Page 106 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

ABSTRACT
Formal elements are often used in art therapy assessment. The assumption is that formal elements are observable aspects of the art product that allow reliable and valid assessment of clients’ mental health. Most of the existing art therapy assessment instruments are based on clinical expertise. Therefore, it is not clear to what degree these instruments are restricted to formal elements. Other aspects might also be included, such as clinical expertise of the therapist. This raises the question whether and how formal elements as observable aspects of the art product are related to clients’ mental health. To answer this question, four studies are presented that look at: 1) a meta-theoretical description of formal elements; 2) operationalization of these formal elements so they can be analyzed reliably in clients’ art products; 3) establishment of reliable and clinically relevant formal elements; 4) the relationship between formal elements and adult clients’ mental health. Results show that the combination of the formal elements “movement”, “dynamic,” and “contour” are significantly interrelated and related to clients’ mental health. In this study, we discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of these findings.
Plain-language summary
The assumption that formal elements of art products such as line, color and movement are related to adult clients’ mental health is controversial and debated in art therapy literature. In this study we wanted to test this assumption. We defined formal elements that were grounded in art theory and clinical art therapy practice. These formal elements could be operationalized and observed reliably. Related to mental health we found significant relationships between the combinations of the formal elements “movement”, “dynamic” and “contour”, and adult clients’ resiliency and experiential acceptance.
104 | Chapter 5