Browsing by Subject "mandala"
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Item Creativity, expression, and healing: an empirical study using mandalas within the written disclosure paradigm(2009-05-15) Henderson, Patti GailEmpirical research regarding the therapeutic value of creative artistic expression in dealing with symptoms from traumatic events is lacking. James Pennebaker has studied the efficacy of written expression regarding traumatic events in promoting mental well-being. Individuals who have difficulties with cognitive processing (e.g., learning disorders) often lack the faculties necessary to form a cohesive written narrative. There are also individuals who lack a strong enough command of written language to engage in a written disclosure task, such as children and those who are illiterate or undereducated. These populations are unlikely to benefit from written disclosure simply because they lack the capacity to write at such a sophisticated level. Disclosure of trauma by such individuals might be better accomplished symbolically through a creative artistic task rather than through written or verbal channels. Furthermore, because the task is symbolic in nature, it may be a safer and more comfortable means of disclosing trauma for individuals who are reluctant to divulge such information out of fear or shame surrounding the event. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the healing aspects of creativity; specifically the usefulness of creating a mandala. It was theorized that mandala drawing may provide the cognitive integration and organization to complex emotional experiences that yield a sense of personal meaning as well as serving as a mechanism of therapeutic exposure, as does the written disclosure task. By reviewing research in this field and attempting to duplicate previous research, this study used undergraduate college students as participants who met the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The benefits were measured in terms of changes in PTSD symptom severity, depression, anxiety, spiritual meaning, affect, and the frequency of occurrence of physical symptoms and illness. Contrary to expectation, the current study failed to replicate previous results revealing statistically significant outcome differences for the mandala group. In fact, the finding was reversed in that the control group (drawing three objects or a kind of art therapy) showed a significant drop in PTSD symptoms at one-month follow up. Explanations for these differences are explored and future avenues of research outlined.Item Empirical Study of the Healing Nature of Artistic Expression: Using Mandalas with the Positive Emotions of Love and Joy(2012-07-16) Henderson, Patti GailResearch in positive psychology continues to contribute to the understanding of the significance of human virtues as well as the value that experiencing positive emotions has on individual well-being, including building strengths, broadening resources, and increasing mental health. The benefits that the creative arts have on increasing psychological health and creating positive emotions are also an important but understudied area of research. The purpose of the current study was to examine, in a manner similar to the written disclosure paradigm, how the creation of mandalas while reflecting on the positive emotions of love and joy related to increased psychological well-being, and continued positive affect in a college sample. It was also hypothesized that the mere act of expressing personally felt emotions, regardless of positive or negative, while creating mandalas would reveal a significant increase in psychological and physical health relative to the control condition. Benefits to participants were measured in terms of changes in the variables of post-traumatic stress severity symptoms, depressive symptoms, anxiety, spiritual meaning, the frequency of physical symptoms and illness, as well as positive and negative affect. A series of one-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) comparing the experimental and control groups were conducted for all outcome measures at Time 2 and at 1-month follow-up. Results revealed no significant differences between the groups on any of the health measures. Next, a series of ANCOVA were also conducted comparing the experimental and control groups for general positive and negative affect and basic positive and negative emotion before and after each drawing session at Time 1, 2 and 3 as well as at the 1-month follow-up. Although sustained positive emotion was not supported between Time 3 and the 1-month follow-up, participants felt higher general positive affect and basic positive emotion after each drawing session focusing on love and joy. Implications of these results and further research will be discussed.