Page 98 - ART FORM AND MENTAL HEALTH - Ingrid Pénzes

Formal elements and mental health
Through theoretical coding, relationships between formal elements and mental health were conceptualized in which the core concepts were related; structure was related to clients’ balance and variation was related to adaptability (see Figure 3).
Observation of the combination of formal elements Primary: contour, repetition, movement and dynamic Secondary: mixture of color, figuration and color saturation
Structure
Variation
Ascertain structure on a continuum from clear high -clear low
and the amount of variation
Balance Adaptability
Ascertain the level of balance and tendency towards thought or feeling Ascertain the present and potential adaptability
Formulation of treatment focus, estimation of treatment prognosis and duration, and choosing art interventions.
Figure 3. Formal elements in art therapy observation Structure and balance
Based on the observed primary and secondary formal elements, the extent to which they were present/absent and in which combination, art therapists ascertained the structure of the art product on a continuum from high to
96 | Chapter 4