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Tilburg University College Art Therapy and Depression To what extent does art therapy treat depression compared to other forms of therapy? Supervisor Second Reader Lieke Wijnia David Janssens Created by Anique van Gorp 2003279 June 15, 2019 1 Abstract Art therapy is a relatively new form of therapy that integrates the fields of psychology and creative arts. This form of therapy aims to unravel people’s unconscious desires through arts – drawing, clay, music – in order to treat patients from any kind of illness they are facing. Research has shown that even though art therapy is known to be an increasing popular substitute for other forms of therapy, it is still questioned how exactly art therapy assists in the healing process of its patients, and what it is that makes this treatment more effective than other forms of therapy. To answer these questions, the purpose of this thesis will be to explore the effectiveness of art therapy in relation to depression. I have chosen to focus on depression as a medical illness because it is a critical mental illness that is often overrated, and experts are still seeking answers on how to treat depression. Moreover, as a personal reason, depression is something that I have faced, and am still facing, for the last couple of years. To investigate art therapy and its effectiveness in treating depression compared to other forms of therapy, primary and secondary research will be conducted to collect relevant and valuable data. Analysis of primary and secondary research completed in this thesis shows that there are many theories on the question of what makes art therapy different from other forms of therapy and why it is considered to be a more effective form of therapy. This is because art therapy has a different name and different way of dealing with its patients in every place of the world. Ultimately, even though there is a variety of experts claiming to know the potential healing effect of art therapy, despite this variety, in this thesis I argue that art therapy is a valuable therapeutic method for treating depression and deserving of more future research. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank various people for their input and assistance to this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank Ms. Wijnia for her guidance and constructive feedback. Her assistance and willingness to invest time in this project is greatly appreciated. Moreover, I would also like to thank Mr. Janssens for putting in time to act as a second reader to this thesis. Furthermore, I would also like to thank the following people for their contribution to this thesis; Ms. Sam for sharing her insightful knowledge on art therapy, Ms. Diepstraten for her enthusiastic contribution and assistance, and, finally, Mr. Oostelbos for sharing his work experience on depression, and thereby bringing extensive value to this project. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 5 2. The Evolution of Art Therapy ..................................................................................................................... 9 1. Historical Development.............................................................................................................................. 9 2. Current manifestations ............................................................................................................................. 11 3. The Effectiveness of Art therapy in Treating Depression (compared to other forms of therapy) ...... 14 1. Philosophical and Psychological perspectives ........................................................................................ 14 2. Primary Research and comparative findings ........................................................................................... 19 4. The Healing Effects of Art Therapy .......................................................................................................... 25 1. Philosophical and psychological perspectives ......................................................................................... 25 2. Primary research and comparative findings ............................................................................................ 33 5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................... 36 Citations ................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Appendix................................................................................................................................................................ 44 Appendix 1: Fragments of interview with Ingemarie Sam (29/11/18) ............................................................... 44 Appendix 1.1 ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Appendix 1.2 ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Appendix 1.3 ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Appendix 2: Fragments of interview with Arja Diepstraten and Peter Oostelbos (06/03/19) .......................... 45 Appendix 2.1 ................................................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix 2.2 ................................................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix 2.3 ................................................................................................................................................. 46 4 1. Introduction Throughout history, art has proven to have the ability of treating numerous pathological states. According to famous philosophers such as Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Pythagoras of Samos (570- 495 BC), art has therapeutic abilities (Troll, 2001, p. 265). For example, Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher, believed that art appeals to the emotions and imitates human interactivity, life and nature (Stanfield, 2015). In life people do not always understand what is happening around them. There are still so many things that the human mind cannot understand. Art has the ability to make us understand our surroundings. Imitating an object of nature or the unknown in art, according to Aristotle, bring us closer to our definition of perfection and understanding. This brings out a whole new reality to the painter and observer of the art piece. Moreover, according to Pythagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher, music that is ordered by numbers “represents the harmony of the cosmos and […] the compositions of universe and man” (Brooke, 2006, p. 169). Therefore, Pythagoras argues that music which is “ruled by the same mathematical laws that operate in the visible and invisible world” brings back harmony into the soul (Brooke, 2006, p. 169). From both arguments, it can be observed that many different art forms exist that may be therapeutic to an individual. Before continuing the discussion of the concept of art and its therapeutic abilities, it is important to narrow down what is meant by ‘art’. The concept of art and its meaning has continually challenged philosophers. What is art? When can something be considered a work of art? Should art be forbidden or allowed in society? Can art be therapeutic? Art is a broad concept and its implications are still challenged today. In this thesis, I want to analyze the creation and reflection of one’s art on the basis of drawings and paintings in a therapeutic setting. Therefore, art such as music, poetry or acting will be ruled out in this thesis. Art therapy is a relatively new form of therapy which differs from other forms of therapy. According to Elinor Ulman, professor of art therapy at George Washington University, art therapy is a combination of both ‘art’ and ‘therapy’ (Rubin, 2009, p. 25). According to Ulman, one has to define art and therapy separately to be able to define art therapy as a whole. Ulman defines therapy as “procedures designed to assist favorable changes in personality or in living that will outlast the session itself” (Rubin, 2009, p. 25). Moreover, art is defined as “the meeting ground of the inner and outer world” (Rubin, 2009, p. 25). This definition of art 5 attempts to convey the message that by creating or spectating art, one can learn to understand how things are viewed from the artist’s perspective (the outside world) and adapt these views in one’s own understanding of the world (inner world). By looking at these two definitions as different concepts, the definition of art therapy from the British Association of Art Therapists’ (BAAT) proves to be most appropriate for this essay. According to BAAT, the aim of art therapy is to “…enable a client to effect change