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Witnessing the devastating impacts of climate change and species loss has left many of us grappling with inexpressible grief for our more-than-human world. The importance of creating therapeutic environments to facilitate ecological grieving is greater than ever. This article examines the potential benefits of art therapy in this context. These include: reducing the risk of disenfranchized grief through connection; containing and externalizing complexity; providing regulation; and empowering participants to continue engagement. Grief counseling frameworks offer solid foundations for future directions. However, First Nations perspectives provide richer understandings of our multispecies interdependencies, and will be central to forging collective and localized responses to ecological grief that build communities of healing--not just between cultures, but between species, too.

There is a growing interest in understanding the connection between Indigenous art, nature, and art therapy, however information on the health implications of Indian Indigenous art practices is scarce. This case study highlights the application of nature-based Indian Indigenous art form "Gond" and explores its therapeutic potential in art therapy. A workshop was organized, combining nature-based guided imagery visualization with "Gond" folktale narration, followed by "Gond"-inspired artmaking using natural pigments and repetitive patterns. Workshop participants' responses indicated that this approach fostered engagement, intense concentration, present moment awareness, a relaxed meditative state, and personal expression. Sensitively adapting Indigenous knowledge, like "Gond" practices, can promote awareness about interconnectedness with nature, artmaking, and storytelling, offering therapeutic benefits for self-care in art therapy.

This viewpoint highlights the author's personal lived experiences of having her family home damaged during the catastrophic events of the 2022 Queensland floods in Australia. Art therapy Open studio practices facilitated within disaster management emphasize supporting recovery, building resilience, and offering emotional safety and containment. Based on the author's art making processes, she advocates for future considerations of utilizing the psychotherapeutic benefits of clay within an Open Studio Art therapy framework, to further complement existing emergency disaster Psychological First Aid models, which attend to Trauma and Stressor related mental health disorders. Such an integration would be beneficial in assisting individuals with Post traumatic growth, self-expression, and emotional recovery in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Climate change is a well-documented challenge for human societies where human actions have spurred global warming leading to climate breakdown. Ecological disasters are already affecting the mental health of many people, and this is escalating. By painting elephants, I address "ambiguous" loss and demonstrate the power of art therapy to inform grief work and ecological grief as humanity's shared trauma. Seen through the lens of elephants, one realizes the many connections between elephant and human societies, including ancestral memories, experience of attachment and trauma, and capacities to heal. Maintaining a consistent art practice helps one make sense of the senseless and deal with grief as an act of resilience, self-and-planetary care, and ethics, thereby having implications for art therapists.

Contemporary US and European approaches to ecosystems and mental health have left many feeling disempowered in the face of the climate crisis. This article advocates for holistic approaches to supporting natural complex systems with contemplation and care. It explores how environmental metaphors and nature-based art therapy can foster human-nature connections, call for deep listening, reshape practitioner perceptions, and enhance understandings of internal and external worlds. Further, how existing frameworks such as the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), can highlight the therapeutic qualities of nature-based art therapy and the potential for adaptation through the expressed paradigm shift. This article proposes that responsive mental health care can be adapted to better address the necessary changes required to support the global community and environment as we listen and adapt to climate change.

Climate change is contributing to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events globally. Numerous Australian communities have been affected by severe bushfires, floods, and droughts over the past decades. In response to natural disasters, art therapists should focus on trauma healing, community resilience, while maintaining adaptability and sensitivity throughout the disaster planning and recovery phases. This viewpoint proposes a phased framework (contain, recover, empower) grounded in trauma recovery models and art therapy disaster-based research. Associated implementation considerations are presented to supplement the framework and support art therapists. The proposed theoretical framework aims to promote wellbeing among survivors, foster community-level resilience, and drive climate actions; while providing a foundation for future program design, pilot implementation, program evaluation, and refinement.

The Person-in-the-Rain (PITR) drawing scoring system primarily assesses stress, excluding consideration of color usage. In contrast, the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) effectively evaluates psychopathological disorders and provides a comprehensive assessment of color usage. This study aimed to: (1) develop an alternative scoring system for PITR by modifying FEATS, (2) explore the clinical significance of color in PITR by examining its relationship with Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and (3) determine if color mediates the relationship between DASS-21 and FEATS-based PITR ratings. We recruited 61 college students who completed PITR and DASS-21. PITR drawings were coded using modified FEATS. Findings suggest that the modified FEATS scoring system provides clinically meaningful information for assessing stress, coping mechanisms, anxiety, and depression.

