Healing Arts and Expressive Therapies in an Interdisciplinary Team
Top Contributors - Jess Bell, Wanda van Niekerk and Kim Jackson
Introduction[edit | edit source]
“The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance” - Aristotle
The creative arts and expressive therapies may use Drama Therapy, Play Therapy, Expressive Writing, Poetry Therapy, Dance Therapy, Art Therapy, and Music Therapy to help individuals improve their physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning. Physiotherapists and healthcare providers may find that collaborating with therapists from other disciplines can improve interprofessional collaborations and potentially enhance therapeutic alliances with patients and clients.[1]
Art-Based Therapies[edit | edit source]
Who are creative arts therapists?
The National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations states: “Creative Arts Therapists are human service professionals who use distinct arts-based methods and creative processes for the purpose of ameliorating disability and illness and optimizing health and wellness. Treatment outcomes include, for example, improving communication and expression, and increasing physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning.”[2]
The following are some areas that art-based therapies and expressive therapies may be used in rehabilitation and healthcare:[1]
Drama Therapy[edit | edit source]
Drama therapy is: “an active, experiential approach to facilitating change. Through storytelling, projective play, purposeful improvisation, and performance, participants are invited to rehearse desired behaviors, practice being in relationship, expand and find flexibility between life roles, and perform the change they wish to be and see in the world.”[8]
Drama therapy may include storytelling, role playing, improvisational techniques, group games, and/or puppetry. The following are some areas that drama therapy may be used in rehabilitation and healthcare:[1]
- Childhood obesity
- Demir Acar et al.[9] found that overweight / obese teenagers may develop positive attitudes and behaviours through drama therapy
- Parkinson’s
- Bega et al.[10] found that novel improvisation programmes can improve activities of daily living in persons with Parkinson's of various ages / disease severity
- Social cognition
- Tang et al. found that theatre improvisation training to promote social cognition may help to improve function and symptoms in individuals who have a clinical risk for psychosis[11]
Play Therapy[edit | edit source]
Play therapy is: “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development."[12]
It may include storytelling, puppets, music, dance, drama, painting, and / or games. The following are some areas that play therapy may be used in rehabilitation and healthcare:[1]
- Improve psychological well-being
- In a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial, play activity programmes frail older adults helped to enhance psychological well-being and was associated with an improvement in frailty scores[13]
- Positive effect on fear and anxiety
- Zengin et al.[14] found that play therapy helped decrease anxiety and fear of medical procedures in children undergoing liver transplantation
- Reduce weight
- Sánchez-López et al.[15] found that play therapy combined with nutritional advice resulted in decreased body fat in overweight / obese children aged between 8 and 12 years
Expressive Writing[edit | edit source]
"Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events--often leads to improvements in physical and psychological health in non-clinical and clinical populations.”[16]
Expressive writing may include diaries, journals, memoirs, opinion pieces, songs, and / or poetry. The following are some areas that expressive writing may be used in rehabilitation and healthcare:[1]
- Improve would healing
- Expressive writing has been found to be beneficial for wound healing in females and older adults[17]
- Improve posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- A systematic review by Gerger et al.[18] found that writing treatemtns may have a positive impact on PTSD in the medium- to long-term
- Improve resilience
- It has been found that online expressive writing interventions help to improve resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic[19]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Altug Z. Healing Arts and Expressive Therapies in an Interdisciplinary Team Course. Physioplus, 2022.
- ↑ National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations, Inc. Home page. Available from: https://www.nccata.org/ (accessed 22 February 2022).
- ↑ Rieger KL, Lobchuk MM, Duff MA, Chernomas WM, Demczuk L, Campbell-Enns HJ et al. Mindfulness-based arts interventions for cancer care: A systematic review of the effects on wellbeing and fatigue. Psychooncology. 2021;30(2):240-51.
- ↑ Dunphy K, Baker FA, Dumaresq E, Carroll-Haskins K, Eickholt J, Ercole M et al. Creative arts interventions to address depression in older adults: A systematic review of outcomes, processes, and mechanisms. Front Psychol. 2019;9:2655.
- ↑ Martin L, Oepen R, Bauer K, Nottensteiner A, Mergheim K, Gruber H et al. Creative arts interventions for stress management and prevention - a systematic review. Behav Sci (Basel). 2018;8(2):28.
- ↑ Gelatti F, Viganò C, Borsani S, Conistabile L, Bonetti L. Efficacy of live versus recorded harp music in reducing preoperative stress and fear related to minor surgery: A pilot study. Altern Ther Health Med. 2020;26(3):10-5.
- ↑ Lo TLT, Lee JLC, Ho RTH. Creative arts-based therapies for stroke survivors: A qualitative systematic review. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1646.
- ↑ North American Drama Therapy Association. What is drama therapy? Available from: https://www.nadta.org/ (accessed 23 February 2022).
- ↑ Demir Acar M, Bayat M. The effect of diet-exercise trainings provided to overweight and obese teenagers through creative drama on their knowledge, attitude, and behaviors. Child Obes. 2019;15(2):93-104.
- ↑ Bega D, Palmentera P, Wagner A, Hovde M, Barish B, Kwasny MJ et al. Laughter is the best medicine: The Second City® improvisation as an intervention for Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2017;34:62-5.
- ↑ Tang SX, Seelaus KH, Moore TM, Taylor J, Moog C, O'Connor D et al. Theatre improvisation training to promote social cognition: A novel recovery-oriented intervention for youths at clinical risk for psychosis. Early Interv Psychiatry. 2020;14(2):163-71.
- ↑ Association for Play Therapy. What is play therapy? Available from: https://www.a4pt.org/default.aspx (accessed 23 February 2022).
- ↑ Tse MM, Ng SS, Lee PH, Lai C, Kwong E, Liu JY et al. Play activities program to relieve chronic pain and enhance functional mobility and psychological well-being for frail older adults: A pilot cluster randomized controlled trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2016;64(10):e86-e88.
- ↑ Zengin M, Yayan EH, Düken ME. The effects of a therapeutic play/play therapy program on the fear and anxiety levels of hospitalized children after liver transplantation. J Perianesth Nurs. 2021;36(1):81-5.
- ↑ Sánchez-López AM, Menor-Rodríguez MJ, Sánchez-García JC, Aguilar-Cordero MJ. Play as a method to reduce overweight and obesity in children: An RCT. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(1):346.
- ↑ Baikie KA, Geerligs L, Wilhelm K. Expressive writing and positive writing for participants with mood disorders: an online randomized controlled trial. J Affect Disord. 2012;136(3):310-9.
- ↑ Koschwanez HE, Kerse N, Darragh M, Jarrett P, Booth RJ, Broadbent E. Expressive writing and wound healing in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Psychosom Med. 2013;75(6):581-90.
- ↑ Gerger H, Werner CP, Gaab J, Cuijpers P. Comparative efficacy and acceptability of expressive writing treatments compared with psychotherapy, other writing treatments, and waiting list control for adult trauma survivors: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Psychol Med. 2021:1-13.
- ↑ Bechard E, Evans J, Cho E, Lin Y, Kozhumam A, Jones J et al. Feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of an online expressive writing intervention for COVID-19 resilience. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2021;45:101460.
