Art Therapy as an approach for working with schizophrenic patients

Abstract

Serious disturbances in ego development, self-esteem, and self-identity exist in the schizophrenic person. As patients, their graphic work represents a direct and meaningful reflection of the symptoms of their psychopathology. I show here that skillful art therapy can help modify their psychotic projections as well as providing a constructive rehabilitative approach. The use of the creative arts in conjunction with more traditional forms of treatment has been shown to be an effective tool in treating the schizophrenic client intrapsychically and interpersonally, both in terms of relieving the symptomatology, as well as in the possible resolution of the pathology itself.

Using Art Therapy to Address Cognitive Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

“…The purpose of this study was to examine the use of art therapy in the treatment of people who suffer from cognitive impairments as a result of PD. Art therapy has been found to be effective in the treatment of people with PD (Maiorana, 1989), depression (Wadeson, 1980), dementia (Mottram, 2003), and psychosis (Crespo, 2003) as separate entities.…”

“…Perhaps the time limit of the study was too short to focus on this particular symptom, or perhaps the overall level of cognitive impairment was too profound. Crespo (2003) found that art therapy was of benefit to people suffering from psychosis, but only after a prolonged amount of time and exposure to art. This researcher also used highly structured art therapy directives that were primarily oriented towards reality.…”