Page 22 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

and the formal elements of art products of adult clients in mental health? Three sequential focus groups were conducted in which 47 art therapists participated. Outcomes indicated that the art product is related to clients’ material interaction and mental health.
As this might imply that the art product is an important and objective source of information in art therapy observation, the relationship between the art product and clients’ mental health was further investigated in the following study reported in Chapter 4.
In this qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory methodology, eight art therapists were interviewed in-depth to identify which formal elements they observe during art therapy observation, how they describe mental health and how they associate formal elements with mental health. These questions subsequently focus on the art form of the art therapy triad, the client and the axis art form – client, specifically the art product. Based on the results of this study, the focus further narrowed to the relationship between formal elements of the art product and adult clients’ mental health.
Chapter 5 deals with the findings of four consecutive studies regarding 1) a meta-theoretical description of formal elements, 2) the operationalization of these formal elements so they can be analyzed reliably in clients’ art products, 3) the establishment of reliable and clinically relevant formal elements, and 4) the relationship between formal elements and adult clients’ mental health. Sub-studies 1, 2 and 3 focus on the art form, specifically the art product, and even more specifically on the formal elements of the art product of the art therapy triad. Sub-study 4 focuses on the axis art form – client, specifically the formal elements of the art product in relationship to specific aspects of clients’ mental health.
In Chapter 6, the summary and general discussion, the main findings of the studies are discussed in relation to the aims of this research project. Limitations and considerations as well as the implication for clinical practice and further research will be discussed.
20 | Chapter 1