The Virtual Response Art Method: Managing Countertransference in Art-based Research

Author

Carol Hodson, Lesley UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-19-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Krystal Demaine

Abstract

This thesis describes the application of an original approach to art-based research (ABR) developed by Carol P. Hodson and used in in collaboration with two participants. In this method, called the Virtual Response Art (VRA) method, the researcher created digital response art based on participants’ original art and wrote in self-reflective prose during and after the digital art process. Results in this study illustrate how the researcher’s use of the VRA method over six months allowed her to gain increased empathy for the participants and identify, process, and manage the countertransference she experienced in response to each participant and their art. Because the research on which this thesis is based was focused on the effect of the VRA Method upon the countertransference management of the researcher herself, the introduction, results, and discussion sections of this paper were deliberately written by Hodson from a first-person, singular point of view.

Creative Commons License

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

Recommended Citation

Hodson, Carol, "The Virtual Response Art Method: Managing Countertransference in Art-based Research" (2018). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 87.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/87