Date of Award

Spring 5-19-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Donna C. Owens

Abstract

Therapists often draw from multiple therapeutic modalities in order to find appropriate treatment options for a client; however, little is written on the subject of how these modalities may be able to enhance each other in a strategic way. When considering the field of expressive arts therapy and the struggle it has faced in the effort to legitimize itself, it is worth considering how other therapeutic modalities could work in tandem with it in order to improve the overall experience. Alternatively, cognitive behavioral therapy is a strong, evidence-based practiced that sometimes lacks in the qualitative experience realm, providing a gap that may be filled by applying unique, expressive arts therapy techniques to achieve therapeutic goals. This literature review explores the possibility of therapeutic enhancement through a hybrid approach to cognitive behavioral therapy and expressive arts therapy. The proposal for a hybrid approach is based on an investigation into the published literature and historical texts of each modality, their underlying theories, an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, potential overlap of the two modalities, and gaps that may be filled by a tandem application. The final component of this literature review provides samples for application by focusing on adolescents with anxiety as a target population. The research presented here encourages practitioners to perform further research on the utilization of this particular hybrid approach and opens the door for further communication about other potential hybrid approaches.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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