Electronic media provides rapid delivery and unlimited access to pictures, sounds, and informatio... more Electronic media provides rapid delivery and unlimited access to pictures, sounds, and information. The ubiquitous presence of techno-digital culture in the lives of today's adolescents may influence or contaminate the art therapy process. This article presents two case studies that illustrate how cyberspace entered into art therapy sessions and also how the process of art therapy empowered adolescent clients to transform pop culture images into personally meaningful ones.
Working with and through art in the context of mental health has become popular and quite well kn... more Working with and through art in the context of mental health has become popular and quite well known amongst social workers, community workers, nurses, artists and teachers. Many seek art therapy skills, and a greater understanding of the use of art in healing. In parts of the world where there is no professional art therapy training and no established art therapy profession, some may go on to call themselves art therapists. Despite this, art therapy is a recognized profession, with a master's level or post graduate level training and a written code of ethics. This article looks at the ethical considerations we as art therapists face in training non-art therapists. To explore this subject in greater depth we draw upon training we have delivered for social workers in Hong Kong.
Melody Mil-brandt. The power of art for social justice and societal change is not only infused in... more Melody Mil-brandt. The power of art for social justice and societal change is not only infused in our philosophy, but is the overarching theme that pervades our curriculum and coursework. To this end, the mission of the journal is: •The Journal of Art for Life is a national, refereed journal focused on art education, art therapy, and arts administration in authentic, real-world contexts toward the goal of social progress through the arts. The journal is based on the instrumentalist premise that art has the power and potential to reflect and enhance the conditions of human experience. Through scholarly articles, the journal is an instrument for communicating the avenues by which the various forms of art intertwine and impact society and social justice. •The journal accepts articles that are theoretical, research-based, and those that address the practical applications of art for life in educational, therapeutic, and other institutional contexts, including museums. We seek social crit...
As the field of art therapy continues to mature and develop, it will also continue to migrate to ... more As the field of art therapy continues to mature and develop, it will also continue to migrate to parts of the world beyond the Western nations dominated by the United States and United Kingdom. When it arrives in each individual country, practitioners and educators will need to learn how to best introduce the profession, including offering sustainable models for training future art therapists. While the use of the arts in therapeutic contexts occurs
Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed... more Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed on holistic citizenship. Harnessing compassion, the arts can activate four component elements: narratives, actual stories and voices of members of a society; encounters, opportunities for dialogue among members of a society; reflection, values clarification and self-awareness and community, spaces that allow for creative engagement. This theoretical framework is demonstrated in an 18-month campaign designed to promote social inclusion by decreasing stigma and increasing public awareness of people living with mental illness in Hong Kong. The programme utilised an art exhibition created by people living with mental illness, guided relational viewing art-making workshops for the general public, and collaborative art-making opportunities. Integrating compassion and the arts into the citizenship framework provided participants with opportunities to engage with one another, clarify misconcept...
Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed... more Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed on holistic citizenship. Harnessing compassion, the arts can activate four component elements: narratives, actual stories and voices of members of a society; encounters, opportunities for dialogue among members of a society; reflection, values clarification and self-awareness and community, spaces that allow for creative engagement. This theoretical framework is demonstrated in an 18-month campaign designed to promote social inclusion by decreasing stigma and increasing public awareness of people living with mental illness in Hong Kong. The programme utilised an art exhibition created by people living with mental illness, guided relational viewing art-making workshops for the general public, and collaborative art-making opportunities. Integrating compassion and the arts into the citizenship framework provided participants with opportunities to engage with one another, clarify misconcept...
Stigma of mental illness is a global public health concern, but there lacks a standardized and cr... more Stigma of mental illness is a global public health concern, but there lacks a standardized and cross-culturally validated instrument for assessing the complex experience of stigma among people living with mental illness (PLMI) in the Chinese context. This study examines the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Stigma Scale (CSS), and explores the relationships between stigma, self-esteem and depression. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a community sample of 114 Chinese PLMI in Hong Kong. Participants completed the CSS, the Chinese Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, the Chinese Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Chinese Patient Health Questionnaire-9. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying factors of the CSS; concurrent validity assessment was performed via correlation analysis. The original 28-item three-factor structure of the Stigma Scale was found to be a poor fit to the data, whereas a revised 14-item three-factor model provided a good fit with all 14 items loaded significantly onto the original factors: discrimination, disclosure and positive aspects of mental illness. The revised model also displayed moderate to good internal consistency and good construct validity. Further findings revealed that the total stigma scale score and all three of its subscale scores correlated negatively with self-esteem; but only total stigma, discrimination and disclosure correlated positively with depression. The CSS is a short and user-friendly self-administrated questionnaire that proves valuable for understanding the multifaceted stigma experiences among PLMI as well as their impact on psychiatric recovery and community integration in Chinese communities.
