Arts for the blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression

Parsons, Ailsa; Omylinska‐Thurston, Joanna; Karkou, Vicky; Harlow, Julianne; Haslam, Shelly; Hobson, Jessica A.; Nair, Kerry; Dubrow‐Marshall, Linda; Thurston, Scott; Griffin, Julia

doi:10.1080/03069885.2019.1633459

Cited by 21 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In-depth study of the manuals of the different types of DMT practice used can result in further refinement of what we think is currently responsible for the significant effects of DMT on reducing depression. A new project called “Arts for the Blues” (Haslam et al, 2019; Karkou et al, 2019; Parsons et al, in press) may offer relevant support in this direction for DMT as well as the other arts therapies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Dance Movement Therapy in the Treatment of Adults With Depression: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses

et al. 2019

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Background: Depression is the largest cause of mental ill health worldwide. Although interventions such as Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) may offer interesting and acceptable treatment options, current clinical guidelines do not include these interventions in their recommendations mainly because of what is perceived as insufficient research evidence. The 2015 Cochrane review on DMT for depression includes only three studies leading to inconclusive results. In a small and underfunded field such as DMT, expensive multi-centered Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) are as yet rare. It is therefore, necessary to not only capture evidence from RCTs, but to also look beyond such designs in order to identify and assess the range of current evidence. Methods: We therefore conducted a systematic review of studies that aimed to explore the effectiveness in the use of DMT with people with depression. This led to a qualitative narrative synthesis. We also performed meta-analyses that calculated the effect size for all included studies, studies with RCT designs only, followed by a subgroup analysis and a sensitivity analysis. In all meta-analyses a random effects model was used with Standardized Mean Differences (SMD) to accommodate for the heterogeneity of studies and outcome measures. Results: From the 817 studies reviewed, eight studies were identified as meeting our inclusion criteria. Three hundred and fifty one people with depression (mild to severe) participated, 192 of whom attended DMT groups while receiving treatment as usual (TAU) and 159 received TAU only. Qualitative findings suggest there was a decrease in depression scores in favor of DMT groups in all studies. Subgroup analysis performed on depression scores before and 3 months after the completion of DMT groups suggested changes in favor of the DMT groups. When sensitivity analysis was performed, RCTs at high risk of bias were excluded, leaving only studies with adult clients up to the age of 65. In these studies, the highest effect size was found favoring DMT plus TAU for adults with depression, when compared to TAU only. Conclusions: Based on studies with moderate to high quality, we concluded that DMT is an effective intervention in the treatment of adults with depression. Furthermore, by drawing on a wide range of designs with diverse quality, we were able to compile a comprehensive picture of relevant trends relating to the use of DMT in the treatment of depression. Despite the fact that there remains a paucity of high-quality studies, the results have relevance to both policy-making and clinical practice, and become a platform for further research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Dance Movement Therapy in the Treatment of Adults With Depression: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses

et al. 2019

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“…Prior to this study, two systematic reviews were carried out to synthesize the evidence from arts therapies interventions delivered in primary mainstream schools (Moula, 2020;Moula et al, 2020). The findings showed that for a pilot study, a minimum of 60 participants (30 in each group for a twoarm intervention) may be statistically meaningful (Uttley et al, 2015), which is also confirmed in relevant methodological texts (Browne, 1995;Murphy et al, 2014). In a recent systematic review examining the clinical effectiveness of art therapy in those with non-psychotic mental health disorders (Uttley et al, 2015) the mean sample size was also found to be 52 participants.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 73%

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Arts Therapies Interventions on Measures of Quality of Life and Wellbeing: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study in Primary Schools

2020

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BackgroundOver the last decades there has been a change in the way schooling is perceived recognizing that children’s learning is closely linked to children’s health. Children spend most of their time at school, which is often the place where problems are identified and interventions are offered, not only for treatment but also prevention. Embedding arts therapies into the educational system may help address children’s emerging needs and have a positive impact on their wellbeing.MethodsA pilot cross-over randomized controlled design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of an arts therapies intervention on a series of child- and teacher-reported outcome measures, specifically, health related quality of life (assessed using a HRQOL scale; EQ-5D-Y), wellbeing and life functioning (assessed using the child outcome rating scale; CORS), emotional and behavioral difficulties (assessed using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire; SDQ), as well as duration of sleep (assessed using Fitbits). Sample size calculations for future large-scale studies were also performed, and the sustained impact of the intervention was evaluated at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. The pluralistic theoretical and therapeutic framework of this intervention was informed by a systematic review on school-based arts therapies interventions and is presented in detail in the study protocol. Participants were 62 children with mild emotional and behavioral difficulties.ResultsImprovements in HRQOL and CORS were greater in those engaged in the arts therapies intervention than the control groups and were maintained at the follow-up stages. Significant improvements were only found for duration of sleep (P = 0.002) and SDQ (P = 0.008). Minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) as defined in the published protocol were found for CORS, SDQ and duration of sleep, but not HRQOL.DiscussionFindings indicate that the arts therapies interventions were having a clinically significant effect on life functioning, duration of sleep, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Findings also indicate a small effect size for health related quality of life, suggesting the intervention was having a small positive effect on this outcome measure. The study indicates that all outcome measures assessed here would be suitable for inclusion in a larger randomized controlled study utilizing these arts therapies interventions, and that a sample size of 225 participants would be required if these outcome measures were used.

