This study is a case study of making picture book for self-care of novice art therapist, and it aims to examine what self-care experiences novice art therapist have in the process of making picture book and what the meaning of the experience is. The s...
This study is a case study of making picture book for self-care of novice art therapist, and it aims to examine what self-care experiences novice art therapist have in the process of making picture book and what the meaning of the experience is. The subject of this study was selected as those with less than three years of working experience among graduate school graduates majoring in art therapy. and a total of three participants were selected from recruitment posts posted on online community sites related to art therapy or those who voluntarily expressed their intention to participate to researcher.
The study had a pre-interview with research participants in December 2020, and conducted a picture book making program 1-2 times a week and about 60 minutes per session from December 2020 to April 2021, and the number, place, and duration differed by research participant. Participant A held a total of 16 sessions from January 11, 2021 to April 2, 2021, participant B held a total of 10 sessions from December 27, 2020 to March 14, 2021, and participant C held a total of 13 sessions from January 7, 2021 to March 27, 2021. In order to examine how novice art therapists experience self-care in the process of making picture book, the collected data such as recordings, verbatim records, work photographs, and observation records were used to first examine each individual's experiences and analyze the meanings of common experiences.
The results of this study are as follows.
First, novice art therapists were able to feel the pleasure of self-work in the process of making picture book and became an experience of being immersed in their work and themselves.
Second, novice art therapists were able to express their feelings and desires in the process of self-reflection and self-awareness, and through these experiences of self-inspection, they could understand and accept themselves and others.
Third, novice art therapists not only take care of their lives as an individual but also take care of their own lives as art therapist. Through this, they were able to confirm their identity, express their feelings felt at the treatment site, and re-recognize the relationship with the counselee.
These results are expected to be possible through the experience of empathizing with characters and situations in picture book, showing the attitude of the participants in the study to reduce self-defense and open their own experiences by establishing a stable relationship with the researcher in a comfortable and free atmosphere. This study is meaningful in that it provided the novice art therapist with the experience of pleasure and immersion, and the experience of understanding and insight oneself as an individual and art therapist, and through this, it was possible to accept oneself and others, which helped the novice art therapist's psychological approach and personal and professional growth.