Page 145 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

disorders, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders. Clients with co-morbid diagnoses were most often diagnosed with mood disorder and personality disorder. Even though this heterogeneity ensured a realistic representation of the client population in adult mental health, it did not allow comparison of clients with similar mental health issues.
Furthermore, the art materials used and the art therapy task provided could influence the results. As it was argued by art therapists that interaction with diverse art materials evoked different cognitive and emotional experiences and material interaction styles, the art materials used and the task provided could influence the formal elements that we wanted to operationalize and test regarding their relation with mental health. For example, the formal element ‘filled space’ might have emerged if art products had been made on a larger paper size, with smaller brushes and/or allowing more time. We also knew that using just one art material eliminated the influence of the diversity of different art materials. Therefore, we decided to use acrylic paint that is multifaceted because it can be used resistively or fluidly depending on the amount of water added. The art therapists instructed all their clients explicitly on this possibility. In addition, the formal elements were operationalized for the use of two- dimensional art materials in general. For some formal elements, such as linearity, this was very difficult. Linearity depends considerably on the art material used, for instance, a marker creates lines more easily than acrylic paint. The formal elements ‘movement,’ ‘dynamic’ and ‘contour’ seemed to be less dependent on art materials. Specifically, ‘movement’ and ‘dynamic’ are more related to the client’s movement and its dynamics during the interaction with the art material. Using a multifaceted material such as acrylic paint allowed clients to interact with it in their own style. We have, however, not tested this, and therefore this could be addressed in future research by using other art materials.
Implications for clinical practice
This research project investigated art therapy’s fundamental assumption that the art form is related to adult mental health. This led to several substantial findings; however, the clinical implementation of these findings has not been within the scope of this dissertation. Therefore, we have to be cautious regarding the implications for the clinical practice of art therapy. Nonetheless, the findings are grounded in art therapy practice, as 68
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