Health Humanities - Art Therapy
Mother of Art Therapy
"Margaret Naumburg (1890-1983) was born in New York City on May 14, 1890. As an undergraduate, she studied at Barnard College. After completing her bachelor’s degree in 1911, Naumburg continued studying at the London School of Economics and Columbia University. She focused on music, speech therapy, and child education; she also studied with Maria Montessori in Rome. When Naumburg returned to the United States, she facilitated the first Montessori class in New York City, and in 1915, she founded her own school, known as the Walden School...At the Walden School, Naumburg stressed the importance of allowing a child to develop his or her identity by exploring natural abilities, or aptitudes, through creative processes such as performing and visual arts...After leaving the Walden School in the early 1920s, Naumburg shifted her focus to writing. Based on her experiences at Walden, she published the book The Child and The World in 1928. Over the next several years, Naumburg focused on developing the art therapy technique and establishing it as a discipline; she began teaching art therapy classes and gave lectures throughout the state. Naumburg worked with children at the New York Psychiatirc Institute, and in 1947, she published Studies of the "Free" Art Expression of Behavior Problem Children and Adolescents as a Means of Diagnosis and Therapy based on her research at the institute. Naumburg joined the faculty of New York University, where she introduced art therapy at the undergraduate level. Naumburg continued to teach well into her 80s...Naumburg is widely credited with being the first psychotherapist to use art therapy, and she believed the modality could be used both to diagnose and treat mental health conditions. She directly influenced the introduction of a graduate level program at New York University in 1969. The program remains one of the most highly accredited art therapy programs in the world...Art therapy remains a popular approach, although the Freudian emphasis on the unconscious has been largely abandoned. Instead, contemporary art therapy serves as an alternative method for clients to process unpleasant emotions, to gain self-confidence, and to express themselves."
(Source: Good Therapy)
(Image: Naumburg's book, Foreword to the first edition by Nolan D. C. Lewis, M.D. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University. copyright 1950. Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 73-78074)
Art Therapy: How-To
"Art therapy involves the use of creative techniques such as drawing, painting, collage, coloring, or sculpting to help people express themselves artistically and examine the psychological and emotional undertones in their art. With the guidance of a credentialed art therapist, clients can "decode" the nonverbal messages, symbols, and metaphors often found in these art forms, which should lead to a better understanding of their feelings and behavior so they can move on to resolve deeper issues."
Artistic activities that can be applied to a therapy session inlcude:
- painting
- drawing
- finger painting
- working with clay
- carving
- sculpting
- doodling and scribbling
- making collages
(Source: Psychology Today)
Art therapy can address the needs of:
- people who experienced trauma, such as combat or a natural disaster
- individuals with significant health challenges, including traumatic brain injuries and cancer
- people with certain conditions, such as depression, autism, and dementia
Art therapy can help reduce stress and anxiety for people living with pain. In addition, experts say that the practice may be useful for people living with other conditions, such as:
- anxiety
- eating disorders, alongside standard treatments
- substance use disordersTrusted Source
- stress
(Source: Medical News Today)
A list of popular and recently updated Art Therapy podcasts in 2021. Examples include therapists from the United States and Europe putting their expertise on the web on divser subjects such as the mental health of children, balancing life and creativity, addressing stress in healthcare workers and more.
Arts, Empathy & Treatment
Can Art Cure You? Doctors to Prescribe Museum Visits in Pioneering Treatment
Frieze.com, 2018.
"The pilot project, which will run for a year, operates under the belief that a museum setting might prove beneficial to a variety of conditions, from mental health to eating disorders and high blood pressure – it will be considered complementary to conventional treatment."
Why Going to an Art Museum Could Be as Good for You as Exercise
Cortés, Michelle Santiago, Artsy.net, 2018.
"These interventions go beyond the basics of medicine, encompassing activities that engage with patients on deeper physical, psychological, cognitive, and emotional levels."
Elbaor, Caroline, ArtNews.net, 2019.
"The study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reported reduced levels of depression, and improved quality of life, as well as cognitive function, in people with dementia who participated in a special program at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra."
Creative Arts Therapy Among Children With Cancer: Symptom Assessment Reveals Reduced Anxiety
Raybin, J. , Zhou, W. , Pan, Z. , Hendricks-Ferguson, V. & Jankowski, C. (2024). Creative Arts Therapy Among Children With Cancer. Cancer Nursing, 47 (1), 12-19. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000001186.
Background
Results
Conclusion
The Met 360° Project: The Temple of Dendur
Art Therapy in Medical Situations
From Our Subscriptions
Storytelling Through Music to Improve Well-being in Oncology Nurses
Phillips, C. S. , Volker, D. L. , Becker, H. & Davidson, K. L. (2021). Storytelling Through Music to Improve Well-being in Oncology Nurses. Cancer Nursing, 44 (6), 473-481. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000836.
