Group Art Therapy, Aesthetic Experiences of Difference and Belonging

  • Sally Schofield University of Manchester

Abstract


This paper comes from a qualitative doctoral study which explored the impact of group art therapy on people affected by Parkinson’s. It specifically addresses the research question: How might participating in art therapy groups support wellbeing and better functioning for people affected by Parkinson’s? Art therapy is not a widely applied therapeutic intervention for this client population. The study was undertaken at the Catalan Parkinson’s Association which has a long-standing art therapy service integrated into the therapeutic rehabilitation programme. The language-based data gathered for analysis was from four focus group encounters with people affected by Parkinson’s (who had directly experienced group art therapy), family members and professionals from the multidisciplinary team working alongside the art therapist. A thematic network analysis (Attride-Stirling, 2001) was undertaken producing six global themes in response to the research question: self-construction; material action; an aesthetic group movement; new perspectives; artwork as legacy; physical transformation as a relational aesthetic experience. I first describe how the research participants joined the study, the rationale for the focus groups and their composition; followed by a detailed exploration of the six themes, relating them to wider literature and a discussion of their implications for practice.

References

Attride-Stirling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 1, 385-405.
Atwood, G., & Stolorow, R. (1984) Structures of subjectivity: Explorations in psychoanalytic phenomenology. New Jersey, NJ: Analytic Press
Barichella, M., Cereda, E., Cassani, E., Pinelli, G., Iorio, L., Ferri, V., & Pezzoli, G. (2017). Dietary habits and neurological features of Parkinson’s disease patients: Implications for practice. Clinical Nutrition, 36, 1054-1061.
Bloem, B. R., de Vries, N. M., & Ebersbach, G. (2015). Nonpharmacological treatments for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Movement Disorders, 30, 1504-1520.
Bradt, J., & Goodill, S. (2013). Creative arts therapies defined: comment on “effects of creative arts therapies on psychological symptoms and quality of life in patients with cancer”. JAMA Internal Medicine, 173, 969-969.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Burman, E., & Parker, I. (Eds.) (2016). Discourse analytic research: repertoires and readings of texts in action. London, UK: Routledge
Burr, V. (2002). The person in social psychology. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis
Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble. New York, NY: Routledge. (Original work published in 1990)
Cambridge English Dictionary. (2018). Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/
Carr, S. M. D. (2014). Revisioning self-identity: The role of portraits, neuroscience and the art therapist’s “third hand”. International Journal of Art Therapy, 19, 54-70.
Canesi, M., Rusconi, M. L., Isaias, I. U., & Pezzoli, G. (2012). Artistic productivity and creative thinking in Parkinson’s disease. European Journal of Neurology : The Official Journal of the European Federation of Neurological Societies, 19, 468-472.
Case, C., & Dalley, T. (2006). The Handbook of art therapy. London, UK: Routledge.
Chatterjee, A., Hamilton, R. H., & Amorapanth, P. X. (2006). Art produced by a patient with Parkinson’s disease. Behavioural Neurology, 17, 105-108.
Chilton, G. (2013). Art therapy and flow: A review of the literature and applications. Art Therapy, 30, 64-70.
Clare, E. (2001). Stolen bodies, reclaimed bodies: Disability and queerness. Public Culture,13, 359–365.
CPA [Catalan Parkinson’s Association]. (n.d.) La Malatia de Parkinson. Assocació Catalana per al Parkinson. Retrieved from http://www.catparkinson.org/parkinson
Cossio, A. (2002). Art therapy in the treatment of chronic invalidating conditions: from Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s. In D. Waller (Ed.), Arts therapies and progressive illness: nameless dread (pp.47-55). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge
Elkis-Abuhoff, D. L., Goldblatt, R. B., Gaydos, M., Ma, S. C., & Corrato, S. (2013). Effects of clay manipulation on somatic dysfunction and emotional distress in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Journal of American Art Therapy, (February), 37-41.
