This study evaluated the potential benefit of weekly group art therapy in groups of adult psychiatric outpatients at a university medical center. Eighteen patients participated in 4 successive 8-week groups of 6 to 8 patients each that met weekly and were led by 2 therapists (a board-certified art therapist and a psychiatry resident). The standardized Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered pre-and post-treatment. Ten patients who attended 4 or more sessions of group art therapy were included in the study. The mean group CES-D scores for the study patients decreased significantly from pre-to post-treatment. This is the first pilot study report of the efficacy of group art therapy using a standardized depressive measure in heterogeneous adult psychiatric outpatients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.