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 2014
Schools are often an entry point for offering psycho-social interventions to communities followin... more Schools are often an entry point for offering psycho-social interventions to communities following disasters. However, teachers often lack skills to facilitate classroom activities that can address post-traumatic symptoms. Further they are not trained in mental health and they themselves have been traumatized. A solution is to provide teachers with an intervention protocol to be used in the typical classroom. As an alternative to traditional counseling, holistic interventions can alleviate traumatic symptoms, while promoting personal wellness and community development. A method for offering both expressive arts and integrated body-mind-spirit approaches is offered with reference to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China.
Although many art therapists are proponents of social justice and advocate for their underserved ... more Although many art therapists are proponents of social justice and advocate for their underserved clients, they may not think of art therapy as a change agent for communities or societal ills such as discrimination and inequality. In this paper a proposal to infuse art therapy with the political philosophies and practices of nonviolent resistance may bring to light how art therapists can be a tool for advancing both individual and community change. Social change begins with generating empathy for others. Reaching out to the community through facilitating art exhibits may be one way to heighten empathy for client-artists. Guided relational viewing is proposed as a theoretical principle to motivate art therapists to move from being a proponent of social justice to becoming an agent of social transformation.
BACKGROUND End-of-life (EoL) care professionals are at prone to burnout given the intense emotion... more BACKGROUND End-of-life (EoL) care professionals are at prone to burnout given the intense emotional nature of their work. Previous research supports the efficacy of art therapy in reducing work-related stress and enhancing emotional health among professional EoL caregivers. Integrating mindfulness meditation with art therapy, with reflective awareness complementing emotional expression, has immense potential for self-care and collegial support. OBJECTIVE Mindful-Compassion Art Therapy (MCAT) is a novel, empirically-informed and highly structured intervention that aims to reduce work-related stress, cultivate resilience and promote wellness. This study aims to assess the potential effectiveness of MCAT for supporting EoL care professionals in Singapore. METHODS An open label waitlist randomized controlled trial. 60 EoL care professionals including doctors, nurses, social workers and personal care workers are randomly allocated to one of two groups: (i) intervention group who receives...
ABSTRACT The Safe Place collage protocol is an intervention developed by an art therapist that of... more ABSTRACT The Safe Place collage protocol is an intervention developed by an art therapist that offers clients a structured method for acknowledging and managing both comfortable and disturbing emotional experiences simultaneously. The objective of this pilot study was to determine: 1) the effectiveness of this protocol in reducing anxiety for clients who experienced trauma and 2) their experience of the protocol. This study utilized a practice-oriented research design methodology that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measured the degree to which the Safe Place affected anxiety. For the 22 participants in an art therapy clinic who completed the intervention, the results indicated a statistically significant decrease in anxiety. Qualitative analysis identified three art making strategies: negating, tolerating, and integrating. Analyzing the STAI scores of these three groups indicated that participants who utilized an integrating strategy had the greatest reduction in anxiety. The Safe Place collage protocol may be a useful intervention for helping clinicians assess readiness for trauma therapy, as well as aiding clients in addressing traumatic material and managing distressing experiences.
This paper describes a collaborative research partnership between museum educators and art therap... more This paper describes a collaborative research partnership between museum educators and art therapists. Twenty-two visitors at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group based on an art therapy informed protocol. All participants visited the first two floors of the permanent exhibition, Nazi Assault (opening floor) and The ‘Final Solution’ (middle floor). Those in the experimental group created art based on their emotional response to the exhibition contents, engaged in reflective writing and participated in a discussion group. Participants indicated that this process allowed for consolidation and understanding, catharsis, and relational sharing and learning. The experimental group experienced significant increases in immediate empathy and their emotional response was sustained at 2, 7, and 12 months. Experimental group participants were also more likely to share with family and friends complex reflections about different aspects of their museum visit, rather than solely their distress or historical information. There was no change in the levels of these visitors' engagement in social action and political activities. The findings suggest an innovative and effective approach to increasing empathy among museum visitors and to sustaining the impact of a museum visit.
