In this session, short presentations about well-established and exemplary practices in school settings (kindergarten through twelfth-grade) sparked small-group discussions about how artistic inquiries can enrich learning experiences, including in institutional contexts challenged by sometimes constrained ways of conceptualizing learning and assessment. What are we learning about art as a way of knowing in the formal educational context, and how can this inform work in the informal context?

Art is a Way of Knowing

The nursing clinics of north america

In the field of expressive therapies, there are different techniques to help bereaved people to better cope with their losses (e.g., Attig, 2000; Thompson, 2003; Gulledge, 2003; Rogers, 2007; Chandler, 2007). Among various expressive arts techniques, Chinese calligraphy has been used as a therapeutic intervention for behavioral, emotional, and mental health issues (Kao, 1991; Chen, 2003). However, there is no research on using Chinese brushstroke techniques in working with people who have experienced losses. This research focuses on the experience of practicing Chinese brushstroke technique as an expressive therapeutic approach to work with seniors in expressing their feelings toward the lost of a loved one. Six participants with recent loss of a loved one, aged 78 to 94, from the Hebrew Senior Life Rehabilitation Center in Boston, Massachusetts were recruited for this study. The participants attended six sessions of workshop with one and a half hour each. The workshop focused on the application of the Chinese brush stroke techniques in forms of painting and calligraphy as therapeutic intervention for coping with the loss of their loved ones. In this paper, meaning making, continuing bonds with the deceased loved one, and maintaining balance have been identified among many contributing factors to healthy bereavement coping. Practicing Chinese brush strokes techniques in forms of painting and calligraphy appeared to be helpful in promoting these factors.

The Chinese Brush Stroke Experience in Bereavement Counseling

A healing journey.

Foundations and Applications of Group Psychotherapy: A Sphere of Influence

This pilot study (N = 18) explored the effectiveness of focusing and expressive arts therapies intervention on the quality of life of women with breast cancer. The format was a 2-day (7 hours per d...

Focusing and Expressive Arts Therapy as a Complementary Treatment for Women with Breast Cancer.

This article describes the workshop that the authors cofacilitated at the Imagine Conference held in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2006. This workshop presented arts-based activities for working with confli...

Vivien Marcow Speiser

Papers

Focusing and Expressive Arts Therapy as a Complementary Treatment for Women with Breast Cancer.

An Arts Approach To Working With Conflict

Working in a troubled land: using the applied arts towards conflict transformation and community health in Israel.

Arch of Arts in Health conference, Haifa, Israel, 17-19 March 2013.

Breathing in and breathing out: Expressive arts in psycho-social support training in Korea