A phenomenological exploration of brief art therapy through folding two-dimensional drawings created by an adult population

Yurika Miller

doi:10.17918/etd-2959

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of individuals engaged in a paper-folding technique that might be adapted as a brief art therapy approach. The paper-folding technique in this study included the use of a drawing that was generated by the individual and then folded. In the art therapy context, the drawing was designed to express the thoughts and feelings of the individual. The premise of this study was based upon establishing the compatibility between the folding process and a brief art therapy approach. The parallel exists in the philosophy of brief therapy in which the ego supportive approach results in the covering over of unconscious material. Because there was no literature that systematically addresses paper-folding techniques as an art therapy process and since brief therapy was often the mode used for acutely psychiatrically ill hospitalized individuals, a study of this nature contributes to the adaptation of art therapy techniques to brief therapy approaches. The research design used in this study was phenomenological. Phenomenology allows for the emergence of an in-depth lived experience related to the phenomenon being studied (Creswell, 2003). Five healthy adult participants were recruited for this study. Each participant was asked to create a free drawing for 20 minutes, and to respond to an interview about the experience. He or she was asked to choose one folded shape from a group of three examples prepared by the co-investigator. Then, he or she followed the directions the co-investigator provided. After the participant completed thefolding process, the co-investigator conducted the second interview. The data gathered from this study provided normative data about the in-depth lived experience of participating in this art process. Collected data included the processes of drawing and paper folding, and in depth, open-ended responsive interviews. The data was analyzed using the phenomenological method, which included the steps of epoche, bracketing, horizonalization of significant statements, clustering statements into meaning units, developing textural description and imaginative variations. The result of these data analysis processes was the structural synthesis, which was composed of the essence of the lived experience of the phenomenon (Creswell, 2003). All participants were able to complete a free drawing and folded the drawing created. Based on the analysis of the data, essential structures were identified regarding the participant' experiences in folding their own drawing. Essential structures emerging from the data included evoking memories, the reflection, the denial, the creating art work with free association and emergence, the relief from anxiety and covering over the drawing in the folding.

A phenomenological exploration of brief art therapy through folding two-dimensional drawings created by an adult population

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A phenomenological exploration of brief art therapy through folding two-dimensional drawings created by an adult population

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