Knowledge and use of art therapy for mental health treatment among clinical psychologists

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Art therapy allows people to express feelings about any subject through creative work. It is beneficial for people who feel out of touch with their emotions. In Ghana, little is known about art therapy as a therapeutic tool. Herbal treatment, biomedical and faith healing practices are the most common treatment options for mental health. This research aimed to provide new insights into clinical psychologists on their knowledge and use of art therapy in treating clients and identified the enablers and barriers in this therapeutic intervention. METHOD: Twenty-one clinical psychologists were sampled using the snowball sampling method. They were interviewed over the phone using a semi-structured interview guide which was developed based on the predefined study objectives. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data resulting in three central thematic areas. RESULTS: Twelve of the clinical psychologists were females and eight were male, with an age range between twenty-five to fifty years. The major themes identified were knowledge of art therapy, the use of art therapy and enablers and barriers in using art therapy. The study revealed that clinical psychologists had limited knowledge of art therapy mainly due to lack of training. With the use of art therapy, the participants revealed that they had used some form of art therapy before and they perceived art therapy to be effective on their clients however, they demonstrated low confidence in using it. Practitioner training and the availability of art therapy-related resources were identified as both facilitators and hindrances to the use of art therapy. CONCLUSION: Clinical Psychologists are cognizant of art therapy albeit they have limited knowledge. Therefore, training in how to use art therapy and the availability of resources to facilitate art therapy can be provided for Clinical Psychologists by the Ghana Mental Health Authority.

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