Page 139 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

clearly in terms of what art therapists called ‘health’ than in terms of what they called ‘illness’.
DISCUSSION
1. The art form in art therapy observation and assessment
The art form refers to the use of art materials within an art-making process, which results in an art product. This is what differentiates art therapy from other types of therapy in mental health care. A fundamental assumption is that the art form is related to clients’ mental health. The art form is seen as one of the cornerstones in the therapeutic context in addition to the client and the therapist. These three cornerstones influence each other, as is explained in the introduction. The addition of a third cornerstone and the influence between the three cornerstones leads to complexity but also richness in the clinical situation, which can be considered as difficult to investigate. This complexity is even more challenging because of the diverse perspectives on art therapy observation and assessment. Art therapy literature reflects this diversity in the ongoing discussion regarding the observation of the art-making process and art product, and how to interpret these observations in terms of mental health (e.g., Betts, 2006, 2012, 2016; Gilroy, Tipple & Brown, 2012). This discussion is diffuse and inconsistent due to a lack of empirical studies and methodological problems (e.g., Schoch, Ostermann & Gruber, 2017). To take the discussion forward, it is necessary to reduce this complexity and focus the research questions. In the studies in this dissertation, we attempted to focus our research questions. The result is promising, as it provides us with some clarity regarding the complexity of art therapy assessment.
In this dissertation, we have shown that the art form indeed contains important cues in art therapy assessment because the art form could provide information about the clients’ mental health. Art therapists emphasize the importance of the art process during art therapy assessment. This is seen in our studies, previous research (e.g., Conrad, Hunter & Krieshok, 2011; Hinz, 2009, 2015), and when talking to art therapists in clinical practice. They highlight the importance of observing the way a client interacts, attunes and adapts to the art materials’ properties during the art-making process. We have called this clients’ ‘material interaction.’
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