22 research outputs found
Synaesthetic emergence: a scoping review of factors facilitating synaesthetic states in non-synaesthetes through arts engagement
Get PDFSynaesthesia is defined as a multi-sensory phenomenon in which one sense can be triggered by another without external stimuli, for example seeing colours when hearing music. This paper maps findings from the literature to describe what elements of arts engagement facilitate synaesthetic experiences among non-synaesthetes. The rationale for this study is on the basis that evidence shows multi-sensory experiences underpin creative innovations and serve as a foundation for embodied wellbeing practices. Through a scoping review guided by the PRISMA-ScR framework, this study identifies eight interdependent themes within which combinations of factors have the potential to produce synaesthetic states: Inviting Co-creation, Participatory Embodiment, Cultural and Social Engagement, Embodying Cognition, Producing Affective Intensity, Stimulating Associative Memory, Unifying Sensory Engagement, and Sensory Digital Enhancement. The review spans a diverse array of arts engagement practices, music, dance, visual arts, performance, and culinary events, to investigate how these modalities can evoke synaesthetic experiences in non-synaesthetes. The methodology employs deductive thematic synthesis informed by a new materialist perspective. The findings support the hypothesis that under particular conditions co-creative arts engagement can blur traditional sensorial boundaries, demonstrating that participatory arts can elicit embodied synaesthetic states in non-synaesthetes. The study also provides insights into how synaesthestic experiences in arts engagement influences perception, cognition, and social interaction, offering innovative pathways to enhance wellbeing and promote social cohesion. These findings have implications for the use of arts-based interventions in fostering multi-sensory engagement and expanding understanding of synaesthetic states with non-synaesthetes and the potential effects on wellbeing
Beyond the Human: Emergent Theories of Synthetics in Art Psychotherapy Research Pedagogies
Get PDFThe authors would like to thank students on the MA Art Psychotherapy at Brunel University for their participation in the workshops and all their dedication, enthusiasm and innovative ideas, which continue to inspire the development of our teaching practices in arts and health research methodologies.Art psychotherapy training programmes traditionally emphasise evidence-based practices focused
on interpersonal and psychological change, often sidelining socio-political dimensions and critical
research pedagogies. To address this gap, this paper presents a posthuman feminist approach
to research pedagogies in art psychotherapy. This approach leverages arts-based practices and
digital technologies as critical tools for examining complex entanglements between human, nature,
and technology (techne) rendering insights into data collection and analysis beyond conventional
paradigms.
This pedagogical theorisation draws on examples from collective arts-based workshops rendering
posthuman theoretical concepts into practical, tangible learning experiences. The workshops
presented in this paper utilise artistic processes as both methodological and critical vehicles, inviting
students to explore a research workshop through the lens of two Deleuzian concepts, those being
the situated material assemblage and the Body Without Organs (BWO). The key rationale is to
develop critical reflexivity through using conceptual tools that that disrupt normative hegemonies in
art psychotherapy data analysis by positioning data as a co-constructed material-semiotic inscription
shaped by intersecting human and non-human forces.