Electronic media provides rapid delivery and unlimited access to pictures, sounds, and informatio... more Electronic media provides rapid delivery and unlimited access to pictures, sounds, and information. The ubiquitous presence of techno-digital culture in the lives of today's adolescents may influence or contaminate the art therapy process. This article presents two case studies that illustrate how cyberspace entered into art therapy sessions and also how the process of art therapy empowered adolescent clients to transform pop culture images into personally meaningful ones.
Working with and through art in the context of mental health has become popular and quite well kn... more Working with and through art in the context of mental health has become popular and quite well known amongst social workers, community workers, nurses, artists and teachers. Many seek art therapy skills, and a greater understanding of the use of art in healing. In parts of the world where there is no professional art therapy training and no established art therapy profession, some may go on to call themselves art therapists. Despite this, art therapy is a recognized profession, with a master's level or post graduate level training and a written code of ethics. This article looks at the ethical considerations we as art therapists face in training non-art therapists. To explore this subject in greater depth we draw upon training we have delivered for social workers in Hong Kong.
Melody Mil-brandt. The power of art for social justice and societal change is not only infused in... more Melody Mil-brandt. The power of art for social justice and societal change is not only infused in our philosophy, but is the overarching theme that pervades our curriculum and coursework. To this end, the mission of the journal is: •The Journal of Art for Life is a national, refereed journal focused on art education, art therapy, and arts administration in authentic, real-world contexts toward the goal of social progress through the arts. The journal is based on the instrumentalist premise that art has the power and potential to reflect and enhance the conditions of human experience. Through scholarly articles, the journal is an instrument for communicating the avenues by which the various forms of art intertwine and impact society and social justice. •The journal accepts articles that are theoretical, research-based, and those that address the practical applications of art for life in educational, therapeutic, and other institutional contexts, including museums. We seek social crit...
As the field of art therapy continues to mature and develop, it will also continue to migrate to ... more As the field of art therapy continues to mature and develop, it will also continue to migrate to parts of the world beyond the Western nations dominated by the United States and United Kingdom. When it arrives in each individual country, practitioners and educators will need to learn how to best introduce the profession, including offering sustainable models for training future art therapists. While the use of the arts in therapeutic contexts occurs
Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed... more Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed on holistic citizenship. Harnessing compassion, the arts can activate four component elements: narratives, actual stories and voices of members of a society; encounters, opportunities for dialogue among members of a society; reflection, values clarification and self-awareness and community, spaces that allow for creative engagement. This theoretical framework is demonstrated in an 18-month campaign designed to promote social inclusion by decreasing stigma and increasing public awareness of people living with mental illness in Hong Kong. The programme utilised an art exhibition created by people living with mental illness, guided relational viewing art-making workshops for the general public, and collaborative art-making opportunities. Integrating compassion and the arts into the citizenship framework provided participants with opportunities to engage with one another, clarify misconcept...
Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed... more Furthering social inclusion for marginalised members of society demands advocacy efforts focussed on holistic citizenship. Harnessing compassion, the arts can activate four component elements: narratives, actual stories and voices of members of a society; encounters, opportunities for dialogue among members of a society; reflection, values clarification and self-awareness and community, spaces that allow for creative engagement. This theoretical framework is demonstrated in an 18-month campaign designed to promote social inclusion by decreasing stigma and increasing public awareness of people living with mental illness in Hong Kong. The programme utilised an art exhibition created by people living with mental illness, guided relational viewing art-making workshops for the general public, and collaborative art-making opportunities. Integrating compassion and the arts into the citizenship framework provided participants with opportunities to engage with one another, clarify misconcept...
Stigma of mental illness is a global public health concern, but there lacks a standardized and cr... more Stigma of mental illness is a global public health concern, but there lacks a standardized and cross-culturally validated instrument for assessing the complex experience of stigma among people living with mental illness (PLMI) in the Chinese context. This study examines the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Stigma Scale (CSS), and explores the relationships between stigma, self-esteem and depression. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a community sample of 114 Chinese PLMI in Hong Kong. Participants completed the CSS, the Chinese Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, the Chinese Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Chinese Patient Health Questionnaire-9. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying factors of the CSS; concurrent validity assessment was performed via correlation analysis. The original 28-item three-factor structure of the Stigma Scale was found to be a poor fit to the data, whereas a revised 14-item three-factor model provided a good fit with all 14 items loaded significantly onto the original factors: discrimination, disclosure and positive aspects of mental illness. The revised model also displayed moderate to good internal consistency and good construct validity. Further findings revealed that the total stigma scale score and all three of its subscale scores correlated negatively with self-esteem; but only total stigma, discrimination and disclosure correlated positively with depression. The CSS is a short and user-friendly self-administrated questionnaire that proves valuable for understanding the multifaceted stigma experiences among PLMI as well as their impact on psychiatric recovery and community integration in Chinese communities.
