Date of Award

Spring 5-20-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Raquel Stephenson

Abstract

Physiological aging can lead to frustration and hinder the willingness of the elders to learn new things. Therefore, when considering how art therapy can bring better care and benefits to older Chinese immigrants, the author combined Chinese herbs in art making. Studies have shown that using different media based on cultural considerations in art therapy can better meet the needs of diverse groups.

In this thesis, the author designed art therapy sessions corresponding to plant growth and human development stages with the concept of traditional Chinese medicine philosophy to explore the potential value of this method. Through these sessions, the older Chinese adult participants became gradually engaged in the group as they were familiar with the materials used, allowing them to share their thoughts on cultural aspects more freely. Additionally, the use of Chinese herbs as metaphors during the art-making process had a similar effect, expanding and deepening participants' self-care reflections. These findings support the notion that combining art therapy and traditional Chinese medicine philosophy can provide positive outcomes to participants.

Creative Commons License

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

Download

Share

COinS
 

Rights

The author owns the copyright to this work.