The outcomes of this posthuman pedagogical framework, employing digital and arts-based
diffractive methodologies and ethological assemblage in enacted data analyses, were a facilitated
non-hierarchical synthesis in data relations between human, nonhuman and digital bodies and the
stimulation of a more inclusive transdisciplinary inquiry, generating insights into systemic issues in
healthcare beyond a patriarchal logic and purely anthropocentric reach. The approach positions
students as active agents in co-producing knowledge that challenges dominant socio-economic
structures in health research
Connecting with the image: how art psychotherapy can help to re-establish a sense of epistemic trust
Get PDFThe International Centre for Arts Psychotherapies Training (ICAPT) was established by CNWL NHS Foundation Trust in London in November 2011. The centre was set up to further research and advance clinical practice within NHS mental health settings. At the la unch of the research arm of ICAPT in July 2012, Professor Peter Fonagy spoke on the subject of the future of research in arts psychotherapies. This paper is a response to Professor Peter Fonagyâs presentation (The ICAPT 2012) on the potential arts psychoth erapies have to enhance the development of the therapeutic relationship. During the presentation Fonagy suggested to a group of arts psychotherapists that: âËthe future of research is trying to understand what you guys do that actually helps re - establish in our patient a sense of epistemic trust, a sense that human knowledge and human communication, as communicated by fellow human beings can be trusted, can be relied on ... â A recording of this presentation is followed by a discussion section in which two art p sychotherapists explore and expand upon the ideas presented by Fonagy. They explore his question about what the processes of making and reflecting on images in a therapeutic context can add to the development of âËepistemic trustâ within the therapeutic rel ationship. It is suggested that creative arts have the potential to enhance the development of epistemic trust within the therapeutic relationship by offering opportunities for contingency and joint engagement. Individual, group and dyadic art psychotherap y allow for the creation of an external object which is congruent with the maker's internal world. The art making process and the art object itself can create an additional channel of communication which helps the art psychotherapist to understand the clientâs inner world. This greater understanding can support the psychotherapistâs capacity to respond in an attuned way to the client. The authors explore the idea that joint engagement in art making can lead to opportunities for enhanced mentalizing and that with sufficient research and theoretical underpinning, this type of model could help to define clinical practice for arts psychotherapies in mental health
Developing a logic model to support creative education and wellbeing in higher education
Get PDFCopyright © 2023 The Author(s). University students are at higher risk than the general population of becoming mentally unwell. Dominant risk factors are to do with relationships, work load, the university environment and approaches to learning and teaching. Over recent decades higher education has been increasingly influenced by rules of commodification, however less commercially driven foci relating to wellbeing and mental health are increasingly being prioritised in higher education. This paper describes the development of a multifaceted logic model that can be adapted to university contexts to support wellbeing and creative approaches to learning. A socioecological approach refers to considering the group as a microsystem representative of larger systems and integrating emotionally focused and creative learning experiences that enhance subject relevant content. We implemented and evaluated a series of workshops to improve psychological safety and learning experience. We used a logic model design as an evaluation framework to map the inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. The pre and post outcome measure of psychological safety demonstrated significant change, where students could be more open and explorative in their learning experience. We also used a survey evaluation that demonstrated students found the project acceptable, delivered to a high standard, and that the content was relevant to their subject area. Given that the changing culture and ethos of a University can have a major influence on the wellbeing of the students, a flexible programme design as mapped through a logic model, provided us with a framework for introducing and evaluating a complex model for improving learning and wellbein
Bridging Diversity: Do We Have A Shared Language?
Get PDFPresentation at ECARTE : 13th European arts therapies conference [16 Sep 2015 - 19 Sep 2015]
How is qualitative and quantitative patient experience linked, and what language do we use to describe the arts therapistâs role in that change process? ICAPT, in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire will present phase 1 of the âHorizons Projectâ. Phase 1 mapped the language used by arts therapists to respond to the patientâs relational experience. Arts therapists were interviewed using a repertory grid technique to map the therapistâs personal perspectives in the context of clinical scenarios. The hypothesis being tested was that there were different theories that influenced each arts therapy in such a way that language was contingent on context and profession. The initial results collated by the categorising process suggested there was specific terminology that could capture generalised actions across the arts therapies. A focus group was established to examine the outcomes further and the results demonstrated that only a few of the constructs were interpreted differently according to different professional groups. The process and the surprising results of the repertory grid process will be presented, and how a shared language was further refined in a research collaboration between therapists and patients. The implications for this type of work are numerous. Whilst this project was examining clinical practice within a specific range of mental