 syndrome in this artist. Ms. G., 42, a visual artist, portraitist, with good health, became ill in May 2022. Allegedly flu symptoms appeared first. After a few days, shortness of breath joined in. The PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 was positive. The patient was hospitalized, referred to the ICU, put on a respirator and treated over 11days of a pharmacologically induced coma. Two months after leaving hospital the patient developed post-COVID-19 syndrome. She was diagnosed by an interdisciplinary team: a neurologist, neuropsychiatrist and neuropsychologist. A PET scan of her brain revealed extensive changes involving a loss of metabolism in various brain areas. The presence of complex post-COVID, neurological, neuropsychiatric, neurocognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders was found and a neuropsychiatrist suggested a diagnosis of post-COVID schizophrenia. She was refered to the Reintegration and Training Center of the Polish Neuropsychological Society.We tested the working hypothesis as to the presence of schizophrenia and there was no reduction in the difference of ERPs waves under GO/NOGO task conditions, like in the reference group with schizophrenia (see also Pachalska, Kaczmarek and Kropotov 2021). The absence of a functional neuromarker for schizophrenia allowed us to exclude this diagnosis and to propose a new disease entity, that being post-COVID-19 syndrome. She received a comprehensive two-component program of neurotherapy: (1) program A consisting in goal-oriented neuropsychological rehabilitation, including art therapy (see also: Pachalska 2008;2022b), and (2) program B, based on the most commonly used form of EEG-Neurofeedback: frequency/ power EEG-Neurofeedback, using 2 bipolar surface electrodes, with the protocols written for her specific needs (see also Thompson & Thompson 2012;Kropotov 2016). The comprehensive neurotherapy program lasted 10 weeks, EEG Neurofeedback and art therapy classes were conducted 3 times a week for 45 minutes each. We found that after the completion of the comprehensive neurotherapy program there was a statistically significant reduction in high beta activity compared to the normative HBI database, which is associated with a reduction of anxiety. Also, we observed the improvement of neurocognitive functioning in neuropsychological testing (a significant reduction of anxiety and a noticeable improvement in neurocognitive functions). It should be stressed that the artist was happy that she had regained the ability to create, and even sells her artwork, although her style of painting had changed. Almost all the neurological, psychiatric, neurocognitive, emotional and behavioral disturbances, were reduced in their severity. The artist showed marked improvement and was able to return to painting. The artwork she produced after her illness is in high demand with art collectors. It can be also helpful in the reintegration of the Self System, and the improvement in her quality of life. Human Brain Index (HBI) methodology might be very useful in diagnosing and developing therapies for patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome.Copyright © 2023, MEDSPORTPRESS Publishing House. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in people living with HIV (PLWH) have been the focus of several recent studies. As the gut microbiome can influence vaccine immunogenicity, in this study we are the first to investigate whether the baseline gut microbiota can predict immune responses to the BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in people living with HIV (PLWH) and healthy controls (HC). Method(s): Fecal samples were collected from PLWH (n=68) and HC (n=75) at baseline, prior to the first vaccine dose, to extract DNA for 16S rRNA sequencing. The individuals were part of the COVAXID Clinical trial, where humoral and cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine were evaluated on day 35 after the first dose. Comprehensive bioinformatic tools were used for bacterial identification to further reveal the associations between gut microbiota and SARS-CoV-2 antibody, spike CD4+ T cell responses, and clinical parameters such as age, gender, CD4/CD8 ratio, and length of antiretroviral (ART) treatment. Result(s): At day 35 post vaccination, HC showed significantly higher spike IgG titers than PLWH (p=0.0001). Interestingly, both phylogenetic and alpha-diversity were negatively correlated with antibody titers, in the whole cohort and within groups. Similarly, individuals with low alpha-diversity had higher levels of spike specific CD4+T-cell responses. Agathobacter, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, and Lachnospira were positively correlated with both antibody levels and spike-specific CD4+ T-cell responses while Methanobrevibacter, Marvinbryantia, Cloacibacillus, and Succinivibrio have a negative one. Within the PLWH group, the gut microbiota taxa associated with CD4+ counts, such as Lachnospira (p=0.002), Oscillibacter (p=0.019) and Flavonifractor (p=0.017), were found to be positively correlated with spike IgG levels. Additionally, the length of ART treatment and CD4/CD8 ratio displayed a positive association with bacterial diversity. Notably, different microbiome profiles and immune status in PLWH, affect their immune responses to vaccination. Conclusion(s): Our results show potential associations between gut microbiota diversity and spike IgG responses after COVID-19 vaccination. These findings were consistent in the whole cohort, albeit group differences between the microbiome compositions in PLWH and HC were observed. Based on our findings, we propose that microbiome modulation could optimize immunogenicity to SARS-Cov-2 vaccines.
