Healing Pieces: Self Exploration Through Art Therapy

The purpose of this book is to share the results of my Masters thesis research. Healing Pieces was a mixed-method analysis of thirty art therapy interventions. Each intervention was conducted once, with two different groups of people, for a total of sixty sessions. Each participant was observed during the session and notes made on their level of engagement. McGowan's Group Engagement Measure (GEM) was the instrument utilized. Over 10,000 pieces of data was analyzed by the end of the project. The results indicated In Beauty May You Walk (page 3 and 4) was universally the most engaging to the participants. After that, the interventions where poetry, music, discussion and art were integrated rated higher in engagement. The interventions were selected based on aesthetic psychology principals. The word aesthetic (noun) has been defined as that which appeals to the senses. Aesthetics also appeal to our moral and ethical code. Knowing your personal values is often part of self exploration.