The workshop is a continuation of the course Research Methodology – Lecture II: Art Therapy Research, Grounded Theory and Drawn Diagrams. Participants are invited to participate in a creative project which offers insight into the diverse opportunities entailed in art making and its contributions to research and academia. No prior experience or knowledge of creative work is required. However, participants must have attended the lecture Research Methodology – Lecture II: Art Therapy Research, Grounded Theory, and Drawn Diagrams.
2014 Grounded Theory: Research in Art Therapy and Drawn Diagrams. Workshop held for art therapy students, University of Hertfordshire, England.
Ottarsdottir, U. 2013 Grunduð kenning og teiknaðar skýringarmyndir. (Grounded Theory and Drawn Diagrams). In: Sigríður Halldórsdóttir (Ed.), Handbók í aðferðafræði rannsókna (Handbook of Research Methodology) (pp. 361-375). Akureyri: University of Akureyri.
Ottarsdottir, U. 2018 Art therapy to Address Emotional Well-being of Children who have Experienced Stress and/or Trauma. In: A. Zubala & V. Karkou (Eds.), Arts Therapies in the Treatment of Depression: International Research in the Arts Therapies (pp. 30-47). Oxford: Routledge.
The workshop is a continuation of Introductory Lecture II: Art Educational Therapy and Writing-Images. Participants are invited to take part in a creative project and thereby acquire experience of art educational therapy and the possibilities provided by the method. Participants must already have acquired some understanding of art therapy and art educational therapy by attending lecture(s) and/or foundation courses on art therapy and art educational therapy, such as Introductory Lectures I and II: What is Art Educational Therapy? and Art Educational Therapy and Writing-Images.
In the art educational therapy (AET) research project introduced in this course, coursework is integrated into art therapy with the aim of facilitating emotional well-being and coursework learning. Theories concerning “writing-images”, which emerged in the study are introduced. The concept “writing-images” refers to drawn images of alphabetical letters and numbers, which form part of the methods of art educational therapy.
During a specific developmental phase, many children draw letter shapes before they develop knowledge about phonetics and symbols that make up the letters of the alphabet. This period is called the “writing-images stage”. Ways to work with “writing-images” with the goal of restoring, strengthening and preserving the educational foundation that was formed during the writing-images stage are presented in the course. Simultaneously, emotional expression through art making is observed through the prism of art therapy. In the course, an emphasis is placed on the importance of paying attention to children’s writing-images. The practical aspects of writing-images with regard to therapy and education are also discussed.
Participants are invited to take part in a creative project and thereby acquire experience of art educational therapy and the possibilities provided by the method.
