Is The Key Of Healing Hidden Inside Art?

17 Haziran 2017

12^th EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF PSYCHOLOGY 2011

IS THE KEY OF HEALING HIDDEN INSIDE THE ART?

OLCAY GÜNER, AYŞE ESRA ASLAN

ARKABAHÇE Psychological Development, Training and Consulting & MARMARA University,

Istanbul, Turkey

INTRODUCTON

It is possible to use art for understanding human nature and healing. Art therapy is both very recent and old, so it is paradoxical. According to Rubin (2010), art therapy as a healer dates back to ancient times to cave paintings. On the other hand, art therapy is a young member of applied psychology. As cited by Rubin (2010), Elinor Ulman (1981) defined art therapy as the combination of terms ‘art’ and ‘therapy’. Ulman (1981) identified art as “a mean to discover both self and the world to establish a relation between the two” and according to Ulman (1981) art is the “meeting ground of the inner and outer world”. Ulman (1981) also mentioned therapy as “procedures designed assist favorable changes in personality or in living that will outlast the session itself”

In literature, there are two different perspectives on well-being: Hedonism and eudaimonism. Hedonism takes gratification and happiness as a base for well-being, on the other hand eudaimonism focuses on meaning, self-realization and define well-being as functionality of individual (Ryan, 2001). Art therapy provides gratification by the function of art making and also it provides improvements in certain psychological areas to be fully functioning. Art as a tool provides pleasure and it is functional in both revealing a person’s problem and confronting him with it. Since the art object carries the effect of internal representations, it has major contributions to the dimension of ‘meaning’. Although art therapy is a popular psychotherapy method, there are few researches investigating its effectiveness.

Creative thinking

Methods used in art therapy go parallel with the steps of creative problem solving process. Aslan (2001) defines creativity as a cognitive ability, adopting original problem solving processes for original production with the help of intelligence. It may appear as a new, skill-based product and/or it may not be transformed to a product yet.

According to Alex Osborn, who developed the term ‘Creative Problem Solving’, there are three different steps of problem solving (Aslan, 2002). These steps are “definition of the problem”, “idea generation” that is about producing different methods of solution and “finding solutions” that involve evaluation. According to more recent researchers, creative problem solving process has five different steps; each of which consists of different modes of thought. These are shifting steps from divergent thinking to convergent thinking.

The present study focuses on how art therapists and clients define the art therapy, compares art therapy with creative problem solving process and aims to understand whether art therapists and clients perceive art therapy as therapeutic.

INTRODUCTON

Creative thinking

RESULTS

Coding process was based on general categories of “Discovery, insight and action”. These three categories are the steps of Three-Stage Model of Helping (Hill, 2007; Danish, D’Augelli & Hauer, 1994).

