Art therapy

Art Therapy
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Art Therapy
Cancer is usually very stressful, and patients suffer emotionally and physically while undergoing treatment. The study, therefore, sought to determine the effectiveness of anthroposophy art therapy in relieving stress from the patients. It was found out that the sample of patients selected for the study significantly showed improvement. The study concluded that anthroposophy art therapy is ready for trials.
The study was named “Art therapy intervention in cancer patients.” It involved patients from the Oncology department at Rambam Medical Centre who were on chemotherapy. The research was found in a journal of Psycho-oncology (Bar-Sela, Atid, Danos, Gabay & Epelbaum, 2007). The study is of interest due to the increased prevalence of cancer and the pain that the patients go through especially chemotherapy. Covered by the study are sixty patients undergoing chemotherapy and those that only volunteered to be in the study. The control experiment was based on patients who were not part of the study.
The state of depression of the patients was gauged before the study by having objects given to them, and they had to pick a variety of colors to work with. When patients chose dull articles, it showed they were depressed. The anthroposophy art therapy was spread into four sessions and results measured (Bar-Sela et al., 2007). The method was a questionnaire that had a picture that depicted anxiety and depression on which the patients were to work with.

State changes were used to determine the impact of the methods on the patient by application of cognitive skills.
The study was spread for about four weeks for most of the patients with each sessions going for almost an hour each. The method involved was psychoanalysis for the patients had to be evaluated on their levels of anxiety and depression (Bar-Sela et al., 2007). The results of the study showed there was a significant improvement regarding depression and anxiety. Participants exhibited an improved quality of life as the artistic process provided an opportunity for self-expression without support. The patients testified that they had freedom or ‘breathing spaces’ and relaxation.
The limitation of the study mainly was with patients’ fear of working in large groups. Some patients who found it uncomfortable to work in big groups did not appear for the subsequent sessions (Bar-Sela et al., 2007). It is crucial, therefore, for future studies to put into consideration developing smaller groups to work with.
Reference
Bar-Sela, G., Atid, L., Danos, S., Gabay, N., & Epelbaum, R. (2007). Art therapy improved depression and influenced fatigue levels in cancer patients on chemotherapy. Psycho-Oncology, 16(11), 980 984. doi:10.1002/pon.1175