Page 75 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

INTRODUCTION
Formal elements of art products such as line, color and shape are often used in art therapy observation in youth as well as adult mental health care. The art therapists’ underlying assumption seems to be that formal elements reflect clients’ mental health problems (e.g. Cohen et al., 1986; Conrad et al., 2011; Gannt & Tabone, 1998; Hacking, 1999; Schoch, Ostermann & Gruber, 2017). Observing formal elements could thus be used by art therapists to formulate their perspective on clients’ functioning, strengths and challenges and support their contribution to the descriptive diagnosis. This could help the art therapist to decide whether art therapy and which art interventions may be beneficial. This interest in the use of formal elements is reflected in a large number of studies (e.g. Betts, 2005, 2006; Stuhler- Bauer & Elbing, 2003; Elbing & Hacking, 2001; Eytan & Elkis-Abuhoff, 2013; Kim et al., 2012; Mattson, 2009; Thyme et al., 2013). These studies, however, demonstrate a wide range of opinions concerning which formal elements are relevant and how they are described and interpreted in art therapy observation and assessment. Also, prior studies used a different number of formal elements. In the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) (Cohen, 1986, 1994; Cohen et al., 1986) twenty-two formal elements are included. In the Formal Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) (Gannt & Tabone, 1998) fourteen formal elements are incorporated, in the Descriptive Assessment of Psychiatric Art (DAPA) (Hacking, 1999) five categories, and in the Nürtinger Rating Scale (NRS) (Stuhler-Bauer & Elbing, 2003; Elbing & Hacking, 2001) four categories of twenty-four formal elements. Even if similarities in these formal elements can be recognized, the way they are described differs largely. For example, regarding line some emphasize the quality of the line (Gannt & Tabone, 1998), whereas others emphasize the presence of line versus the absence of line (Cohen et al., 1986). Regarding color, the intensity of color is included in the DAPA (Hacking, 1999), whereas others include the mixture of color (Cohen et al., 1986). Additionally, diversity can be recognized in the methods used to observe and assess the formal elements. In some studies, open observation of formal elements is used to inquire into an in-depth understanding of the individual client (Pénzes et al., 2015; Stuhler-Bauer & Elbing, 2003; Thyme et al., 2013, McNiff in Gilroy et al., 2012). In other studies, specific assessment methods are used such as the DDS, in which an art therapist assesses three drawings that are made with colored pastels according to three different tasks, or the FEATS, in which a drawing made with markers is assessed.
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