First general category is the “discovery stage”. All definitions that can affect good therapeutic relations, emotions and ideas are included in this category.
Second general category is the “insight stage”. Art therapy definitions that can affect progression of therapeutic relations and affects individual’s cause and effect relations with his/her own problem are included in this category.
Third category is the “action stage”. Art therapy definitions that affect progression of good therapeutic relations and individual’s arousal are included in this category.
When psychotherapists defined art therapy by choosing adjectives from the list; they preferred “amusing, discovery provider, attractive” the most (f=11, %100); they preferred “safe, powerful, creative energy user, concentrating, soother, private, facilitator, amusing, deepening, releasing” the least (f=1, %9,09).
Clients mainly qualified art therapy as “discovery provider” (f=10, 100%) the most. They preferred “difficult, surprising, interesting, relaxing” (f=1, 10%) to define art therapy the least. Clients never related art therapy with “frightening, hurtful, sad, and amusing”(f=0).
Psychotherapists and clients commonly emphasized “discovery provider” the most and “difficult” the least.
At the second step, definitions of art therapy made by psychotherapists and clients are analyzed according to general categories depending on three-stage helping model.
Psychotherapists mostly mentioned “discovery” (f=67), they secondarily mentioned “insight acquisition” (f=61), and then they mentioned “action” (f=32) stages of art therapy when they define art therapy via choosing adjectives from the list.
At discovery stage, “amusing and discovery provider” (f=11, 100%) qualities of art therapy were emphasized. In insight acquisition stage, “amusing and surprising” (f=11, 100%) are the qualities of art therapy that were mostly emphasized. At action stage, “pleasurable and easiness” (f=10, 90%) were mostly emphasized qualities of art therapy. Table 1 presents analysis of Psychotherapist’s definitions of Art Therapy according to adjective list.
Clients were more likely to mention “insight” (f=30), then “discovery” (f=23) and then “action” (f=11) stage to define art therapy depending on the adjective list. At insight stage “discovery provider” (f=10, 100%) quality of art therapy was mostly preferred; at insight stage “surprising and amusing” (f=9, 90%) qualities of art therapy were emphasized. At action stage, “pleasurable” (f=6, 60%) quality of art therapy was emphasized the most.
Psychotherapists and clients commonly emphasized “action” stage that is third stage three-stage model of helping, the least to define art therapy depending on adjective list.
Secondly, participants were asked to compare art therapy to an object as a projective way of measuring art therapy definitions. Psychotherapists compared art therapy to 10 different objects including “mirror, crayon, chewy gum, submarine, photocopy machine, rainbow, kaleidoscope, clay, magic maker, and ocean”.
Clients on the other hand related art therapy to eight different objects including “computer, sea, wild card, camera, massage seat, play dough, big and colorful lamp shade and water” (Table 2).
Two of the participants from art therapy group compared art therapy to ‘crayon’; other therapist compared it to different kind of objects. Three of the participants from the client group identified art therapy with “dough” in a similar way, whereas other clients identified it with different objects.
When psychotherapists were asked to define art therapy through an object, they mostly mentioned “Colorfulness, transformer, facilitator (f=5, %45,45) qualities of art therapy the most and they mentioned the words “attractive, amusing, aesthetic, safe, richness of expression, container, private, encouraging, creative energy user, magical, flexible” (f=1 %9,09) the least.
When clients (N=10) were asked to define art therapy through objects, they mentioned the quality “facilitator” (f=7 %70) the most and they mentioned “flexible, amusing, private, facilitator, creative energy user, deep descending and permanency (f=1, %10)” the least.
Psychotherapists mentioned discovery stage (f=23), insight stage (f=22), action stage (f=17) at discovery stage through resemblance of objects. Similarly, clients mentioned discovery stage (f=19), insight stage (f=12), action stage (f=11) at discovery stage through resemblance of objects (Table 3)

Psychotherapists and clients were asked to write a catchword as a third measuring tool to determine how they define art therapy. These catchwords were analyzed based on general categories and specific sub-dimensions of these categories. When psychotherapists defined art therapy with catchwords, they mentioned “facilitator” quality of art therapy (f=8, %72,72) the most and “Long-term efficacy, creative energy, aesthetic, reflective, magical and attractive’(f=1, %9,09) the least.

Client’s emphasized “facilitator” (f=5 %50) quality of art therapy the most and “transformer, amusing, richness in expression, privacy and creative energy” (f=1, %10) the least.
Psychotherapists emphasized “discovery (f=18), insight (f=20) and action (f=14) stage” through catchword writing at discovery stage. Clients mentioned discovery stage (f=12), insight stage (f=14), action stage (f=11) at discovery stage through catchword writing.
It is observed that psychotherapist and client group used 32 qualities to define art therapy via adjective list, object resemblance and catchword writing. Distribution of these qualities to general categories and specific sub dimensions is shown at Table 2.
Psychotherapists emphasized “discovery stage” (f=108) at all three questions but they also emphasized “insight stage” (f=103) with approximately similar values to define art therapy.
Clients emphasized “insight stage” (f=56) the most, but also they emphasized “discovery stage” (f=54) with similar values. Both therapists and clients emphasized action stage the least to define art therapy.
It is observed that psychotherapist and client group used 32 qualities to define art therapy via adjective list, object resemblance and catchword writing. Distribution of these qualities to general categories and specific sub dimensions is shown at Table 2.
Psychotherapists emphasized “discovery stage” (f=108) at all three questions but they also emphasized “insight stage” (f=103) with approximately similar values to define art therapy.
Clients emphasized “insight stage” (f=56) the most, but also they emphasized “discovery stage” (f=54) with similar values. Both therapists and clients emphasized action stage the least to define art therapy.

