Art Therapy With Students At Risk

Explores the various applications of art therapy when working with at-risk students, discussing how art therapy can be used with children of all ages, the introduction and implementation of art therapy in the alternate learning environment, and more.

Art Therapy with Students at Risk: Fostering Resilience and Growth Through Self-Expression reflects the current research, legislation, and trends that impact the theory and practice of art therapy with diverse at-risk student populations. The book is divided into eight chapters and it includes twelve therapeutic techniques. The 12 therapeutic techniques are written in a lesson plan format which provide opportunities for children to express their thoughts and feelings coupled with confirmation that their art is important to them and to others. Chapter 1, “Adolescence,” examines the developmental period between childhood and adulthood. Chapter 2, “Alternative Schools,” describes the development of alternative schools in the United States through legislative reform, education reform, and civil rights. Chapter 3, “Alternative Education,” explores the catalyst for policymakers to make quality education a civil rights issue. Chapter 4, “Emotions and Learning,” investigates the relationship between emotions and learning and the impact of this relationship on academic achievement. Chapter 5, “Multicultural and Diversity Competence,” focuses on the changing demographics in the United States which have significant implications for the art therapy profession. Chapter 6, “From Risk to Resilience,” highlights the paradigm shift in resilience research away from the deficit, pathology-focused model of development, referred to as the Damage Model to the Challenge Model. Chapter 7, “Art Psychotherapy,” provides insight into the unique criteria that distinguishes it from other types of psychotherapy. Chapter 8, “Art Therapy with Students at Risk,” presents a foundational framework for developing and implementing an art therapy program within a traditional or nontraditional learning environment. This book is designed for art therapy students, professional art therapists, educators, administrators, and practitioners in the allied professions of counseling, social work, psychology, prevention, and human services.

Healing the Inner City Child presents a diverse collection of creative arts therapies approaches to meeting the specific mental health needs of inner city children, who are disproportionately likely to experience violence, crime and family pressures and are at risk of depression and behavioural disorders as a result. The contributors draw on their professional experience in school and community settings to describe a wide variety of suitable therapeutic interventions, including music, play and art therapy as well as psychodrama and dance/movement approaches, that enable children to deal with experiences of trauma, loss, abuse, and other risk factors that may affect their ability to reach their full academic and personal potentials. The contributors examine current research and psychoeducational trends and build a compelling case for the use of creative arts therapies with inner city populations. A must-read for creative arts therapists, psychologists, social workers and educators, this book offers a comprehensive overview of arts-based interventions for anyone working to improve the lives of children growing up in inner city areas.

Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth highlights the paradigm shift to treating children and adolescents as "at-promise" rather than "at-risk." By utilizing a strength-based model that moves in opposition to pathology, this volume presents a client-allied modality wherein youth are given the opportunity to express emotions that can be difficult to convey using words. Working internationally with diverse groups of young people grappling with various forms of trauma, 30 contributing therapists share their processes, informed by current understandings of neurobiology, attachment theory, and developmental psychology. In addition to guiding principles and real-world examples, also included are practical directives, strategies, and applications. Together, this compilation highlights the promise of healing through the creative arts in the face of oppression.

The contributors draw on their professional experience in school and community settings to describe a wide variety of suitable therapeutic interventions that enable children to deal with experiences of trauma, loss, abuse, and other risk factors that may affect their ability to reach their full academic and personal potentials.

Drawing on case material from a variety of situations, the book describes medical research on medical art therapy with children, and practical approaches to using art activities with them. The text looks at children with burns, HIV, asthma and cancer.

The intention of this capstone thesis was to develop, promote, and implement an art therapy program within my school district as an intervention for at-risk students and incorporate it into the structure of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The integrative description of this capstone method development specifically highlighted how PBIS and Art therapy have been incorporated at an Urban High School in Southern California to address the increasingly growing number of at-risk students within this traditional public educational setting. At-risk behaviors in youth have been determined as signs of individual and familial distress by many researchers. With that framework in mind, my capstone project review of an ongoing implementation of PBIS in this urban high school included detailed art therapy applications that addressed themes of accountability, communication, collaboration, motivation, skill development, and goal setting for small groups of high school students, grades 9-12. As there is growing but limited data on PBIS as it applies to high school settings and very limited school art therapy programs with at-risk high school students, this work was intended to promote and to inform the district's teachers, administrators, community members, and policymakers of the potential of utilizing school-integrated art therapy as an intervention option.

Using art therapy, lived experience, and DBT skills in combination, this book offers insight into how, together, these methods can help prevent youth suicide. Practical advice for professionals and case studies will result in increased confidence in using DBT with young people. In this helpful and empowering book, readers are guided through the background, theory, and use of art therapy and DBT as a positive intervention. Schorr exemplifies these practices through The Arts in Recovery for Youth (AIRY) model - an art therapy model informed by research in suicidology and best practices in suicide prevention. Practical resources and a wide range of art therapy directives are included in order to seamlessly integrate DBT-informed art therapy into caring and therapeutic work with evidence-based measurable outcomes.