Background
Professional grief is one cause of psychosocial stress that, if not attended to, may contribute to burnout and compassion fatigue. Oncology nurses often avoid their emotions and learn to cope with professional grief in isolation. Interventions aimed at professional grief are limited.
Objectives
To determine the feasibility of implementing a multidimensional intervention, Storytelling Through Music, with oncology nurses.
Artist’s Statement: My Perspective: Integrated Arts Curriculum to Recognize Burnout
Onyeali, R. , Diemer, G. , Mingioni, N. & Dean, H. (2021). Artist’s Statement: My Perspective: Integrated Arts Curriculum to Recognize Burnout. Academic Medicine, 96 (12), 1642-1642. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004400.
Abstract
Effects of Creative Arts Intervention on Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Quality Among Bone Marrow Transplantation Patients During Protective Isolation
Sertbaş, G. , Ok, E. & Unver, V. (2023). Effects of Creative Arts Intervention on Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Quality Among Bone Marrow Transplantation Patients During Protective Isolation. Cancer Nursing, 46 (1), E1-E10. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000001127.
Art Therapy Resources
Journal of Humanities and Rehabilitation
"The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation is a peer-reviewed, multimedia, open-access journal published in collaboration with the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. The purpose of this journal is to raise the consciousness and deepen the intellect of the humanistic relationship in the rehabilitation sciences. Our mission is to encourage dialogue among rehabilitation professionals, patients, families and caregivers that describe the human condition as it experiences the impact of illness or disability. We hope to highlight and illustrate the special relationship between the patient and rehabilitation provider, as well as provide a venue for scholarly discourse on topics that focus on rehabilitation from the uniquely human perspective that patients and providers share. We also seek to critically examine the social-cultural assumptions underpinning rehabilitation."
American Art Therapy Association
"The American Art Therapy Association represents individuals and institutions who are dedicated to the art therapy profession and who have an interest in promoting its growth throughout the United States. Membership is comprised of, though not limited to: professional art therapists, students, educational institutions, and related mental health professionals...Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association is the most prestigious publication in the field and showcases leading research, practice-based articles, and more; it is fully accessible to you as a member."
"The Good Listening Project cultivates resilience and wellbeing in healthcare communities. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, our programs help ease the emotional burden of hospital staff and other healers in an effort to fight burnout. The organic ripple effect of good listening fundamentally shifts how it feels to work and receive care at a hospital. By publishing the stories of our participants and the custom poems we create for them, we seek to highlight the humanity within the healthcare system. We envision a resilient world where all people experience connection and belonging."
Arts & Medical Education
Study Finds Med Students Who Make Time for Art Have More Empathy
Lesser, Casey, Artsy.net, 2018.
“We were able to show a reasonably robust correlation between the amount of time students spend in the arts and their scores on validated assessments of empathy, tolerance of ambiguity, wisdom; and negative correlation with burnout.”
Using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to Enhance Interprofessional Education
Torrents, Hope. Lit Med Magazine, 2021.
"Hope started the Fine Art of Health Care program at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami in 2009. The inter-disciplinary program uses art to enhance observation and communication skills in the service of clinical diagnosis. The interprofessional workshops have evolved with the partnerships of doctors, nurses, and DNP faculty from the Miller School of Medicine and the School of Nursing Health studies. Other partnerships include the Lennar Medical Center and Sylvester Cancer Center. "
Window Treatment—Bringing Art and Joy to Hospital Rooms
David Shih Wu, MD; Candice D. Harding; Felicia M. Lombard, MSN, CRNP
JAMA. 2024;331(7):545-547. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.28102
"Picture yourself, the patient, in a typical hospital room: uncomfortable furniture, glaring lights, everything sterile and angular. All you have to look at is shiny medical equipment, pockmarked ceiling tiles, and a TV with nothing good on. The “wound vac” machine next to you will not stop beeping. Carts are constantly rattling by in the hallway. And your neighbor next door tends to, like a werewolf, howl every few minutes at night
Most hospital rooms in the US are not conducive to the wellness of either patients or staff. Indeed “medicine has overlooked the role of the physical environment in patient well-being.”1 Now, imagine a simple intervention that could be implemented in any hospital room with a window—one that brings joy, relieves pain, and creates meaningful connections between patients and staff. And it only costs $4.99 plus tax."
Rivas, M. , Cruvinel, A. , Sacardo, D. , Schubert, D. , Bteshe, M. & de Carvalho-Filho, M. (2024). All You Need Is Music: Supporting Medical Students’ Emotional Development With a Music-Based Pedagogy. Academic Medicine, 99 (7), 741-744. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005709.