REFERENCE

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Buchalter, S. I. (2009). Art therapy techniques and applications. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Case, C. & Dalley, T. (1992). Handbook of art therapy. Great Britain: Taylor & Francis Routledge.

Danish, S. J., D’Augelli, A. R. & Hauer, A. L. (1994). Yardım becerileri temel eğitim programı. (Çev. Füsun Akkoyun). Ankara: Form Ofset.

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Hill, C.(2008), Helping Sclayls, Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action. Washington DC: American Pychological Association.

Keeney, B. (2009). The Creative therapist. The art of awakening. A Session. NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Moschini, L. B. (2005). Drawing the line art therapy with the difficult client. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Neuman, W. L. (2008). Analyzing qualitative data. In Social research methods:

Qualitative and quantitative approaches (3rd ed.) (pp. 418-441). Needham Heights.

Rogers, N. (1993).The Creative connection: Expressive Arts As Healing. USA:Science And Behavior Boks.

Rubin, J. A. (2010). Introduction to art therapy : Sources & Resources. NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Ryan, R. M. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of researh on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52,141-166.

Tavşancıl, E. T., Aslan, A. (2001) İçerik analizi ve uygulama örnekleri. İstanbul: Epsilon Yayınevi.

Ulman, E., & Levy, C. (Eds.). (1981). Art therapy viewpoints. New York: Schocken Press.

Yıldırım, A., Şimşek,H. , (2008). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. 6. Baskı. Ankara: Seçkin yayınları.

Table 1. Analysis of Psychotherapist’s Definitions of Art Therapy according to Adjective List.	Psychotherapists	N=11			Clients	N=10
General Categories	Specific Sub-Dimension	f	%	General Categories	Specific Sub-Dimensions	f	%
Exploration	Colorfulness	5	45,45	Exploration	Flexible	1	10
Exploration	Magical	2	18,18	Exploration	Colorfulness	3	30
Exploration	Flexible	2	18,18	Exploration	Private	4	40
Exploration	Attractive	1	9,09	Exploration	Amusing	1	10
Exploration	Amusing	1	9,09	Exploration	Exploration	2	20
Exploration	Aesthetic	1	9,09	Exploration	Facilitator	7	70
Exploration	Safe	1	9,09	Exploration	Creative Energy	1	10
Exploration	Richness of Source of Expression	1	9,09	Insight	Deep Descending	1	10
Exploration	Container	1	9,09	Insight	Amusing	3	30
Exploration	Private	1	9,09	Insight	Insight	2	20
Exploration	Facilitator	1	9,09	Insight	Facilitator	1	10
Exploration	Hopeful	1	9,09	Insight	Creative Energy	1	10
Exploration	Creative Energy User	1	9,09	Insight	Persistency	1	10
Exploration	Exploration	4	36,36	Insight	Flexible	3	30
Insight	Surprising	4	36,36	Action	Facilitator	1	10
Insight	Deep Descending	3	27,27	Action	Transformer	6	60
Insight	Insight	3	27,27	Action	Private	1	10
Insight	Not hurtful	2	18,18	Action	Deep Ascending	2	20
Insight	Magical	1	9,09	Action	Creative Energy	1	10
Insight	Amusing	1	9,09
Insight	Flexible	1	9,09
Insight	Aesthetic	1	9,09
Insight	Safe	1	9,09
Insight	Richness of Source of Expression	1	9,09
Insight	Container	1	9,09
Insight	Facilitator	1	9,09
Insight	Hopeful	1	9,09
Insight	Creative Energy User	1	9,09
Action	Transformer	5	45,45
Action	Facilitator	5	45,45
Action	Aesthetic	1	9,09
Action	Safe	1	9,09
Action	Richness of Source of Expression	1	9,09
Action	Container	1	9,09
Action	Private	1	9,09
Action	Hopeful	1	9,09
Action	Creative Energy User	1	9,09