ABSTRACT
Introduction and Aim: Job and stress are not mutually exclusive;in fact, stress is inherent to job. In the present era of COVID pandemic, working as health care providers may entail highest levels of stress leading to burnout. Thus, affecting work efficiency of faculty, in turn reflecting on students' performance and health care services to patients. However, de-stressors like yoga and art-based interventions are scarce and not well documented to date. Hence, the present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of stress alleviating yoga and creative art therapy through interprofessional collaborative approach. Method(s): Sixty medical faculty of either gender aging 30-60 years, were randomly divided into two equal groups-control and intervention group. The intervention group underwent yoga and creative art therapy for 10 days duration each. International stress management association (ISMA) stress questionnaire and Kessler's psychological distress (K-10) scale were administered before and post-intervention, to compare the stress levels. Blood pressure (BP), pulse rate, body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were also measured. Comparative analysis of pre-post test scores was done using Student's paired 't' test. Result(s): According to ISMA and K-10 scores, the intervention group showed statistically significant (p <= 0.05) decrease in stress levels among faculty. However, BP, BMI and WHR didn't show any significant change after the intervention. Conclusion(s): Yoga and art therapy were proved to be beneficial in reducing the stress levels among faculty significantly. Comparative analysis also showed significant reduction irrespective of their gender and specialty.Copyright © 2023, Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
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 feelings of isolation and depression during the pandemic. Such use of a therapeutic art exhibition promoted a sense of connection and understanding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
In this article we show how the arts have served as a form of resistance facing the impacts of the pandemic and confinement. Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has reified previously existing social injustices. Several collectives have organized forms of resistance to oppose inequalities and forms of oppression. As a concrete example, the network of the Filipino community in Barcelona, Catalonia/ Spain, is offered. This community has been especially affected by Covid-19 because of their predominant employment in service sectors, often in a condition of exploitation that reflect the legacies of colonialism. Through the method of ethnography and within the framework of Gramscian anthropology and a decolonizing approach, this paper analyzes both the impact of Covid-19 on this community and their forms of resistance. Special emphasis is placed on the adolescents of the community and how they have made use of the arts to resist the impacts of the pandemic. To achieve this goal, the concept of critical art is used, as well as various principles of art therapy.
ABSTRACT
Creative arts therapy (CAT) can potentially mitigate the unprecedented levels of healthcare professional (HCP) burnout that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, empirical evidence about the impact of CAT programs is lacking. We conducted focus groups with HCPs (N = 20) who participated in a 12-week CAT clinical trial to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of the intervention. For HCPs experiencing burnout and psychological distress, our CAT program supported healing and resiliency through building a sense of community. Participants reported that several programmatic components contributed to this sense of community including: 1) diversity of participants' disciplines, roles, and geographic locations;2) physical separation between the conduct of the CAT program and their primary place of employment;3) facilitator skill;4) collectively contributing to a group project;and 5) being pushed out of their "comfort zone" through the creative activity. Although participants described the particular need for the CAT program in light of additional stressors induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, they believed that this program would have been beneficial pre-pandemic and in the future. To build long-term resiliency, participants suggested that CAT interventions should continue after the 12-week program.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
ABSTRACT
This chapter explores The Community Table as an evolving model of practice originating in a context of crisis support. It has developed from initial beginnings at a dining room table in a safe house for young unaccompanied refugees. When working in the border town of Calais, northern France, the lack of consistent safe spaces has required a clear rationale for the work and adaptations to models, which have roots in the art therapy studio. The Community Table can be metaphorically concertinaed to expand, or contract. It has supported a dynamic way of working on, in-between, and across borders, real and symbolic. This model has been translated by Art Refuge to other settings including online under COVID-19. It opens up possibilities for thinking about art therapy studios in settings that previously may have felt out of reach. The chapter presents four iterations of The Community Table. One was developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The political and social context, seasons and weather, location and spaces available, and the displaced demographic present shaped each manifestation. This in turn informed what art materials and media were introduced. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Art therapy reduces trauma-related psychopathology in refugee youth. Given the added stress of COVID-19 on traumatized refugee populations, we adapted art therapy for refugee youth and their families in the virtual space. We describe program development, implementation and experientials, and clinical recommendations illustrated through two cases. Observations and feedback support art therapy as a tool to address socioemotional functioning in families who resettle as refugees and foster positive emotions, sense of self and community, confer stress coping skills, and enhance resilience. In light of the persistence of the pandemic, the unprecedented number of global refugees, and their unique needs for mental health services, virtual art therapy can expand accessibility and reach of beneficial methods to address trauma in refugee groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
In January 2020, a new state-wide art therapy in prisons program was established to bring art therapy to youth offenders in four prisons to help mitigate obstacles to their education, such as emotional dysregulation, behavioral issues, and cognitive difficulties. Shortly thereafter COVID-19 halted regular programming. In a system where sequestration is already a normative practice, over-isolation occurred. Art therapists developed strategies to continue providing services, including art-based workbooks and written correspondence. Three case vignettes and overall program feedback illustrate the participants' experiences and responses to the programmatic adjustments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This paper describes a program informed by art therapy and Photovoice approaches and techniques aimed at helping new immigrant and refugee teens to navigate personal and cultural identities by reflecting on their experiences as new residents in the US. Photovoice is a photography and social action method that encourages participants to photograph aspects of their daily lives, reflect on their meaning and significance and galvanize necessary changes. The program began in February 2020 at the Arab-American National Museum (AANM), but was adapted for an online format and re-framed towards a reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic. Broad questions teens explored included: What is good? What is challenging? What is sustaining during challenging times? What needs to change? and What about your culture and background are you proud of and wish to share with other US residents? Highlights of the sessions demonstrate how art therapy interventions paralleled photography-assigned themes of self, home, and community and encouraged group interaction and mutual support. A virtual museum exhibition culminated the program and reached community leaders. Self-reports from select participants highlight changes in posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and somatic symptoms over the course of programming.
ABSTRACT
This study examined the effects of online group art therapy on adults who lost family members using three instruments to measure depression, grief, and quality of life in a randomized controlled trial. Of the thirty-six participants who experienced the death of a family member, 20 were assigned to the experimental group participating in online group art therapy over eight sessions 1-hour once a week, and 16 were assigned to the control group with no intervention. In the experimental group, online group art therapy reduced depression and grief while improving the quality of life. The findings show the promise of online group art therapy in helping adults who have lost family members by relieving psychological distress and enhancing their quality of life. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd