ABSTRACT

Background

The program Affect regulating Art(s) Therapy(ies) (ArAT) has been developed to address self regulation problems in children and adolescents with psychosocial problems. Therapeutic actions are hypothesised to be applied sequentially across three treatment phases: a tension regulation phase, an attention regulation phase, and an affect regulation phase. This study aimed to investigate whether the theoretical framework describing the phases of the ArAT program is observable in practice.

Method

We collected film recordings of ArAT sessions. These recordings were viewed and rated using a checklist to explore whether the therapeutic actions were present.

Results

There were no discernible differences in therapeutic interventions across the treatment phases. Therapists frequently utilised therapeutic actions from the tension and attention regulation phases throughout all stages of treatment. Moreover, the frequency of applied therapeutic actions were consistent across all treatment phases, with tension regulation actions being the most frequently applied and attention-improving actions and affect-regulating actions being the least frequently applied.

Conclusion

The supposed phasing of the development-oriented ArAT program could not be detected in this research, indicating the need to reconsider the stage-wise description of the program. Art therapists need to recognise that reducing stress seems to remain important during all treatment phases.

Plain-language summary

An art(s) therapeutic program called ArAT has been developed in the Netherlands for children and adolescents with psychosocial problems. ArAT aims to improve the self regulation of emotions so that children and adolescents can better regulate their feelings and therefore have fewer psychosocial problems.

The therapist's therapeutic actions are theoretically supposed to be performed in three phases: a tension-regulating phase, an attention-enhancing phase, and an affect-regulating phase. This study aimed to examine whether the phasing could be observed in practice in this way.

For this, we have collected films of ArAT sessions from practice. These were examined whether the therapeutic actions were detectable using a checklist. No differences were discernible in the three different phases.

What was striking was that the therapists most often use tension-regulating and attention-regulating therapeutic actions. A similar pattern also became visible within each phase: stress-regulating therapeutic actions were used most, then attention-regulating therapeutic actions and affect-regulating actions were used least.

The presumed phasing of the developmental ArAT program could not be observed. This suggests that we should think again if and how we describe the different phases of the program. The least used are therapeutic actions intended to develop thinking and talking about feelings. For art therapists, reducing stress seems important during all treatment phases for children and adolescents with psychosocial problems.

中文翻译：

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发展艺术治疗计划（ArAT）治疗有心理社会问题的儿童和青少年

摘要

背景

情感调节艺术治疗 (ArAT) 项目旨在解决有心理社会问题的儿童和青少年的自我调节问题。假设治疗动作在三个治疗阶段顺序应用：紧张调节阶段、注意力调节阶段和情感调节阶段。本研究旨在调查描述 ArAT 计划各个阶段的理论框架在实践中是否可观察。

方法

我们收集了 ArAT 会议的电影录音。使用检查表对这些记录进行查看和评级，以探索是否存在治疗作用。

结果

各个治疗阶段的治疗干预措施没有明显差异。治疗师经常在治疗的所有阶段中使用从紧张和注意力调节阶段开始的治疗行动。此外，所有治疗阶段所应用的治疗行为的频率是一致的，其中张力调节行为是最常用的，而注意力改善行为和情感调节行为是最不常用的。

结论

在这项研究中无法检测到以发展为导向的 ArAT 计划的假定分阶段，这表明需要重新考虑该计划的分阶段描述。艺术治疗师需要认识到，在所有治疗阶段减轻压力似乎仍然很重要。

通俗易懂的语言总结

荷兰为有心理社会问题的儿童和青少年制定了一项名为 ArAT 的艺术治疗计划。ArAT旨在改善情绪的自我调节，使儿童和青少年能够更好地调节自己的情绪，从而减少心理社会问题。

理论上，治疗师的治疗行为应该分三个阶段进行：紧张调节阶段、注意力增强阶段和情感调节阶段。本研究旨在检验在实践中是否可以以这种方式观察到分相。

为此，我们从实践中收集了 ArAT 课程的影片。使用检查表检查治疗作用是否可检测。在三个不同阶段中没有明显的差异。

令人惊讶的是，治疗师最常使用张力调节和注意力调节治疗行为。每个阶段中也出现了类似的模式：使用最多的是压力调节治疗措施，然后是注意力调节治疗措施和情感调节措施使用最少。

无法观察到 ArAT 开发计划的假定分阶段。这表明我们应该重新考虑是否以及如何描述该计划的不同阶段。最少使用的是旨在发展思考和谈论感受的治疗行为。对于艺术治疗师来说，在有心理社会问题的儿童和青少年的所有治疗阶段减轻压力似乎很重要。