"MIRACULOUS BRAIN" – THE HEALING FACTOR IN

THERAPEUTIC AND GROWTH PROCESSES IN ART PSYCHOTHERAPY

ABSTRACT

Ruth Harpaz   Ph.D

Art Psychotherapy is, by professional definition, a cognitive and emotional diagnostic and treatment process. The popular assumption is that the main thoughts and feelings arising from a patient's unconscious mind are expressed mainly through art, which serves as a non-verbal means of communicating various feelings, behaviors, angers and urges, both conscious and unconscious, abilities and difficulties. In recent years art psychotherapy approaches have been based on

              brain science for understanding therapeutic processes occurring in the brain during treatment and examination of the emotional connections between brain and biological processes and various treatment modalities.

Current information on the functioning of the various brain regions that has accumulated in recent years allows a better understanding of therapeutic processes in art therapy. This information is attained through various imaging tests such as PET and MRI, and these examinations contribute to understanding brain information processing and the importance of various organs in the brain.

  The interventionsare beneficial in several areas:  
1. Construction and rehabilitation of physical failures (Menzen, 2001; Kaplan, 2000).
2. Promotion of mental, emotional and physical healing (Malchiodi, 1999a, 1999b; Kaplan, 200  
3. Improvement of emotional and cognitive growth ((Kaplan, 2000; Menzen, 2001; Rosal, 1992).

The main purpose of   this study is to shed light on the emotional processes that occur during psychotherapy treatments through art.

 Since the processes taking place within the mind are not "visible" we can see them only through different representations the patient expresses or creates and through the therapist's interpretation of them.The discussion of the development and appearance of visual or verbal artistic representations in this work is based on two perspectives: one from the field of cognitive and neuroscience theories and the second from a more philosophical approach phenomenological   theory in art therapy.

Despite the apparent differences between the two approaches i.e. the scientific (cognitive) measurable approach and assessment using brain imaging and a non- measurable philosophical approach, I will show that it is possible to analyze the verbal and visual representations by phenomenological observation and investigation of the mind-body perspective.

The aim of this work is to establish the claims stating that visual and verbal images are created by the patient during art psychotherapy.

The claims that underlie this study are that:
1. Representations through art and other images in the art psychotherapy process develop as a result of information  processing in the brain.
2. The meaning of visual and verbal representations therapeutic process can be analyzed and understood through the phenomenological approach to art psychotherapy.
Phenomenological observation is based on research observation methods that attribute to what the brain perception system sees in the "here and now" and includes contents that emerge from the conscious and unconscious mind.
The phenomena described can be perceptions, memories, imagery, cognition, etc. (Van Manen, 1990; Creswell, 1998).

The focus of phenomenological research is the object that is perceived. The perceived phenomenal object or directed object is the specific way the object is perceived in consciousness (Giorgi, 1995, p.35).

Another element of the investigation is the case of narrative representations wherein "People are storytellers by nature" (Lieblich et al., 1988, pp.7).

Storytelling on the part of the patient is the process of giving meaning to his/her narrative.

Observation is the methodical recording of events and behaviors in the research environment (Marshal & Roseman, 1989). Observation in the present study is creativity and expression documented through structured categories appearing on observation pages (Appendices A - D), recorded during treatment.

Every patient has a unique capability to create a personal style so called "personal handprint" pointing to the cognitive and emotional abilities, coping strategies and resources ((Jorgensen, 1989). The phenomenological perspective allows an objective observation, as much as possible, in order to create a separation between projections of the patient's inner world and what he expresses from within his inner world of representations.   

Collection of Data from Patient Case Studies

Products created and therapeutic processes attained in the art psychotherapy sessions will be examined according to the theoretical conceptualizations that were brought in the literature review section and will be based on:
1. The theory of brain information processing in art psychotherapy
2. The phenomenological approach in art psychotherapy
3. Visual images and verbal representations in art psychotherapy

The Study Population includes:
Children and adolescent boys and girls, aged 4-18, and adults.

Therapeutic Themes – coping with:

1. Trauma

2. Loss and bereavement
3. Behavioral problems and ADHD

4. Sensory disabilities: blindness and visual impairments

5. Sensory developmental disorders: treatment of Selective Mutism; Communication Disorders; and use of the Controlled Sensory Stimulation method (Snoezelen).

6. Self-image and body image

7. Adoption

8. Group art psychotherapy

After collecting all data, processing it and conducting integration between them, I will create the model I developed, which integrates the descriptive phenomenological approach of information processing in art psychotherapy.

Analysis according to Treatment Modalities:

1. Art psychotherapy techniques including: Scribble techniques which occur in the brain combining the left brain and right brain processes and projective drawing techniques.

2. Sandbox therapy technique

3. Sensory techniques: finger paints and Controlled Multi-Sensory Stimulation (Snoezelen).

4. Six part story making and BASIC PH model

Main Conclusions and Recommendations
Data analysis by the phenomenological approach in this research is based on my observations and interpretations as an art psychotherapist and researcher. Although I tried to relate as objectively as possible, my research could not completely avoid subjective interpretations.

The novelty in this work is based on the interaction between the neuro-biological brain processing approach and the phenomenological approach in art psychotherapy.

This interaction creates a new language of reference for understanding the art psychotherapeutic process and a new "Neuro-Phenomenological" conceptualization of art psychotherapy, based on an understanding of cognitive and emotional processing in the brain and a phenomenological interpretation for the visual representations that emerge during therapy.

In order to illustrate this new language I have created a "Neuro-Cognitive Processing model" in art psychotherapy. This model was developed as a tool for assessment and treatment of children and adults, in individual and group therapy, in treatment of trauma, loss and bereavement, using means of artistic expression.

The artistic expression tools are used for two therapeutic goals which reciprocally affect one another. One is used for diagnosis through the ability to express (non verbally) a variety of abilities, feelings and difficulties that overwhelm the person.

The second is used as a treatment tool by creating processes resulting in attitude change and by improving feelings and behaviors through the "indirect agent" of an artistic apparatus.

The model is based on understanding the brain and its functioning, information processing and conceptualization in art therapy, and is illustrated graphically: 
How then does the "miraculous" brain heal?

1. Through processes of cognitive and emotional information processing in the brain itself.
2. Projection and extroversion of contents which include difficulties, conflicts and other themes, through internal representations using visual or verbal representations expressed as external representations.
3. Reprocessing of external representations, after undergoing the interaction process with the therapist, and turning them into new internal representations.
4. Creating new connections and representations in the brain when these are "insights", saving them in the brain and removing them in a new form that is more compatible with the new reality.

The Study's Contribution
Every process that I have described in this study can be examined by other research tools I want to develop in the future in order to deepen investigation. A background in art and an understanding of the visual language in both healthy and psycho-pathological states provide art therapists with the intuitive ability for understanding the structure, function and emotional properties of artistic expression. Understanding these qualities in the context of the brain's structure and function provides the art therapist with a starting point for understanding the unique function of the brain in the systemic integration of mind and body in healing and growth processes.
The present study did not examine the therapist's processing, and I reserve the right and the desire to continue this research and test the processes that occur in the therapist's mind.

The main limitations are in the impossibility of examining scientifically in "real time" how the brain's therapeutic processes occur in the cognitive, emotional, kinesthetic, and sensory realms. The effective component of the model I have developed, dealing with expressing and channeling emotions through the medium of art and with the effect of emotions on information processing, is based on studies that were conducted by others (Lusebrink, 1990).

The present study is based on an examination of the products of the therapeutic process (Lusebrink, 1990) through observation, employing the phenomenological approach and assessing the processes occurring in the brain.
Further research is needed in order to better understand the essence of the connection between the art form of expression and functions of the brain so as to derive optimal diagnosis and treatment processes in art psychotherapy. And although further research is needed in order to confirm and validate the claims presented in this study, such as controlled imaging methods, one cannot negate the importance of the role of the "miraculous brain" in body-mind therapy and healing, and in promoting change, growth and rehabilitation.
 

הקשב

קרא באופן פונטי