Table 2. Analysis of Psychotherapist’s and Client’s Object Comparisons according to Sub-Dimensions

No	Psychotherapists Objects	Specific Sub-Dimensions	No	Clients Objects	Specific Sub-Dimensions
1	Mirror	Transformer	1	Computer
	Mirror	Facilitator		Computer	Amusing
	Mirror	Discovery	2	Sea	Deep Descendance
	Mirror	Insight		Sea	Facilitator
	Mirror	Private		Sea	Transformer
	Mirror	Colorfulness		Sea	Private
	Mirror	Deep Descendance		Sea	Discovery
2	Crayon	Richness of Source of Expression	3	Dough	Colorfulness
	Crayon	Transformative		Dough	Flexibility
	Crayon	Facilitator		Dough	Facilitate
	Crayon	Creative Energy User		Dough	Private
3	Chewing gum	Flexibility		Dough	Insight Provider
	Chewing gum	Transformer		Dough	Colorfulness
	Chewing gum	Facilitator		Dough	Amusing
4	Submarine	Not hurtful		Dough	Private
	Submarine	Deep Descendance		Dough	Transformer
	Submarine	Colorfulness		Dough	Flexibility
	Submarine	Discovery		Dough	Facilitator
	Submarine	Safe		Dough	Colorfulness
	Submarine	Amusing		Dough	Transformer
5	Photocopy Machine	Discovery		Dough	Private
	Photocopy Machine	Insight		Dough	Persistency
	Photocopy Machine	Facilitator	4	Wildcard	Amusing
	Photocopy Machine	Deep Descendance		Wildcard	Facilitator
6	Rainbow	Colorfulness		Wildcard joker	Transformer
	Rainbow	Surprising	5	Camera	Facilitator
	Rainbow	Container, common		Camera	Transformer
	Rainbow	Hopeful		Camera	Insight Provider
7	Kaleidoscope	Colorfulness		Camera	Long-term efficacy
	Kaleidoscope	Discovery	6	Message Couch	Flexibility
	Kaleidoscope	Surprising	7	Colorful Big Lampshade	Creative Energy
	Kaleidoscope	Transformer		Colorful Big Lampshade	Facilitator
	Kaleidoscope	Magical		Colorful Big Lampshade	Discovery
	Kaleidoscope	Attractive	8	Water	Transformer
8	Clay	Flexible		Water	Long-term efficacy
	Clay	Transformer
	Clay	Insight
	Clay	Facilitator
	Clay	Surprising
9	Magic maker	Magical
	Magic maker	Not hurtful
	Magic maker	Surprising
	Magic maker	Aesthetic
10	Ocean	Container
	Ocean	Discovery
	Ocean	Creative Energy
	Ocean	Surprising
	Ocean	Deep Ascending

Table 3. Analysis of Psychotherapist’s and Client’s Object Comparisons according to General and Sub-Dimensional Categories

