Links and Research on Art Therapies:
In Art Therapy: Journal of American Art Therapy Association, volume 24, issue 4, 2007, a pilot study was recorded on adolescents with post traumatic stress disorder at UCLA. In the study, adolescents with PTSD were divided in two groups; one group worked with an art therapist and the other group with a crafter in a craft-making class. Studies showed that the adolescents who had done 16 weeks of art therapy had a greater reduction in PTSD symptom severity than the group who had done 16 weeks of assisted craft- making.
“Art therapy is the deliberate use of art-making to address psychological and emotional needs. Art therapy uses art media and the creative process to help in areas such as, but not limited to: fostering self-expression, enhancing coping skills, managing stress, and strengthening a sense of self.”
–The Art Therapy Alliance
http://www.arttherapy.org/upload/useofarttherapywithveterans
The following quote is from the American Art Therapy Association’s article, (http://www.arttherapy.org/upload/file/RMveteransPTSD), on the effectiveness of art therapies for veterans suffering with PTSD:
Senator Bob Graham (FL) emphasized the value of art therapy with US veterans in The Congressional
Record, stating: “Art therapists provide effective treatment and health maintenance intervention for veterans, focusing on all of their life challenges, such as mental, physical, and cognitive impairments. Intense emotion and memory, often difficult to convey in words, often are more easily expressed in images with the guidance of a trained clinician…Given the number of veterans gradually returning from the current war in Iraq, art therapy has the potential to assist them as a form of rehabilitation.”
The Lesley University web site is quite informative on the effectiveness of expressive art therapy and also the neuroscience behind the process of using expressive art therapy.
http://www.lesley.edu/the-rise-of-expressive-therapies/
Dr. Forinash, Director of Doctoral Program and the Division Director in EXA therapy at Lesley University talks about watching the effects of EXA therapy in her clients and students’ clients:
“We – our alumni and students – are out there doing the work, watching its effects. We’ve been working with Perkins School for the Blind for decades. We’ve helped Boston bombing victims, soldiers coming back from the war, and our graduates are taking that skill and knowledge back out into the field,” says Dr. Michele Forinash, Director of the Doctoral Program and Division Director in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University.