Graduate spotlights: Transformative art therapy approaches (part 1)

This is the fourth installment in a series of five stories about recent Herron graduates whose creative practices include research, teaching, and clinical approaches.

The transformational power of the arts has long been recognized by artists, but in clinical settings, art-making is relatively new. Creative expression as a healing tool can restore emotional equilibrium, enhance mental wellbeing, relieve stress, and promote personal growth.

Since 2012, Herron's art therapy graduate program has trained students to use psychotherapeutic principles and art-oriented approaches to help people of all ages not only overcome trauma but also manage behaviors and addictions.

Our last two stories focus on their thesis research and various ways in which they will help people heal as art therapists and mental health counselors.

An ethical toolkit for art therapy with refugees

I've always been interested in different cultures and world views. While volunteering at a local refugee immigration center, I found that I really enjoyed working with refugees. This experience inspired me to explore mental health and art therapy services in relation to treatments that have benefited this population.

The primary purpose of my research is to provide an ethical toolkit to art therapists working directly with refugees. As a starting point, the toolkit discusses non-stigmatizing, culturally relevant approaches that have proven effective in dealing with various refugee groups. It sets out guidelines for cross-cultural therapeutic practice, such as anti-oppressive training to explore bias.

I'm not suggesting specific therapies, but rather principles that can be integrated into the therapeutic process and ways of facilitating this through art.

The toolkit will help raise awareness of the critical and increasingly growing needs for effective mental health services for refugees, while at the same time improving the cultural awareness and responsiveness of art therapists.

Rewiring anxiety through movement

My thesis project began last fall as I was experiencing increased anxiety in my clinical internship, which was influencing how I responded to people both personally and professionally. I have autism and have often referred to myself as a recovering perfectionist, both of which are factors that have affected my anxiety and interactions. I wanted to find more effective coping strategies.

This spring, I explored the therapeutic effects of movement to reduce my anxiety and perfectionism using a self-study action research methodology. This methodology encourages practitioners of any vocation to learn by "doing" in order to change or improve their practice, their understanding of it, and the environments in which they work.

A major outcome of this project was discovering the importance of self-care and self-compassion in the process of becoming an art therapist. I believe that both are important to those who serve others as helping professionals. I'm hoping that what I've shared in my literature review and action research rounds will be helpful to others, especially my soon-to-be fellow art therapists and mental health counselors.

Art therapy to support women's health and treatment needs

High-risk mothers, parents, and their families experience hospitalization and continuing care in highly varied ways. In order to provide effective services, maternity and neonatal intensive care centers should turn to art therapy to provide continued support through the duration of their hospitalization and evolving needs.

For my thesis, I reviewed the relevant literature to each key area along the continuum of care and discussed related treatment issues in women's hospitals. I have incorporated art therapy interventions and developed the framework for a program that can be implemented in women's health facilities, which provides guidelines for group activities, individual patient care, and arts-based therapy.

I hope that the framework and guidelines will allow art therapists to propose and implement effective art therapy programs across the continuum of care in women's hospitals. Upon graduation, I plan to use the knowledge gained through this project to best serve as a new art therapist.

The therapeutic benefits of tattoos

I've been a tattoo admirer for a long time, and shortly after I turned 18, I got my first one: a phoenix feather. When I got to art school, it was all over, and now four individual tattoos and a half-sleeve later, I'm appealing to everyone who's going to listen to me about tattoos.

My thesis project is a heuristic self-study from an art history perspective that begins with an exploration of the cultural narrative surrounding tattoos and how they have been used by both ancient and contemporary societies. Then I take a deep dive into their healing power, and at the end I develop a journaling process that others can use to create their own tattoo ideas based on their own passions.

I want to help people who have tattoos realize how much of their lives have actually gone into it, and to encourage those who don't have tattoos, but maybe want them to appreciate the joy of having them.

Narrative art therapy approaches for students with learning differences

Throughout my time at Herron, I've discovered how much I really enjoy working with adolescents and developing the skills they need to be successful.

My internship experience at Midwest Academy in Carmel inspired my thesis project. I worked in a classroom setting with middle and high school students who have a range of learning differences and challenges, such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and anxiety. I helped them with developing social skills, emotional control, and conflict resolution.

Through this, I learned that storytelling played a role in their daily lives, and how much they enjoyed being creative. That's when I decided that I wanted to explore the intersection of narrative therapy approaches in art therapy for this population.

My thesis has evolved and developed into a book that I am writing and illustrating, with prompts for art-making within it. I'm excited to share this with the art therapy community.