Ellingson, L. L. (2006). Embodied knowledge: Writing researchers’ bodies into qualitative health research. Qualitative Health Research. 16, 298-310.
Feen-Calligan, H. (2008). How do we care for people? Introducing a special issue on art therapy in palliative care. Art Therapy, 25, 106-107.
Foulkes, S. H. (1971). Access to unconscious processes in the group analytic group. Group Analysis, 4, 4-14.
Foulkes, S. H. (1986). Group analytic psychotherapy: Method and principles. London, UK: Karnac Books. (Original work published in 1975)
Gabel, A., & Robb, M. (2017). (Re)considering psychological constructs: A thematic synthesis defining five therapeutic factors in group art therapy. Arts in Psychotherapy. 55 (2017), 126-135.
Gerber, N., Templeton, E., & Chilton, G. (2012). Art-based research as a pedagogical approach to studying intersubjectivity in the creative arts therapies. JAAH Intellect Limited Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 3, 39-48.
Goodley, D. (1999). Disability research and the “researcher template”: Reflections on grounded subjectivity in ethnographic research. Qualitative inquiry, 5, 24-46.
Goodley, D. (2005). Empowerment, self-advocacy and resilience. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 9, 333-343.
Goodley, D. (2001). “Learning difficulties”, the social model of disability and impairment: Challenging epistemologies. Disability & Society, 16, 207-231.
Goodley, D. (2011). Social psychoanalytic disability studies. Disability & Society, 26, 715-728.
Goodley, D., & Lawthom, R. (2005). Epistemological journeys in participatory action research: alliances between community psychology and disability studies. Disability & Society, 20, 135-151.
Greenstein, A. (2013). Radical inclusive pedagogy: Connecting disability, education and activism. Manchester Metropolitan University.
Greenstein, A. (2014). Today’s learning objective is to have a party: playing research with students in a secondary school special needs unit. Journal of research in special educational needs, 14, 71-81.
Habermann, B. (1996). Day-to-day demands of Parkinson’s disease. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 18, 397-413.
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14, 575-599.
Hermanns, M. (2013). The invisible and visible stigmatization of Parkinson’s disease. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 25 (2013), 563-566.
Hoffmann, N. (2011). Using Art to address cognitive symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (M.Sc. Thesis). The Florida State University.
Holmqvist, G., Roxberg, Å., Larsson, I., & Lundqvist-Persson, C. (2017). What art therapists consider to be patient’s inner change and how it may appear during art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 56, 45-52.
Huet, V. (2016, September) Charla sobre Supervisión Unpublished Seminar by la Asociación Española Profesional de Arteterapeutas. Barcelona, Spain.
Inzelberg, R. (2013). The awakening of artistic creativity and Parkinson’s disease. Behavioral Neuroscience, 127, 256-261.
Johnson, C. M., & Sullivan-Marx, E. M. (2006). Art therapy: Using the creative process for healing and hope among African American older adults. Geriatric Nursing, 27, 309-316.
Kang, M.Y., & Ellis-Hill, C. (2015). How do people live life successfully with Parkinson’s disease? Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24, 2314-2322.
Keeling, M. L., & Bermudez, M. (2006). Externalising problems through art and writing: experience of process and helpfulness. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32, 405-419.
Kulisevsky, J. (2004). Guía terapéutica de la Sociedad Catalana de Neurología. Fundación de La Sociedad Catalana de Neurología, 1-38. Retrieved from http://www.sld.cu/galerias/pdf/sitios/rehabilitacion/enfermedad_de_parkinson.pdf
Kulisevsky, J., Pagonabarraga, J., & Martinez-Corral, M. (2009). Changes in artistic style and behaviour in Parkinson’s disease: dopamine and creativity. Journal of Neurology, 256, 816-819.
Malchiodi, C. (1998). The Art therapy sourcebook. New York, NY: Guilford Press
Mannay, D. (2010). Making the familiar strange: can visual research methods render the familiar setting more perceptible? Qualitative Research, 10, 91-111.
McNeilly, G. (1983). Directive and non-directive approaches in art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 10, 211-219.
McNeilly, G. (1984). Group-analytic art therapy. Group Analysis, XVIII(3), 204-210.
McNeilly, G. (2006). Group analytic art therapy. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Moon C.H. (Ed.) (2011). Materials and media in art therapy: Critical understandings of diverse artistic vocabularies. London, UK: Routledge.