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“…During the workshop, this personal narrative took the form of a creative piece in the form of words, images or movement that was 'shared with others'. These ingredients were only a small selection of the full list of therapeutic ingredients presented and discussed in Parsons et al (24) although they held the essence of the proposed intervention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The workshop required contracting for safety, data protection and participants' rights, time to outline the project and explain the rationale as described in detail in Parsons et al, (24). As indicated in Table 1, the intervention part of the workshop began with the consideration of a small change a participant would like to make;…”

Section: What Was Included In the Workhopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arts for the Blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression: a pilot workshop report

Haslam

Parsons

Omylinska‐Thurston

et al. 2019

Perspect Public Health

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Art s fo r t h e Blu e s -a n e w c r e a tiv e p sy c h olo gi c al t h e r a p y fo r d e p r e s sio n: a pilo t w o r k s h o p r e p o r t H a sl a m , S, P a r s o n s, AS, O mylin s k a-T h u r s t o n, J, N air, K, H a rlow, J, Le wi s, J, Th u r s t o n, SD, G riffin, J, D u b r o w-M a r s h all, LJ a n d Ka r k o u, V h t t p:// dx. d oi.o r g/ 1 0. 1 1 7 7/ 1 7 5 7 9 1 3 9 1 9 8 2 6 5 9 9 Ti t l e Art s fo r t h e Blu e s -a n e w c r e a tiv e p s yc h olo gic al t h e r a p y fo r d e p r e s sio n: a pilot w o r k s h o p r e p o r t A u t h o r s H a sl a m , S, P a r s o n s , AS, O m ylin s k a-Th u r s t o n, J, N a ir, K, H a rl ow, J, Le wi s, J, Th u r s t o n, SD, G riffin, J, D u b r o w-M a r s h all, LJ a n d Ka r k o u, V Typ e Articl e U RL This ve r sio n is a v ail a bl e a t : h t t p:// u sir.s alfo r d. a c. u k/id/ e p ri n t/ 5 1 0 1 4/ P u b l i s h e d D a t e 2 0 1 9 U SIR is a di git al c oll e c tio n of t h e r e s e a r c h o u t p u t of t h e U niv e r si ty of S alfo r d. W h e r e c o py ri g h t p e r mi t s, full t e x t m a t e ri al h el d in t h e r e p o si to ry is m a d e fr e ely a v ail a bl e o nli n e a n d c a n b e r e a d , d o w nlo a d e d a n d c o pi e d fo r n o nc o m m e r ci al p riv a t e s t u dy o r r e s e a r c h p u r p o s e s . Pl e a s e c h e c k t h e m a n u s c ri p t fo r a n y fu r t h e r c o py ri g h t r e s t ri c tio n s. Fo r m o r e info r m a tio n, in cl u di n g o u r p olicy a n d s u b mi s sio n p r o c e d u r e , pl e a s e c o n t a c t t h e R e p o si to ry Te a m a t: u si r@ s alfo r d. a c. u k . Abstract:Research over the last decade has identified both strengths and limitations in the use of routinely prescribed psychological therapies for depression. More recently, a focus on creative art therapies, and 'art on prescription' are developing a growing recognition of their potential additional therapeutic mechanisms for depression. Therefore, in an attempt to develop a new therapeutic intervention for depression, this research aligned both the evidence base surrounding the arts on prescription movement, collating these with clientreported helpful factors and preferences for therapeutic interventions. We developed a framework for a new pluralistic 'meta-approach' of therapy for depression, based on an interdisciplinary thematic synthesis of active ingredients, considered specific features implemented in therapy and client reported helpful factors considered to be the broad features or experiences in therapy from both talking therapies and creative approaches. This framework contributed to the development of a pilot workshop entitled; Arts for the Blues -A New Creative Psychological Therapy for Depression. An outline of, and evaluation from, this workshop is presented in this paper. Workshop participants were recruited via a voluntary workshop taking place at a North West Higher Education Institution Arts and Health conference (N=15). The workshop was evaluated using quantitative measures, with results indicatin...

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Arts for the blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression

Cited by 21 publications

References 24 publications

Effectiveness of Dance Movement Therapy in the Treatment of Adults With Depression: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses

Effectiveness of Dance Movement Therapy in the Treatment of Adults With Depression: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Arts Therapies Interventions on Measures of Quality of Life and Wellbeing: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study in Primary Schools

Arts for the Blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression: a pilot workshop report

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