Art therapy matters: A review of an intervention study
Since 2011, the entire world has witnessed the Syrian civil war and its adverse consequences, especially for children. This caused millions of Syrian people to migrate. Even if they tried to begin a new life in a new country, mental health issues came with them because of the traumatic events they were exposed to. The majority of empirical studies are observing Syrian refugees’ mental health trying to find a way to have a positive effect on them. Feen-Calligan and colleagues published a paper in 2020 to indicate how the trauma-related symptoms of refugee children and youths can be decreased with the help of art therapy.
In this research, a total of 15 Syrian children living in the US participated 12 weeks of art therapy sessions. There was also a control group that didn’t get any treatment. Each art therapy session was organized and conducted by licensed art therapists in a safe environment and included activities that help them for assessing stress baseline, encouraging self-expression, teaching mindfulness techniques, identifying strengths and supports, and promoting group cohesion. By using different materials participants were asked to complete each week’s activities. For example, in Week 4, children created a giant star shape by putting small colorful paper pieces together. To measure stress and trauma-related symptoms, Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED,) and the UCLA Child/Adolescent PTSD Reaction Index were used the assess the effectiveness of the art therapy both at the beginning and at the end of the intervention.
Results showed that there was a decrease in trauma-related symptoms and total anxiety symptoms among refugee children who participated in art therapy sessions compared to the control group. However, as it was stated in the article, the reason behind this decrease was not only caused by the contents of the art therapy but also lied in the group work. Engaging with the group increased their sense of belonging while it also served as comfort and safety.
As a member of the WarToys group, this study broaden my horizon, especially with the content of activities and how they were used to decrease psychological symptoms and a part of a healing process. Although some activities seemed to be prepared with basic materials like paper and crayons only, it gave children a chance to use their imagination and express themselves without building pressure on them. In addition, I noticed that completing a 12-week art therapy session requires hard work and discipline but in this case, it also elicited fun among children. I think it was one of the most important features of this type of work, completing tasks in a professional way while having fun!
One of my most obvious criticisms was about sample size. Although a small sample size was effective to maintain the whole process without causing any complications and chaos, it might not be enough to prove the power of art therapy in reducing stress and anxiety levels while decreasing trauma-related symptoms. Moreover, the participants were living in the US in this experiment, however, it could also be beneficial to observe the effect of art therapy sessions among children who were living in a refugee camp or children who were still living in their hometown with the memories of the traumatized environment.
Article: Feen-Calligan, H., Grasser, L. R., Debryn, J., Nasser, S., Jackson, C., Seguin, D., & Javanbakht, A. (2020). Art therapy with Syrian refugee youth in the United States: An intervention study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 69, 101665.
