Art therapy & anxiety

Abbing, A.C. (2020)

Doctoral Thesis

Art therapy is an often provided but little studied treatment option in mental health care.
The effectiveness of art therapy in the treatment of anxiety was studied and its working mechanisms were explored. Outcomes of a randomised controlled trial (n=59) showed preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of art therapy. The treatment, consisting of three months of anthroposophic art therapy, showed major reduction of anxiety symptom severity in women, compared to a wait list condition. The therapy also improved quality of life and various aspects of self-regulation: higher HRV at rest (which may indicate an overall lower stress level), improvements in emotion regulation and improvements in daily executive functioning.
The second part of this PhD research focused on case report methodology and the development of tools for research within this field, with and for therapists in clinical practice, and for education. A publication guideline for case reports was developed and positively evaluated in practice. An exemplary case report of a female client with anxiety was provided.
The outcomes of this research support the indication of art therapy in the treatment of anxiety and justify further studying of the effectiveness and mechanisms of art therapy.

• Art therapy
• Anxiety
• Anxiety disoders
• Emotion regulation
• Executive functioning
• Stress regulation
• Case report
• Anthroposophic art therapy

• All authors: Abbing, A.C.
• Supervisor: Swaab, J.T.
• Co-supervisor: Baars, E.W.; De, Sonneville, L.M.J.
• Committee: Does, A.J.W. van der; Dechesne, M.; Hooren, S.A.H. van; Hutschemaekers, G.J.M.; Gruber, H.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Education and Child Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2020-01-22
• ISBN (print): 9789463805919
• Sponsorship: Iona Stichting; Stichting AG Phoenix; NVKT