“Seeing Your Voice and Hearing Your Words in Paintings”--The Concept of Art Therapy Applied to the Depressive Adolescent’ Self-exploration

• Main Author: 葉沛晴
• Other Authors: 吳婷盈 博士
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/56602618369125249594

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 藝術教育研究所 === 98 === The current study adopted “Ko’s Depression Inventory” to screen for high-risk students. After obtaining the consent forms from the parents, we randomly selected eight subjects for the experimental group and another eight subjects for the control group. Qualitative research methods were applied and the performance of the experimental group during the Art Group Therapy was observed and recorded, with a focus on the symbolic meanings of the behaviors, emotions and images in art creation. Tape-recording was taken during the activities and the conversion was copied down verbatim. The emotions or behaviors in the sentences, containing the “I” subject, were encoded to serve as a reference for the self-concept analysis for individual subjects. In addition, by applying the pretest and posttest of quantitative analysis, we analyzed whether the results of the experimental group reached statistical significance. Based on the quantitative analyses, the results of the depressed youth group showed that the experimental group that received Art Group Therapy activities differed significantly from the control group that did not participate in the group activities, indicating Art Group Therapy activities significantly reduced depression. For the eight depressed teenagers in the study, the number of “I” mentioned during the activities varied depending on the expression of individual characters. The negative self-concept was elevated for all members compared the positive self-concept. The group members showed a tendency toward helplessness. Some subjects, such as Xiao Xiao, Xiao Ren, and Xiao Xin, revealed an impulsive character accompanied in their words; Xiao Ai, Xiao Ping, Xiao Xin and Xiao Yi showed an uncertainty for the future. Furthermore, from the images and symbols created by the subjects, we found that the members were able to express their real thoughts and to show their life scenes. Either the emotional release or the spontaneous creation, it subtly revealed the emotional troubles of the depressed teenagers, full of anger, agitation, joy, perplexity, quail and etc. The subjects showed imbalance in the images of friendship which is a warning sign of their interpersonal relationships, displaying their problems. The eight members liked to draw symbols of the sun, which represents power; for example, Xiao Ren explicitly mentioned that he wanted to have power and influence, showing his arrogance, however his drawing suggested a lack of confidence. There is much perplexity and helplessness hidden deeply in these depressed teenagers. The research of the current study can help the group members explore their own inner world more deeply. Although their emotional change was quite obvious, the true temperament revealed during the process of Art Group Therapy can help the members to open up and face themselves honestly.