Date of Award

Spring 4-24-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Major

Clinical Mental Health Counselling

First Advisor

Raquel Chapin Stephenson, PhD, ATR-BC, LCAT

Abstract

This qualitative study explored how building textile art skills and learning techniques can help adolescents explore identity, improve self-esteem, and build resilience through art therapy. Two students engaged in individual sessions to explore an art therapy directive that asked them to upcycle an item of clothing using appliqué, patchwork, embroidery, embellishment, or modification to express an experience, strength, goal, or aspect of identity. Through this process, the students created a vest and an appliqué patch for an existing vest. The goal of this intervention was to explore identity, improve self-esteem, and build resilience. After analyzing the observations of the individual session with these students, three themes were prominent: 1) the exploration and display of identity; 2) finding pride through resilience; and 3) clothing that inspires confidence. The findings suggest that skill-based textile work in art therapy is beneficial for adolescents.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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