Strengthening the Healthy Adult Self in Art Therapy: Using Schema Therapy as a Positive Psychological Intervention for People Diagnosed With Personality Disorders

Abstract

This article reviews recent theoretical contributions and studies about art therapy that attempt to capture aspects of healthy ego functioning and presents an inventory of art therapy interventions to strengthen the Healthy Adult. It discusses how art therapy can offer interventions that focus specifically and directly on the integration and growth of the whole person, and which interventions are suitable for this purpose in the treatment of people diagnosed with severe personality disorders. A link is made between the Healthy Adult as a familiar concept from Schema Therapy, and Positive Psychology, with its focus on well-being, strength and positive affect. On the basis of our present knowledge, available studies and experiences, art therapy seems promising in contributing to the development of Healthy Adult functioning. Art therapy addresses the different areas of healthy adult functioning. Specific art therapy interventions are discussed on a concrete level. Art therapy appears to offer ways to strengthen the Healthy Adult and helps people to free themselves from destructive patterns and to work on satisfying their basic needs as independent and responsibly functioning individuals in a positive connectedness with themselves and their surroundings. The strength of art therapy may be the experiential level and the appeal to the capacity to play, to flexibility, and to be creative. This makes experiences easier to reach, and developing from there into a Healthy Adult mode is possible in a manner that is more felt than thought. Creativity can be regarded as the ability of the Healthy Adult to be flexible and to find different solutions to a problem. This appeal of art therapy fits well the therapeutic goal of empowerment and well-being, which is at the heart of positive psychology. More research is needed to verify the effects and working mechanisms of art therapy interventions.

The Relationship between Sustainable Built Environment, Art Therapy and Therapeutic Design in Promoting Health and Well-Being

“…AT can not only promote mental health but also reduce mental illness [44]. The intervention of AT can strengthen the self-function of adult health [45]. Lee et al [46] believe that integrating the ecological environment into art psychotherapy can play a vital role in improving mental health, such as stress, depression, anxiety, and aggression.…”

Dealing with opposites as a mechanism of change in art therapy in personality disorders: A mixed methods study

“…In art therapy dealing with opposites, the ability to shape and process them, to reach a unified form, is a prominent theme (Malchiodi, 2011;Case and Dalley, 2014;Haeyen, 2018). Opposites, defined as the presence of completely different and opposing qualities, become visible and tangible in the therapeutic art making process (e.g., distance -proximity, autonomyconnection, big -small, hard -soft, open -closed, safe -unsafe, beautiful -ugly; e.g., Budde, 1989;Haeyen, 2007Haeyen, , 2011Haeyen, , 2018Haeyen, , 2019Malchiodi, 2011;Case and Dalley, 2014;Hinz, 2015). Opposites in the artworks of patients could show patients' possibilities for variation, differentiation and management of contrasts.…”

“…Opposites in the artworks of patients could show patients' possibilities for variation, differentiation and management of contrasts. Generally, movements of the patient in the creative process give an idea of their psychosocial possibilities, or, in other words, their rigidity or flexibility (Itten, 1980(Itten, , 1989Hinz, 2015;Haeyen, 2019). Contrasts and opposites are important image elements that can be used in the search for clarity, awareness and insight (Hinz, 2015).…”

“…This was defined as "to experience oneself more as a whole, more balanced and not so fragmented, torn, instable and dependent" (Haeyen, 2011, p. 40). Artistic expression also encourages healthy inner dialog by giving form to the various contradictory and opposing sides of the person (Malchiodi, 2011;Haeyen, 2019). Personal integration takes place when opposed feelings, thoughts and actions come together in one unified coherent representation (Rubin, 2001;Haeyen, 2019).…”

Benefits of Art Therapy in People Diagnosed With Personality Disorders: A Quantitative Survey

“…The way people express emotions plays an important role in social interactions (Gross, 2002). Art therapy may help patients to recognize difficult emotions, to integrate conflicting thoughts, feelings or behaviors, and to find a more constructive way of dealing with them (Eisdell, 2005;Simon, 2005;Haeyen, 2011bHaeyen, , 2018Haeyen, , 2019. Art therapy is an integrative health profession which has roots in the social sciences, medicine and art (Czamanski-Cohen and Weihs, 2016).…”