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 2014
Schools are often an entry point for offering psycho-social interventions to communities followin... more Schools are often an entry point for offering psycho-social interventions to communities following disasters. However, teachers often lack skills to facilitate classroom activities that can address post-traumatic symptoms. Further they are not trained in mental health and they themselves have been traumatized. A solution is to provide teachers with an intervention protocol to be used in the typical classroom. As an alternative to traditional counseling, holistic interventions can alleviate traumatic symptoms, while promoting personal wellness and community development. A method for offering both expressive arts and integrated body-mind-spirit approaches is offered with reference to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China.
Although many art therapists are proponents of social justice and advocate for their underserved ... more Although many art therapists are proponents of social justice and advocate for their underserved clients, they may not think of art therapy as a change agent for communities or societal ills such as discrimination and inequality. In this paper a proposal to infuse art therapy with the political philosophies and practices of nonviolent resistance may bring to light how art therapists can be a tool for advancing both individual and community change. Social change begins with generating empathy for others. Reaching out to the community through facilitating art exhibits may be one way to heighten empathy for client-artists. Guided relational viewing is proposed as a theoretical principle to motivate art therapists to move from being a proponent of social justice to becoming an agent of social transformation.
BACKGROUND End-of-life (EoL) care professionals are at prone to burnout given the intense emotion... more BACKGROUND End-of-life (EoL) care professionals are at prone to burnout given the intense emotional nature of their work. Previous research supports the efficacy of art therapy in reducing work-related stress and enhancing emotional health among professional EoL caregivers. Integrating mindfulness meditation with art therapy, with reflective awareness complementing emotional expression, has immense potential for self-care and collegial support. OBJECTIVE Mindful-Compassion Art Therapy (MCAT) is a novel, empirically-informed and highly structured intervention that aims to reduce work-related stress, cultivate resilience and promote wellness. This study aims to assess the potential effectiveness of MCAT for supporting EoL care professionals in Singapore. METHODS An open label waitlist randomized controlled trial. 60 EoL care professionals including doctors, nurses, social workers and personal care workers are randomly allocated to one of two groups: (i) intervention group who receives...
ABSTRACT The Safe Place collage protocol is an intervention developed by an art therapist that of... more ABSTRACT The Safe Place collage protocol is an intervention developed by an art therapist that offers clients a structured method for acknowledging and managing both comfortable and disturbing emotional experiences simultaneously. The objective of this pilot study was to determine: 1) the effectiveness of this protocol in reducing anxiety for clients who experienced trauma and 2) their experience of the protocol. This study utilized a practice-oriented research design methodology that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measured the degree to which the Safe Place affected anxiety. For the 22 participants in an art therapy clinic who completed the intervention, the results indicated a statistically significant decrease in anxiety. Qualitative analysis identified three art making strategies: negating, tolerating, and integrating. Analyzing the STAI scores of these three groups indicated that participants who utilized an integrating strategy had the greatest reduction in anxiety. The Safe Place collage protocol may be a useful intervention for helping clinicians assess readiness for trauma therapy, as well as aiding clients in addressing traumatic material and managing distressing experiences.
This paper describes a collaborative research partnership between museum educators and art therap... more This paper describes a collaborative research partnership between museum educators and art therapists. Twenty-two visitors at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group based on an art therapy informed protocol. All participants visited the first two floors of the permanent exhibition, Nazi Assault (opening floor) and The ‘Final Solution’ (middle floor). Those in the experimental group created art based on their emotional response to the exhibition contents, engaged in reflective writing and participated in a discussion group. Participants indicated that this process allowed for consolidation and understanding, catharsis, and relational sharing and learning. The experimental group experienced significant increases in immediate empathy and their emotional response was sustained at 2, 7, and 12 months. Experimental group participants were also more likely to share with family and friends complex reflections about different aspects of their museum visit, rather than solely their distress or historical information. There was no change in the levels of these visitors' engagement in social action and political activities. The findings suggest an innovative and effective approach to increasing empathy among museum visitors and to sustaining the impact of a museum visit.
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Papers by Jordan Potash