Nitsun, M. (2006). The group as an object of desire. The group as an object of desire: Exploring sexuality in group therapy. London, UK: Routledge.
Nitsun, M. (1996). The anti-group destructive forces in the group and their creative potential. London, UK: Routledge.
Parker, I., Georgaca, E., Harper, D., McLaughlin, T., & Stowell-Smith, M. (1995). Deconstructing psychopathology. London, UK: Sage.
Parker, I. (2007). Critical Psychology: What It Is and What It Is Not. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1 1-15.
Parker, I. (2013). Qualitative research in psychology discourse analysis : Dimensions of critique in psychology discourse analysis : Dimensions. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10, 223-239.
Peñas Domingo, E. (2015). El Libro Blanco de Parkinson en España: Aproximación Análisis y Propuesta de Futuro. Federación Española de Parkinson
Powles, W. E. (2007). Reflections on “what is a group ?” International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 5, 105-114.
Prilleltensky, I. (2001). Value-based praxis in community psychology: Moving toward social justice and social action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 747-778.
Puetz, T. W., Morley, C. a, & Herring, M. P. (2013). Effects of creative arts therapies on psychological symptoms and quality of life in patients with cancer. JAMA Internal Medicine, 173, 960-969.
Real Academia Española [Tomo I.] (1992) Diccionario de la Lengua Española a-g, Madrid, Spain: Edotorial Espasa Calpe.
Reeve, D. (2002). Negotiating psycho-emotional dimensions of disability and their influence on identity constructions. Disability & Society, 17, 493-508.
Reynolds, F., & Prior, S. (2003). “A lifestyle coat-hanger”: A phenomenological study of the meanings of artwork for women coping with chronic illness and disability. Disability and Rehabilitation. 25, 785-794
Schaverien, J. (1999). Art within analysis: scapegoat, transference and transformation. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 44, 479-510.
Schermer, V. L. (2010). Reflections on “reflections on mirroring”. Group Analysis, 43, 214-227.
Schofield, S. (2018). Group art therapy for people with Parkinson’s, a qualitative study (Doctoral Thesis). Retrieved from https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/group-art-therapy-for-people-with-parkinsons-a-qualitative-study(1e37dc4c-34cd-4636-b324-6f5d563e95f8).html
Shah, S. P., & Duda, J. E. (2015). Dietary modifications in Parkinson’s disease: A neuroprotective intervention? Medical Hypotheses, 8, 1002-1005. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2015.08.018
Skaife, S., & Huet, V. (Eds.). (1998). Art psychotherapy groups: Between pictures and words. London, UK: Routledge.
Springgay, S., Irwin, R. L., & Kind, S. W. (2005). A/r/tography as living inquiry through art and text. Qualitative Inquiry, 11, 897-912.
Strand, S., & Waller, D. (2010). The experience of Parkinson’s: Words and images through art therapy—a pilot research study. International Journal of Art Therapy, 15, 84-93.
Talwar, S. M. (2010). An intersectional framework for race, class, gender, and sexuality in art therapy. Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 27, 11-17.
Tingey, N. (2002). Art therapy as a therapy for Parkinson’s. In D. Waller (Ed.) Arts therapies and progressive illness: nameless dread (pp.145-164). New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge
Tingey, N. (2004). Art for Parkinson’s. Catalyst, (summer), 4-5.
Wadeson, H. (2003). Art as therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Art Therapy, 20, 35-38.
Waller, D. (1993). Group interactive art therapy: Its use in training and treatment. London, UK: Routledge.
Winnicott, D.W (2005) Playing and reality. London, UK: Routledge. (Original work published in 1971)
Wood, M. J. M., Molassiotis, A., & Payne, S. (2011). What research evidence is there for the use of art therapy in the management of symptoms in adults with cancer? A systematic review. Psycho-Oncology, 20, 135-145
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). Theory and practice of group psychotherapy. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Published
11-Mar-2019
How to Cite
Schofield, S. (2019). Group Art Therapy, Aesthetic Experiences of Difference and Belonging. Language and Psychoanalysis, 8(1), 30-68. https://doi.org/10.7565/landp.v8i1.1591
Section
Original Articles