| Abstract [eng] |
Topic: experience of hope in adults with disabilities in the process of art therapy. Problem of research: congenital and acquired disabilities affect a person and are often associated with symptoms of depression, making a person without hope more vulnerable to mental health. Art therapy can be useful in improving the well-being of people with disabilities in their daily life or as an integral treatment promoting a sense of hope. However, no research has yet been conducted in Lithuania on the experience of hope in adults with disabilities in the art therapy. Aim: to reveal how adults with disabilities experience a sense of hope in the art therapy process. Object: the experience of hope in the process of art therapy. Methods of research: a qualitative research strategy and data collection methods were chosen: semi-structured interview (1 hour), verbal reflections of the participants, drawings and the researcher's observation diary. 3 people with an acquired disability participated in the study (28-77 years old). Participants attended 15 sessions of closed group art therapy (1.5-2 hours long). Verbal data and notes were analyzed using the method of inductive thematic analysis, and visual data - using the method of formal elements analysis, a comparison of thematic analysis and analysis of formal elements of art was made. Results: inductive thematic analysis revealed two main themes that describe the experience of hope in participants with disabilities in the art therapy process: 1. Deep transformations: meeting yourself in art therapy and 2. An inspiring intersection of art and hope. Once the analysis of formal elements of art was conducted, 9 largest groups of drawings were defined: Janinos: 1. Human, 2. House, 3. Trees; Aurimo: 1. Portraits, 2. Hands – support and strength, 3. Road – hope – future; Eglės: 1. Trees, 2. Human, 3. House. Conclusions: 1. In the creative process of art therapy, the sense of hope experienced by research participants with disabilities manifested by the fact that: the participants felt the sense of meaning while creating and participating in the creative process; felt empowered – realized that disability did not define their ability to create; the participants experienced moments of self-belief and a positive attitude towards the future was formed, which was shown by the depicted and verbally reflected hopes and dreams reflected in the drawings; experienced a feeling of inner strength, the sense of self-worth increased, which was shown by increased openness to express emotions by listing them, accepting and going through them. In addition, group participants were able to inspire each other, thus art therapy brought them closer together. 2. The sense of hope manifested by the following formal elements: use of description in drawings; objects in the center; outline; vertical and horizontal position of the sheet; thick, bold lines; direction of movement up and to the right. As the formal elements change: from a fragmentary to a central composition; from 1 to 4 colors and tools; from an ordinary hard pencil to colored pens; from colorless to colored; from pencils to crayons; emergence of perspective; from short, broken lines to long, solid ones; changed tree type from birch to oak; from indirect to direct representation; from direct representation to symbolic. It also manifested through the most frequently repeated objects: all participants' drawings depicted a person, a house and a tree. Also through the colors used purposefully by all participants. The color green was detected in all participants' drawings. Other most common colors were: black, red, green, pink, purple, yellow and the brown color at the end of the cycle. 3. The correlation between drawings and verbal expression showed that the sense of hope experienced by participants with disabilities manifested itself by the following aspects: sence of meaning, empowerment, faith, strength, self-worth, emotional expression, integrity. |
