The purpose of this study was to make a case study of middle school girls with depressive disposition in an attempt to examine the impact of psychodynamic art therapy on the psychological changes of middle school girls with depressive disposition.
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The purpose of this study was to make a case study of middle school girls with depressive disposition in an attempt to examine the impact of psychodynamic art therapy on the psychological changes of middle school girls with depressive disposition.
The subjects in this study were six selected girls at J middle school in the city of Busan. After a psychodynamic art therapy program was designed, the program was conducted in 11 sessions, twice a week, from March 7 to April 11, 2013. To make a quantitative research, four different inventories were utilized before and after the program to evaluate the depression, anxiety, self-esteem and peer relationship of the middle school girls with depressive disposition. As for data analysis, the statistical package SPSS WIN 19.0 was employed to obtain statistical data on mean and standard deviation for the pretest and posttest scores in depression, anxiety, self-esteem and peer relationship, and what differences there were between their pretest and posttest scores in the four variables was analyzed. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test that was one of nonparametric tests was carried out to compare the pretest and posttest scores since the number of the cases was small. In addition, DAS and PITR tests were conducted before and after the program, and their pictures were interpreted to see whether there would be any changes in their depression. Finally, a qualitative analysis was made to look for their behavioral changes after each 90-minute session was recorded and participants' drawings were examined.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, when the collected data were analyzed to investigate the activities of the middle school girls with depressive disposition during the psychodynamic art therapy, they became aware of and accepted their own depressive feelings and fear and learned to think positively. There was a decrease in their depression and anxiety, and their self-esteem and confidence about interpersonal relationship were increased.
Second, the pictures that they drew in each session were analyzed to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to depression, and their verbal reaction was analyzed as well. Their depressive feelings that had been exposed in the form of being intimidated and aggression were relieved while they expressed and embraced their own feelings, and they became more stable emotionally.
Third, their pictures and verbal reaction in each session were analyzed to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to anxiety. They were able to get out of their anxiety by accepting themselves in virtue of trying to find out the cause of their anxiety and express their negative emotions. We find that they became more stable.
Fourth, their pictures and verbal reaction in each sessions were analyzed to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to self-esteem. At the beginning, they underestimated themselves and scarcely described what's good about themselves. After they described their own strength and memories of being loved by others and they got positive feedbacks from one person to another, their self-esteem was improved greatly.
Fifth, their pictures and verbal reaction in each session were analyzed to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to peer relationship. Sharing the case of group members, all participants find out what caused their conflict and they was able to grasp the cause. This activity leads to concrete their interpersonal relationship and make new friends. They were alone in their early pictures, but they were with others in their later pictures. Thus, there was improvement in the peer relationship.
Sixth, the DAS and PITR tests and a BDI depression inventory were utilized before and after the program to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to the depression of the middle school girls with depressive disposition. Their depression indexes were lower in the posttest than in the pretest, which showed that the psychodynamic art therapy served to relieve the depression of the middle school girls with depressive disposition.
Seventh, the anxiety, self-esteem and peer relationship inventories were utilized before and after the program to see if the psychodynamic art therapy would bring any psychological changes to the anxiety, self-esteem and peer relationship of the middle school girls with depressive disposition. And there was a decrease in their anxiety in the posttest, and their self-esteem and peer relationship improved. Therefore the psychodynamic art therapy served to alleviate the anxiety of the middle school girls with depressive disposition and boost their self-esteem and peer relationship.
The above-mentioned findings suggest that the psychodynamic art therapy is the effective activities to relieve the depression and anxiety of middle school girls with depressive disposition and bolster their self-esteem and peer relationship. This study is of significance in that it attempted to apply psychodynamic art therapy, which is of use for psychological oppression that is the cause of depression and suicide, to middle school girls with depressive disposition who are more frequently depressed than in their childhood and adulthood. Accordingly, the psychodynamic art therapy is expected to be available as one of efficient treatment tools to bring positive psychological changes to middle school girls with depressive disposition.