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The Effectiveness of Art Therapy with Sexually Abused Boys

The Effectiveness of Art Therapy with Sexually Abused Boys. Sasha D. Virvo Department of Applied Psychology New York University. What is Art Therapy?. A therapeutic process in which the patient uses art-making as a form of self-expression.

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The Effectiveness of Art Therapy with Sexually Abused Boys

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  1. The Effectiveness of Art Therapy with Sexually Abused Boys Sasha D. Virvo Department of Applied Psychology New York University

  2. What is Art Therapy? • A therapeutic process in which the patient uses art-making as a form of self-expression. • Uses various medias for art-making, such as paint, clay, and wood. • Through reflection, the patient increases self-awareness, copes with trauma, and improves physical, emotional, and mental well-being. American Art Therapy Association, 2008

  3. Art Therapy and Boys • Research suggests that there are several benefits to using Art Therapy with children. • Gender is a continually neglected variable in the research. • The majority of studies use samples that are only female or that are biased toward females; therefore we know very little about art therapy with male children. Amir & Lev-Wiesel, 2007; Gold et al., 1998;Stronach-Buschel, 1990; Waller, 2006

  4. Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) • CSA is defined as the use of a child for sexual stimulation by someone who is older or in a position of power over the child (APA, 1998). • In 2005, CSA affected approximately 83,810children in the United States (USDHHS, 2007). • CSA is prevalent among both male and female population, having the same effects for both genders (e.g., Dube et al., 2005). • The CSA male population is severely under-represented in the current literature.

  5. Art Therapy with SexuallyAbused Children • Scientific research suggests that traumatic memories are stored and processed in the right-hemisphere of the brain, which can make talking about the trauma difficult (Klorer & Clayton, 2005). • Art therapy might be an alternate and easier way for children to access traumatic information because through art, children can: • Manage control over memories without becoming overwhelmed. • Communicate emotions and events that they cannot express in words (Stronach-Buschel, 1990).

  6. Example of Art as a Narrative This picture was drawn by a 13-year-old boy who was raped by two older boys when he was 8 years old (Amir & Lev-Wiesel, 2007).

  7. Present Study Research Question What is the effectiveness of Art Therapy with boys who have experienced sexual abuse? Hypothesis Art Therapy will be an effective treatment method for boys who have experienced sexual abuse.

  8. Proposed Methods Participants • 120 boys • Ages 8-11. • Background information obtained from social service agencies, such as length of abuse, type of abuse, and severity of abuse. Design • Two-treatment group design. • Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: 1. Art Therapy 2. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

  9. Procedure • Length of therapy. Therapy sessions will be held once a week for 12 weeks. • Individual Art Therapy (n=60). Boys will create art and reflect on their art-making process and products as a way to explore and express emotions. • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (n=60). Boys will receive individual therapy aimed at modifying negative thoughts and behaviors.

  10. Measures Child self-report and caretaker-report administered pre- and post-treatment. Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) (Briere, 1996) • 54-item self-report for children who have experienced trauma. • 6 clinical scales: Anger, Depression, Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress, Dissociation, Sexual Concerns. Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) (Briere, 1997) • 90-item caretaker-report for children who have experienced trauma. Measures across the same 6 clinical scales as the TSCC.

  11. Expected Results & Benefits • Art Therapy (AT) is expected to be a more effective treatment method than Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for sexually abused boys. • AT promotes growth and healing among sexually abused boys. • AT provides a medium for expression despite children’s limited vocabulary or ability to verbalize experiences. • AT deepens understanding of therapeutic effects among male CSA population.

  12. Limitations & Future Directions • Attrition might occur over the course of the study (12 weeks). • Only looks at boys ages 8-11, so it is not generalizable to girls or children of other age groups. • Variance in children’s ages, degree of abuse, or length of abuse might influence the study’s outcomes. • Based on the CSA findings, future research might explore Art Therapy with child victims of other types of abuse (e.g., physical or psychological).

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