The first book to embrace all the arts therapies, this is a ground-breaking examination of the effects of arts therapies interventions in health, education, community and social services settings. It is written by specialists addressing themes which are relevant to all arts therapists exploring the relationship between research and practice.

"The handbook is heavy on methods chapters in different genres. There are chapters on actual methods that include methodological instruction and examples. There is also ample attention given to practical issues including evaluation, writing, ethics and publishing. With respect to writing style, contributors have made their chapters reader-friendly by limiting their use of jargon, providing methodological instruction when appropriate, and offering robust research examples from their own work and/or others."--

Art Therapy Research is a clear and intuitive guide for educators, students, and practitioners on the procedures for conducting art therapy research. Presented using a balanced view of paradigms that reflect the pluralism of art therapy research, this exciting new resource offers clarity while maintaining the complexity of research approaches and considering the various epistemologies and their associated methods. This text brings research to life through the inclusion of sample experientials in every chapter and student worksheets, as well as a full chapter on report writing that includes a completed sample report. This comprehensive guide is essential reading for educators looking to further the application of learning outcomes such as teamwork, communication, and critical thinking in their practice.

Art therapy and all of the other creative arts therapies have promoted themselves as ways of expressing what cannot be conveyed in conventional language. Why is it that creative arts therapists fail to apply this line of thinking to research? In this exciting and innovative book, Shaun McNiff, one of the field's pioneering educators and authors, breaks new ground in defining and inspiring art-based research. He illustrates how practitioner-researchers can become involved in art-based inquiries during their educational studies and throughout their careers, and shows how new types of research can be created that resonate with the artistic process. Clearly and cogently expressed, the theoretical arguments are illustrated by numerous case examples, and the final part of the book provides a wealth of ideas and thought provoking questions for research. This challenging book will prove invaluable to creative art therapy educators, students, and clinicians who wish to approach artistic inquiry as a way of conducting research. It will also find a receptive audience within the larger research community where there is a rising commitment to expanding the theory and practice of research. Integrating artistic and scientific procedures in many novel ways, this book offers fresh and productive visions of what research can be.

Writing from a dramatherapist's perspective, Roger Grainger looks at methods of researching the arts therapies, and how particular definitions of research affect our understanding and practising of arts therapies. He places approaches to research in four categories: quantitative research (which seeks to demonstrate), qualitative research (which explains by describing), action research (which explains by experiencing) and art-based research (which aims to document in an appropriate language, in this case art). Grainger evaluates all of these approaches, arguing that our theoretical or philosophical understanding of what research actually is has an effect on what we think research can be used for. Grainger argues that research always involves a trade-off between two kinds of inaccuracy, numerical and experiential, which correspond to the imprecise fit of the way we think about life and life itself. A range of research paradigms is useful because each regards the world in a different way. Taken together they provide a range of ways of increasing our understanding.

An introduction to the field of arts therapy, which examines the theoretical basis for the therapeutic use of the arts, this book gives guidance on how to select, assess, and evaluate the use of the therapies in practice. It is illustrated with clinical vignettes and practical examples.

The Arts Therapies provides, in one volume, a guide to the different disciplines and their current practice and thinking. It presents: * A clear analysis of the relationship between client, therapist and art form. * An exploration of research, practice and key contributions made to the field by practitioners internationally and within many different contexts. * Discussion of how the arts therapies relate to established health services. The Arts Therapies: A revolution in healthcare is a unique book that provides a thorough and up-to-date overview of the arts therapies. It will prove invaluable to arts therapists, health professionals, and all those who wish to learn more about the field.