Implementing Art Therapy to Improve Psychological Well-being in a Trauma Survivor Population: A Quasi-Experimental Mixed Method Analysis

Abstract

Women are meant to be protected, respected and cared for by men. However, instead of being treated as an equal, worldwide, a lot of women suffer from different forms of abuse and one of the most commonly experienced includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse. It is an alarming issue all over the world since one abuse can lead to another form of abuse that can be experienced by women. A woman who is sexually abused can also suffer from emotional and physical abuse and a lot more long term damages left to the person. This research aimed at identifying the level of psychological well being of trauma survivors before and after the implementation of art therapy and to propose a program that can help them improve their psychological well being in a more aesthetic way. This study used an experimental research design and was participated by 24 participants for the quantitative data collection and 8 participants participated in the interview. A translated version of the Ryff’s Psychological Well being Scale and an interview question was used for data collection and for the data analysis, t test was used to compare the results and thematic analysis was used for the qualitative analysis. The results revealed that (1)trauma survivors after the facilitation of art therapy have increased personal growth and other domains such as environmental mastery, positive relations, purpose in life and self acceptance as they were able to process their trauma, sadness, anxiety, low self esteem and social interactions (2) Trauma survivors experienced significant difference or change since aspects or domains have normalized from being low prior to the facilitation of art therapy sessions and (3) The theme that has emerged in the study is the transformative goal of art therapy to psychological well being. These data were used to construct a proposed program to improve the psychological well being of trauma survivors through the use of art therapy and revisit the art therapy module used in the conduct of the study.