health services in London, the method that was developed offered a tool for establishing a âmap of descriptors for clinical actionsâ. From this further work can be conducted about the occurrence, timing and impact of clinical actions in specific therapeutic contexts. This first stage of research suggests that there could be underlying ideas about therapeutic change across the arts therapies. A challenge to the researcherâs hypothesis, this first step of the Horizons Project unexpectedly bridged diversity. Biography Dominik Havsteen-Franklin is Consultant in Arts Psychotherapies (CNWL) and Head of ICAPT. Since 1999 roles undertaken have included team manager/clinical lead and interim head of profession. As Consultant he is responsible for developing and implementing arts therapy clinical training, leading on research and development for arts psychotherapists within, and external to, the trust plus leading the research arm of ICAPT. His research interests centre on severe mental health disorders and psychological therapies in the NHS. He is currently engaged in doctoral research studying the relationship between in-session interventions and occurrences of metaphor in art psychotherapy, supervised by Prof. Robert Hinshelwood at the University of Essex. Philippa Brown is Programme Leader MA Art Therapy and Professional Lead Arts Therapies at the University of Hertfordshire. She has extensive experience as a consultant and academic in art therapy education and training across the UK and Europe. Her research interests extend to the qualitative and experiential research approaches that address the nature of artistic practice in relationship to art therapy. Miriam Usiskin is Senior Lecturer on the MA Art Therapy and Programme Leader for the Foundation Certificate Art Therapies at the University of Hertfordshire. She worked for a number of years in the NHS as a Head Art Therapist in adult mental health with particular clinical focus on working with PTSD in Children and Adolescents. Research projects include collaborative project work with CNWL trust on the Horizons Project and the efficacy of art therapy in treating PTSD and domestic violence
Painting pain: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of representations of living with chronic pain
Get PDFObjective: This study examines patientsâ pictorial representations of their chronic pain, alongside their accounts of those images, in order to help our understanding of their lived experience of the condition. Method: The sample comprises seven women in middle adulthood from southern England. They began by drawing what their pain felt like and were then interviewed about their portrayals. The interviews were analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The participants produce strong, vivid, abstract pictures. In many of the pictures, the pain is objectified as punitive and sinister. This is enhanced through the use of stark colours of red and black. Paintings also often have a temporal element, showing either the movement from self before pain to self since the pain had started, or pointing to aspirations for the possible relief of pain in the future. The analysis of the images is grounded in the participantsâ accounts of them. Conclusion: The images and accounts provide a powerful insight into the internal world of the pain sufferer and the subjective experience of chronic pain. We link this work to other attempts to represent patientsâ pain and point to the particular contribution our work makes. We make some suggestions for subsequent research following on from what is presented here and we also argue that the methodology outlined in the paper offers considerable potential for research on other health conditions
Drawing on Dialogues in Arts-Based Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (ADIT) for Complex Depression: A Complex Intervention Development Study Using the Medical Research Council (UK) Phased Guidance
Get PDFAim: The aim of this paper is to present the development and evaluation of an art psychotherapy brief treatment method for complex depression for patients referred to mental health services.
Background: Art Psychotherapy literature describes a range of processes of relational change through the use of arts focused and relationship focused interventions. Complex depression has a prevalence of 3% of the population in the West and it is recorded that in 2016 only 28% of that population were receiving psychological treatment. This study was developed to test the hypothesis of whether an accessible and acceptable approach to the treatment of complex depression could be developed in relation to existing evidence-based practice within mental health services.
Method: The United Kingdom Medical Research Council phased guidance for complex intervention development was used (Phases I and II) to develop the intervention. The process included producing a literature overview, systematic description of clinical practice, including a logic model and a clinical protocol. The art psychotherapy protocol described an arts-based dynamic interpersonal therapy approach (ADIT), offered 1:1 over 24 sessions. Further to this the intervention was tested for referrer acceptability. The intervention is in the early stages of evaluation, using changes to the patient's depression and anxiety measured pre- and post-treatment with a follow-up measure at 3 months following completion of treatment.
Results: Phase I of the study provided a good basis for developing a logic model and protocol. The authors found that there was good clinical consensus about the use of a structured clinical art psychotherapy method (ADIT) and the literature overview was used to support specific examples of good practice. The verification of clinical coherence was represented by a logic model and clinical protocol for delivering the intervention. The acceptability study demonstrated very high levels of acceptability for referrers reporting that (i) ADIT was acceptable for patients with complex/major depression, (ii) that they were likely to refer to ADIT in the future (iii) that the use of arts was likely to improve accessibility (iv) the use of arts was likely to improve outcomes and (v) that offering ADIT was an effective use of mental health resources.
