This article describes an expanded case study methodology that was used to explore the value that art therapy processes have in expression and understanding of the complications of immigration and acculturation. Data collected from two art therapy groups of Hispanic/Latino youth and immigrant women at an urban parish were analyzed to develop an…

This qualitative multiple-case study explored the experience of flow in individual art therapy with three Korean immigrant children who had difficulties adjusting to their new home and school circumstances in the United States. Flow theory was used to interpret data collected from the children's engaged art-making experiences and illuminated the…

This article examines the phenomenon of the art therapy profession's recent migration to one country and the resulting acculturation process for the sojourner practitioner, the country of origin, and the profession itself. For their training, art therapists in Colombia must migrate to study at established international programs, bringing back…

This case study illustrates how parents can help their children cope with the fear and pain of surgery by engaging them in expressive drawing. As part of a parenting class that utilized art therapy techniques, a father shared his 6-year-old son's spontaneous drawings that had been created directly before and after surgery. Through guidance by the…

The introduction of written informed consent in the 1970s created expectations of shared decision making between doctors and patients that has led to decisional conflict for some patients. This study utilized a collaborative, intrinsic case study approach to the decision-making process of oncology patients who participated in an open art therapy…

A case study illustrates how art therapy was used to elicit the narrative of an adolescent male student in transition from incarceration to a transfer school setting. Childhood trauma was addressed in individual sessions and within a literacy group co-led by a reading specialist. The art therapist responded to the client's needs by broadening the…

From a systems perspective, the role of the art therapist as social activist at a time of deep and crucial change for our clients, mental health systems, our country, and the world is discussed. Despite the fact that art therapists, through our artists' identities, are natural agents of change, our education and strivings for professional…

In this article, the author examines the use of transitional objects in a case study of a 12-year-old boy, documenting the role of art therapy in helping the boy cope with the trauma of his parents' recent separation and divorce. Transitional objects emerged spontaneously as the boy integrated the transition that the divorce of his parents…

Electronic media provides rapid delivery and unlimited access to pictures, sounds, and information. The ubiquitous presence of techno-digital culture in the lives of today's adolescents may influence or contaminate the art therapy process. This article presents two case studies that illustrate how cyberspace entered into art therapy sessions and…

This study sought to investigate the use of art therapy to assist a young person with mental illness making a transition from long-term inpatient care to a psychosocial residential rehabilitation setting. An art-based phenomenological case study method was used to investigate a lived experience of this transition. The participant attended 11 art…

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term that describes the range of effects associated with the diagnoses of Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). FASD itself is not a diagnosis, but rather encompasses a wide range of symptomatic behaviors that occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during…

This case report discusses the potential for art therapy to aid in the recovery of early-chronic stroke patients. The patient was diagnosed with having a subarachnoid hemorrhage from a cerebral aneurysm rupture 1 year prior to hospitalization. Therapies used as part of the patient's treatment included 10 weeks of art therapy conducted twice a…

This article presents the art therapist's engagement in responsive art making as an effective approach in working with an adolescent survivor of developmental trauma. Through a case study illustration, the art therapist's response art was effective in two main areas. First, in-session response art helped facilitate treatment goals in accordance…

This article describes the clinical practice of two male art therapists and their work with male adolescent sex offenders in a residential treatment facility. The authors share experiences of working with clients who, in addition to being offenders, were diagnosed with a mental illness and were themselves victims of sexual abuse. The function of…

Treatment and diagnosis for the pediatric form of bipolar disorder presents a clinical challenge given the differences from its adult counterpart and the various comorbid forms that complicate presentation and developmental course. This article discusses manifestations of early onset bipolar disorder and offers a method for implementing art…