Lesley University DigitalCommons@Lesley Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences Expressive Therapies Dissertations (GSASS) 2016 Understanding the Roles and Uses of Art Making in Art Therapy Mary Ellen Hluska Lesley University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/expressive_dissertations Part of the Art Therapy Commons Recommended Citation Hluska, Mary Ellen, "Understanding the Roles and Uses of Art Making in Art Therapy" (2016). Expressive Therapies Dissertations.edu/expressive_dissertations/3 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences (GSASS) at DigitalCommons@Lesley. It has been accepted for inclusion in Expressive Therapies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Lesley. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lesley.
1 UNDERSTANDING THE ROLES AND USES OF ART MAKING IN ART THERAPY A DISSERTATION (submitted by) MARY ELLEN HLUSKA In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy LESLEY UNIVERSITY August 2016 2 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at Lesley University and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowed without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of sources is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.
SIGNED: ___________________________ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I decided to get a PhD in expressive therapies, after working for many years in a research hospital. I was surrounded by people who were trying to understand why illness develops, how it is treated and how medicine impacts the psychological well being of people who are ill. I wanted to partake in this venture to help those who were not art therapists better understand how art therapy worked as an effective clinical method of support and treatment to those with emotional and physical illness. A wise women in my department told me that some people get PhD’s to increase personal status, in order to teach, or some because they truly believe in a topic and want to understand it better.
I fall into the last category. The act of art making has shaped both my career as an art therapist and my innate characteristics as an artist. Making art, while involving skills, is the embodiment of conceptual and communication in which a product of some sort is the result. Art making and the art therapist’s identity has always been a magical yet uncomfortable layering.
The finalized identity of the art therapists is ever changing and never static. Sometimes that identity in its entirety is present, and at other times it is a fractious struggle to understand how each component creates to whole. Not unlike a dissertation, where one or two thoughts go through a process of construction and deconstruction, until all the pieces reconnect and become a final product. The product in the end looks professional and as finished as a sculpture on a pedestal.
What is not visible is the tangled knot of threads, the struggle to connect pieces, the behind the scenes show and how it all comes together on stage as a dissertation. 5 A dissertation is only a partial fulfillment of tasks leading to the degree of doctor of philosophy. The developmental components of a Doctoral Degree may appear simple on paper but in actuality it is a materialization of intellectual, emotional, professional, clinical and personal efforts. Multiple supports are in place or develop along the way, some are surprises and others are of strong foundations.
It is here that I would like to acknowledge and thank those who have supported me on this journey. My special thanks to my dear friend Anne, who many years ago began the journey of art therapy with me at Hofstra University. Anne told me I was Kramer-esque in my approach and I whole-heartedly disagreed at the time. I doubted myself as an artist and had concerns that the therapist and artist would conflict somehow, as if one needed to trust the other.
As my own professional identity developed, and that complex magical vortex of space that art therapy becomes, I realized, Anne was correct. Introducing my adolescent clients to artistic expression in the context of therapy, I rely on my artists and art therapist’s identity equally and Anne’s words come back to me all the time. Thanks Anne for knowing me better than I know myself! Thanks to my life long brothers and sisters, whom most people call friends, thank you for never questioning and always hanging on to our connection. It has meant the world to me.
My cohort of ladies who were there in there during those crazy art making summers of residency. Together we nurtured each other, tending the fragile and the strong with equal muster. Thank you Cohort 3 members, Jill, Tammy, Susan, Lillian and Krystal, you will remain in my life as sisters of art and scholarship. You lift me up! To my Patterson Park and Butcher’s Hill neighborhood and friends, I thank you for always supporting me.
You made me relax and remember why I believe in 6 community as a supportive structure in my life. I will never forget my life in Baltimore, you all have taught me to be comfortable with myself as a thinker and as an artist. You have watched cats and dogs, listened to my accomplishments and frustrations and always, always encouraged me to remember why I began this journey. Thanks and praises to my professors at Lesley University, who provided foundational support for me and helped clearly define my purpose during residency and beyond.
Michele, Robyn, Mitchell, Julia, Phil, Shaun and Michaela, thank you for what you do and for supporting my belief in art therapy. I cannot imagine not having learned from the perspective of the multiple expressive therapies. The program truly has enriched my thinking and re-constructed my art therapists and artist’s identity and my desire to practice both. Thank you to Jennifer my external committee member whose wise perspective and belief in the field of art therapy has been instrumental to this process.