	Psychotherapists	N=11			Clients	N=10
General Categories	Sub-Dimensions	f	%	General Categories	Sub-Dimensions	f	%
Exploration	Amusing	11	100	Exploration	Exploration Provider	10	100
Exploration	Exploration Provider	11	100	Exploration	Pleasurable	6	60
Exploration	Attractive	10	90,9	Exploration	Facilitator	3	30
Exploration	Easy	10	90,9	Exploration	Attractive	3	30
Exploration	Pleasurable	10	90,9	Exploration	Difficult	1	10
Exploration	Frightening	4	36,36	Exploration	Amusing	0	0
Exploration	Sad	2	18,18	Exploration	Sad	0	0
Exploration	Difficult	2	18,18	Exploration	Frightening	0	0
Exploration	Safe	1	9,09	Insight	Curiosity awakener	9	90
Exploration	Powerful	1	9,09	Insight	Amusing	9	90
Exploration	Creative Energy User	1	9,09	Insight	Pleasurable	6	60
Exploration	Concentrating	1	9,09	Insight	Facilitator	3	30
Exploration	Soother	1	9,09	Insight	Difficult	1	10
Exploration	Private	1	9,09	Insight	Surprising	1	10
Exploration	Facilitator	1	9,09	Insight	İnteresting	1	10
Insight	Amusing	11	100	Insight	Frightening	0	0
Insight	Curiosity awakener	11	100	Insight	Sad	0	0
Insight	Pleasurable	10	90.9	Insight	Hurtful	0	0
Insight	Easy	10	90,9	Action	Pleasurable	6	60
Insight	Frightening	4	36,36	Action	Facilitator	3	30
Insight	Hurting	2	18,18	Action	Difficult	1	10
Insight	Sad	2	18,18	Action	Relaxing	1	10
Insight	Difficult	2	18,18	Action.	Frightening	0	0
Insight	Powerful	1	9,09
Insight	Concentrating	1	9,09
Insight	Surprising	1	9,09
Insight	Soother	1	9,09
Insight	Deepening	1	9,09
Insight	Creative Energy User	1	9,09
Insight	Safe	1	9,09
Insight	Facilitator	1	9,09
Insight	Releaser	1	9,09
Action	Pleasurable	10	90,9
Action	Easy	10	90,9
Action	Frightening	4	36,36
Action	Difficult	2	18,18
Action	Safe	1	9,09
Action	Facilitator	1	9,09
Action.	Concentrating	1	9,09
Action	Soother	1	9,09
Action	Powerful	1	9,09
Action	Creative Energy User	1	9,09

Table 4. Analysis of Psychotherapist’s and Client’s Catchword

	Psychotherapists	N=11			Clients	N=10
General Categories	Specific Sub-Dimensions	f	%	General Categories	Specific Sub-Dimensions	f	%
Exploration	Facilitator	8	72,72	Exploration	Facilitator	5	50
Exploration	Colorfulness	2	18,18	Exploration	Exploration	3	30
Exploration	Exploration	2	18,18	Exploration	Private	1	10
Exploration	Amusing	2	18,18	Exploration	Richness of Source of Expression	1	10
Exploration	Magical	1	9,09	Exploration	Amusing	1	10
Exploration	Aesthetic	1	9,09	Exploration	Creative Energy	1	10
Exploration	Attractive	1	9,09	Insight	Facilitator	5	50
Exploration	Creative Energy	1	9,09	Insight	Insight	4	40
Insight	Facilitator	8	72,72	Insight	Amusing	1	10
Insight	Insight	4	36,36	Insight	Creative Energy	1	10
Insight	Deep Descending	2	18,18	Insight	Richness of Source of Expression	3	30
Insight	Amusing	2	18,18	Action	Facilitator	5	50
Insight	Magical	1	9,09	Action	Recovery	3	30
Insight	Aesthetic	1	9,09	Action	Creative Energy	1	10
Insight	Reflective	1	9,09	Action	Richness of Source of Expression	1	10
Insight	Creative Energy	1	9,09	Action	Transformer	1	10
Action	Facilitator	8	72,72
Action	Transformer	3	27,27
Action	Aesthetic	1	9,09
Action	Creative Energy	1	9,09
Action	Long-term efficacy	1	9,09