Discussion: Phase I of this intervention development study (following MRC guidance) demonstrated theoretical and practice coherence resulting in a clinical protocol and logic model. Whilst Phase II of this study showed promising results, Phase II would need to be sufficiently scaled up to a full trial to further test the intervention and protocol.NH
A Systematic Review Using Thematic Synthesis of Arts Therapies Therapeutic Actions and Perceived Benefits in the Treatment of People with a Diagnosis of Cluster B Personality Disorder
Get PDFThe objective of this study was to thematically synthesize literature about arts therapies specific in-session therapeutic actions occurring with this client population and the perceived effect of engaging in arts therapies. Using systematic review methods, qualitative and mixed method studies, reporting on arts therapies treatment for people with a diagnosis of personality disorder (Cluster B) were searched in Embase, Medline, PubMed and grey sources until June 2017. The search yielded 167 records. 32 studies were included in the analysis. Data synthesis was conducted by using extracts from the literature search which were coded and then subject to a thematic analysis and synthesis. The codes were then discussed and agreed by the research team. The thematic analysis and synthesis resulted in seven overarching themes: (1) Processing interpersonal experiences (2) Processing emotions (3) Developing agency (4) Symbolising (5) Structuring experience (6) Cognitive reappraisal (7) Developing a shared experience. This thematic synthesis provides some evidence that according to the arts therapies literature available regarding patients with a diagnosis of personality disorder, there are thematic similarities in terms of primary areas of therapeutic action and the relationship between the therapeutic action and the perceived effects of engaging in arts therapies. Our findings suggest that literature about in-session therapeutic actions focus mostly on processing interpersonal experiences and the largest frequency of coded excerpts concerning the perceived effect of engaging in arts therapies was in the area of processing emotions
Examining arts psychotherapies practice elements: Early findings from the Horizons Project
Get PDFBackground: Arts Psychotherapies (art, music, drama and dance/movement) have been integral to mental
health care services for several decades, however consensus and transparency about the clinical process is
still being established. This study investigates practice with a team of six arts psychotherapists working with
severe mental illnesses in London, inpatient and community services. The study examines what in-session
practice elements are used, whether there is consensus about what the practice elements are and why the
arts therapists use them.
Method: The methods employed in the first phase of the project are interview-based with thematic
analysis; repertory grid technique and nominal group techniques are used to analyse the data with the aim of
triangulating results to establish greater validity.
Results: The results showed that there is scope for developing a shared language about in-session
practice elements within a mental health context. However the research examining the timing and reasons
for employing those practice elements is still being undertaken. In this study the first results from an extract
of the interviews illustrates a complex relationship between theory and practice.
Conclusion: From the findings so far it would appear that within this specific context it is possible to see
that there are ways of categorising the therapistâs actions that become comparable across the arts
psychotherapies. From the therapistâs personal descriptions of his or her own practice, there also appears to
be a close correlation between arts psychotherapies in a mental health community and inpatient context.
Additionally, evidence-based practice models such as mentalisation-based therapies appear to have a close
correlation
Participatory presenceâsocial connectedness through collaborative art practices
Get PDFIn a post-Covid context, the term presence has become the subject of renewed academic focus, amplified by mass phenomena such as Zoom fatigue and online classroom teaching. The prism of new materialism allows for a new reading of relationships between technology and human sensing, physical and virtual presence and copresence, with possible design implications: Current research in public health and social-environment discourse is interested in the effect of presence on well-being. As a theoretical framework, new materialism provides a lens that foregrounds complex relations between affect and technology, enabling us, through interventions like the KIMA: Colour participatory artwork, to interrogate the broad discourse on mediated presence and social connectivity. This paper provides an overview of the AHRC-funded research project, 'p_ART_icipate!', which is a collaborative investigation led by the University of Greenwich, CNWL NHS Foundation Trust, and Brunel University. This paper describes one of the case studies within the project, âKIMA Colourâ, a collaboration with the art collective Analema Group, the National Gallery and the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB). The case study explores the effect of collective cultural experiences and participatory art on a sense of social connectivity and copresence. In collaboration with RNIB and a group of visually impaired individuals, the team asked how we can design meaningful and accessible online interfaces that actively contribute to a sense of âparticipatory presenceâ. Findings suggest a possible link between the experience, presence and social connectedness. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of participatory art and to provide recommendations for accessibility and facilitation designc for participatory online interfaces.The project was funded by the AHRC early career research grant