I would like to thank my Grandmothers Mary and Julia, both whom I lost during this journey. They both taught me by example that strong women are and can be successful if they hold onto their passions and pull strength from some inner mysterious place. Thank you to my brothers, in particular my brother Karl who from the beginning saw this role for me. You are so wise.
Thanks to Joe for keeping it real and making me realize there is a world beyond where I sit and write this. For my silent brother Allen, who’s traumatic death when I was a child literally created my passion and inquiry into using art to express grief, loss, failure, happiness and success, so many years ago. Bittersweet is a word I definitely understand. I would not be a therapist if it were not for 7 him and certainly would not be an artist.
Art was the strength that got me through many years of sadness and grief. Thank you for looking over me. With boundless gratitude I thank my parents Ron and Pat, who have been there every step, holding me up to fulfill this promise to myself. Words cannot describe their patient, kind, and forthright position about my decision to get a doctorate; having been to my rescue more times that I can say.
I hold their example of faith and hard work about ones ability to accomplish, overcome and succeed close to my heart. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES. 10 LIST OF FIGURES. 18 Background on the Role of Art Making in Art Therapy.
18 Early Developments in Art Therapy. 21 An Emerging Vocation. 23 Questions of Identity in Art Therapy. 25 Different Views on the Purpose of Art Making in Art Therapy.
29 Experiential Approaches in Art Therapy. 30 Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Art Therapy. 36 The Role of Art in Related Fields. 38 Art Making in Practice.
41 Educational Requirements and Expertise. 44 Summary of Literature. 54 Errors and Disclosures. 58 Education and Credentialing.
62 Cross Tabulation of Age, Identity, and Conflict. 65 Theoretical Preferences in Clinical Practice. 66 Cross Tabulation of Age and Art Therapy Theory. 70 Art-Making Practice and Training.
71 Use of Art in Clinical Practice. 71 Use of Art in Personal Practice. 73 Frequency of Use. 73 Personal Comfort Level With Art Making.
74 9 Types of Personal Art Making. 75 Cross Tabulation of Theories and Other Arts Modalities. 77 Education and Training. 82 Art Making During Graduate Education.
83 Uses of Theory in Practice. 85 Reciprocal Learning in the Client–Therapist Relationship. 90 Relationship to Self and Understanding Experiences Over Time. 92 Personal Art Making as an Aspect of Art Therapist Identity.
94 The Studio as an Authentic Living Space. 95 Summary of Results. 100 Summary of Results. 100 Constructing a New View of Art Therapy.
101 Research Bias, Disclosures, and Limitations. 111 Implications for the Field of Art Therapy. Informed Consent Form. 130 10 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1.
Data Rubric TABLE 2. Cross Tabulation of Age, Identity, and Conflict TABLE 3. Use of Art Therapy Theory TABLE 4. Cross Tabulation of Age and Theory Use TABLE 5.
Art Therapists use of Materials TABLE 6. Frequency and Uses of Personal Art Making TABLE 7. Personal Comfort Level TABLE 8. Use of Other Modalities TABLE 9.
The Use of Theory and Other Arts Modalities TABLE 10. Training in Art 11 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Age of Participants 2. Art Therapists Identity 3.
Word Cloud of Reported Art Therapy Theories 6. Word Cloud of Reported Other Theories 7. Word Cloud of Other Arts Modalities 12 ABSTRACT This study looked at the role of art making in art therapy, specifically how art therapists value, understand, use, and make decisions regarding art in personal practice and in professional practice. The art-making aspect of art therapy is understudied considering it is art that differentiates art therapists from other helping professions that use art in practice.
Additionally, the study sought to illuminate how art making informs both the artist and art therapist identities of professional clinicians. A mixed-methods design was employed to gather data based on inductive and deductive study methods. Constructivist philosophy provided a process for generating ideas and understanding art making as a structural component in art therapy. One hundred and twenty two female and five male art therapists (4.5% of the membership of AATA) took an online survey.
Participants were professional art therapists from the United States and around the world. Five participants volunteered to be part of personal interviews. One hundred and six participants were from North America; six were from Europe and proximate areas. Findings indicated that art therapists value the use of art making but they often engage in theories, concepts, and techniques from other disciplines outside the creative arts therapies in order to create accessibility for clients.
Participants identified conceptual methods of working, such as the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), the concept of “art as therapy,” and media techniques. The theme of feminist theory was identified by participants and clearly described by others as a means to approach art therapy with vulnerable, or often marginalized populations of people. How art therapists look at art 13 making, its fundamental roles in therapy and art therapy education, and its use as a unique professional practice skill must be considered for the future of the profession.