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BACKGROUND: The creative process of visual artmaking provides an opportunity for older women to express themselves and explore their emotions, thoughts, and experiences. This study examined the roles of visual artmaking in older women's lives in general and in relation to the ongoing challenges of aging. METHODS: The sample was composed of 21 Israeli women aged 60-90, who indicated that they produced visual artworks on an ongoing basis. The participants' artworks were collected, and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. RESULTS: A thematic analysis of the interviews revealed 4 themes: visual artmaking to address the challenges of older women's lives, artwork as a framework for doing, visual artmaking to support the wellbeing of older women, artwork as channel of communication and stronger ties with family members. CONCLUSIONS: The findings contribute to a better understanding of the roles of visual art in older women's lives, especially in times of crisis.
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Adolescent identity development is driven to a significant degree by peer interaction. However, when mental health conditions (MHC) or other crises separate teens from their peers, their identity development can be slowed or arrested. We developed a unique open studio intervention (OS-ID) that could facilitate identity development in teens recovering from MHC, and incorporated this intervention into a therapeutic day school catering to our target population. We utilized qualitative case study research to explore these students' experiences. Over the 10-month period of our intervention, we saw positive changes in the participants' identity development. Key elements in OS-ID include the therapists' commitment to supported autonomy; the absence of participatory demands; the emphasis on creative process over product; the use of setting and materials to promote the healing process; the facilitators' and participants' witnessing the process; the privatization and protection of the participants' creations; and the ubiquitous presence of non-threatening significant others. This OS-ID modality could be an effective mechanism for assisting socially isolated teens to manage their social anxiety, develop their identity, and transition back into their peer environments.
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In recent years, the field of art therapy has sought to adapt traditional treatment approaches to today's innovative technological environments when working with adolescent "digital natives." In their clinic, art therapists often struggle with lack of cooperation when treating adolescents during sessions. This article presents two case studies that explore how Virtual Reality (VR) technology can be combined with traditional art therapy to treat adolescents suffering from anxiety and social difficulties. It is suggested that this type of technology may lead to a better understanding of the needs of adolescents by adopting their vantage point and hence better outcomes.
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This study looks at 102 images made by women in the month of April 2020 at the time of COVID-19 and during the first lockdown in Israel. Submissions were anonymous and participants were asked to write a few words of description alongside their images. The data collected was analyzed by thematic analysis approach. Four major themes were revealed: Art making for self-regulation, artmaking as embodying and containing mental states and emotional expression, art as enabling creativity, imagination, experimentation and play and art making as related to time. The art making in this study pointed to the mental processes of the contributors as well as to the role that art played.
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In recent years, the field of art therapy has gained momentum, but art therapists still tend to work verbally during sessions with parents. The therapeutic approach presented here is anchored in the notion that the encounter between the art world and treatment creates a unique relationship between therapist, parents and the artwork. Eighty-seven parents of five to eight year olds filled in two quantitative questionnaires before and after a ten-month therapeutic intervention during which their child was treated through art therapy. Two other questionnaires were completed by the children and by the 14 art therapists. Three groups were tested: (1) Parental training with art-based interventions (intervention group). (2) Verbal parental training. (3) No Parental training. The parents in the first and second groups met the art therapist for parental training once every 3 to 4 weeks. In the intervention group the art intervention was based on a uniform protocol of exercises with various materials. It was hypothesized that a combination of art-based interventions during parental training (parents whose child was receiving art therapy) would contribute more to parent-child relationship, affect the parents' self-perceptions of parental functioning, and improve the child's daily functioning than verbal parental training or no parental training, both in terms of the parents' and the child's perception. Analysis of the children's questionnaire indicated significantly higher scores in the intervention group than in the control groups for perceived cognitive abilities, perceived acceptance by peers and by the mother. Analysis of the parents' questionnaires indicated there was no difference in parental perceptions of their child, level of satisfaction, or efficiency between the intervention and the control groups. The art therapists reported improvement in the intervention group on almost every measure. When parents take part in a therapeutic experience that enables them to create and play with art materials, they may accept and appreciate their inner 'child' more easily. This may help them accept the fact that their own children are dependent on them, while at the same time acknowledging their need for autonomy, which can heighten children's perception of their own acceptance by peers and acceptance by their parents.