Introduction to Art Therapy Research

An Introduction to Art Therapy Research is a pragmatic text that introduces readers to the basics of research design in quantitative and qualitative methodology written in the language of art therapy, with particular attention to the field’s unique aspects, current thinking, and exemplars from published art therapy research studies. This combination of a broad, standard approach to research design plus art therapy’s particular perspective and major contributions to the subject make the text suitable for courses in introductory research, survey of art therapy history and literature, art therapy assessment, and ethics. The book includes strategies for evaluating research reports and writing for peer-reviewed publication, features that make the text of special value to students, practitioners, doctoral candidates, and academics writing for publication. An online instructor's manual with student resources is available and offers material to enhance the pedagogical features of the text.

Lynn Kapitan, PhD, ATR-BC, is founder and Professor of the Graduate Art Therapy program and Chair of the Art & Design Division at Mount Mary College in Wisconsin, USA. She is the Executive Editor of Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association and a nationally and internationally respected author, researcher, and leader in her field.

Part I: Overview of Art Therapy. Art Therapy Research Ideas, Tools, and Steps in the Process. How Art Informs Art Therapy Research. Part II: Art Therapy Research Methods. Quantitative Models of Art Therapy Research. Outcomes Research to Generate Evidence-based Practice. Investigating the Field: Participant-observation. Researching the Phenomena of Conscious Experience. Art-based Inquiry: An Emerging Paradigm in Art Therapy. Part III: Doing Art Therapy Research. Before You Begin: The Research Proposal and Other Ethical Safeguards. Models of Good Research: Conducting the Study and Reporting Results. Writing for Publication in Art Therapy and Other Scholarly Journals. Glossary of Research Terminology.