The psychopathology of everyday art: a quantitative Study - World ...

is less affected is that drawing is not rigidly sequential and that relationships and time are
expressed in different dimensions than the construct of language.
Summary of Case Studies
There were two elements recorded in art therapy research using case studies: (a) the effect
of the art process upon the patient of which reports the studies mostly consisted, and
(b) the process of decoding the picture, which was reported obscurely, individualistically
and inconsistently.
(a) Therapy: The use of art with patients seems to be therapeutic since observational
evidence of lower symptom levels and educational or social benefits such as skills learnt
by the patient are presented and there is a suggestion that art may provide an alternative
route to communication for the thought disordered patient. Art therapy is generally
useful for retarded people as an activity where people feel able, although there is no
agreement on what kind of techniques to apply. The relationship between the therapist
and the patient was very important in the view of the therapist and was said to provide
therapeutic benefits in itself, but the nature of the involvement by the therapist tended
to obscure the reporting. Thus the therapist was not the ideal researcher.
(b) Decoding: The largest section examined here was that categorised as general
expression of feelings, where projective methods and content interpretation were thought
to induce cathartic release and facilitate communication between the therapist and patient.
However, these benefits seemed to be independent of method or orientation of the study
and seem to indicate that the art provides a third interactive function for the patient.
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