Page 46 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

observed patterns in material experience, the art product, and especially, the material interaction.
Art therapists observed patterns of material interaction in properties of movement, dynamic, space, tempo, pressure, lining, shaping, repetition and control and linked these patterns with aspects of the client’s mental health. These properties seem to overlap with what Stern (2000, 2010) described as vitality forms. Vitality forms are characteristic for vitality affects: the time- based patterns of feelings that are formed by a combination of parameters such as movement, repetition, rhythm, tempo, intensity, shape and number. Vitality affects are expressed in vitality forms directly in the present moment. According to the theory of analogy (Smeijsters, 2008 a, 2008b, 2008c, Smeijsters, Kil, Kurstjens, Welten & Willemars, 2011; Smeijsters, 2012) the patterns of feeling (vitality affects) are analogous (identical) to the patterns of artistic form shaping (vitality forms). Based on the theory of the development of ‘the self’ of Damasio (2003, 2010), arts therapies are described as therapies wherein the artistic form shaping is not so much connected to the reflective, cognitive and verbal level, but to the immediate non-cognitive and non-verbal experience of the core self that expresses itself in the present moment. The concept of material interaction adds to the theory of analogy because it specifies the importance of art materials’ properties and their influence on art making. Based on these patterns, art therapists formulate an art therapy diagnosis in which aspects of the clients’ mental health are formulated by the clients’ difficulties and strengths. Emphasizing the client’s strengths as a positive approach to mental health is also mentioned in previous art therapy literature (Betts, 2012), who notes “positive psychology approaches to assessment provide a constructive framework for art therapists “ (p. 208).
Methodological considerations and implications for further research
Several techniques were used to meet the criteria of “trustworthiness” during the course of this research (see Methods section). Despite these efforts to enhance the quality, this study has limitations.
Theoretical sampling led to the inclusion of art therapists from two different training backgrounds (there are four training programs in The Netherlands). Further exploration and development of the core category ‘material interaction’ requires the inclusion of a wider range of art therapists.
The same limitation applies to the clients who were reflected on in this study. These clients showed a wide range of mental health problems and
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