What art therapists considerto be patient's inner change and how it may appear during art therpy

• The aim of this study was to explore what art therapists consider to be patients’ inner change and how it may appear during art therapy. Thirty-eight trained art therapists with experience of using art therapy as a treatment were included in the study. They were asked to describehow they perceived their patients’ inner change and a situation during arttherapy when they observed such change. An inductive thematic analysis resulted in five themes; Therapeutic alliance, describing trust to the therapist and believe to the method, Creating, which concerns the work in the therapeutic process, while Affect consciousness, Self-awareness,and Ego-strengthare part of the therapy outcome. The situations in which an inner change can be observed have been presented by means of quotations and discussed in relation to different theories and art therapy research. The participating art therapists formed a very heterogeneous group, resulting in an unexpected consistency about what they considered to be an inner change in the patient. The study may be seen as a contribution to further discussion about the benefits of a more common language to describe patients’ inner change in art therapy

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Annan hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Other Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Konstvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Art History (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Art Therapists

Art Therapy

Inner change

Qualitative research

Health and Caring Sciences

Hälsovetenskap

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)