The symbol of the house has not been explored in contemporary art therapy. This case study describes how a 49-year-old woman constructed what she described as the picture-perfect home made in 18 art therapy sessions over a six-week period during a residential stay. The client's structure had two notable components--a facade and an interior--one corresponding to her public self and the other to her private self. Her artwork exemplifies how the house may be an ideal symbol for the synchronization of public self into harmonization with innermost psyche and intrafamilial relationships.

This study examined the impact of digital versus traditional mandala coloring on death anxiety levels among 69 adults over the age of 50. Participants were randomly assigned to a digital coloring, traditional coloring, or non-art activity (completing a word search) and levels of death anxiety were compared following a death anxiety induction. We hypothesized digital and traditional coloring conditions would result in lower levels of death anxiety compared to non-art activity, but traditional coloring would result in the lowest levels of death anxiety. Results indicated no main effect for the experimental condition, but among participants low in technology literacy, traditional coloring resulted in lower death anxiety compared to digital coloring, suggesting its therapeutic value.

The study examined the Bird's Nest Drawing (BND) of 14 adults who experienced child sexual abuse perpetrated by females, primarily their mothers. Descriptive analysis revealed the prevalence of insecure attachment and mainly an ambivalent representation. The drawings reflected vulnerability and under-protectiveness. Almost one-third of the drawings did not include caregiving and were suggestive of loneliness, abandonment, and rejection. When maternal caregiving was depicted, it was intrusive and characterized by a lack of separation, abandonment, or unsatisfying caregiving. The survivors' narratives (n = 4) revealed themes of sadness, lack of protection, and vulnerability related to their mothers' lack of competence. These findings suggest that the BND can serve as a valuable art therapy assessment tool to better understand attachment representations.

Prior research suggests that creating art can reduce mental health symptoms, such as anxiety. It has also been proposed that creating art within the geometric shape of a circle may confer additional therapeutic benefits. However, it remains unclear whether creating art within a circle or creating art with no restrictions reduces anxiety in both low and/or high stress conditions. A total of 158 students participated in an experimental 2 (high stress/low stress) x 3 (draw within a circle, draw freeform, and control) between-subjects design. Anxiety levels significantly decreased across all three conditions after a stressor, but only the drawing conditions decreased anxiety below baseline levels. Results suggest that drawing within a circle and drawing freeform both reduce anxiety following a stressor.

In order to provide clinical utility for research of how art therapists perceive clients' inner change, the authors created a structured observational framework. This note-taking and assessment consist of five themes and sub-themes: Therapeutic Alliance, Creating, Affect-Awareness, Self-Awareness, and Ego-Strength. The framework was designed to be clinically-friendly, adaptable to various settings, and assist communication with both patients and relevant healthcare professionals.

This viewpoint conveys insights about the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) from the perspective of two students who trained under ETC co-creators Vija Lusebrink and Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn. The structure of the ETC is based on relationships among various kinds of information processing, and the function of the ETC is to provide integrative treatment through the modification of task complexity, task structure, and media properties, collectively known as Media Dimension Variables (MDV). Adjusting MDV potentiates activation of the Creative Dimension, where client-specific interventions serve to balance overused, underused, and blocked information processing patterns. ETC-based assessment determines the starting point for ETC-based treatment; a client's artmaking behavior, art products, and verbalizations are then used to ascertain subsequent steps in art therapy.

This quantitative study investigated whether a "mandala set" consisting of 143 mandalas drawn by art therapy graduate students depicts archetypal patterns and stages as defined by Kellogg's "Archetypal Stages of the Great Round of the Mandala" and if these patterns explain events in their professional development. Eight standard mandalas were included to evaluate the reliability of the raters. The results demonstrate that all patterns were present but that seven archetypal patterns representing six stages occurred most frequently: stages 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 11. These stages relate to career directions, professional identity, struggles, untapped potential, transitions and change, fragmentation, and chaos, and directions. The process could be used for assessing graduate students' professional development.

Contributing factors to occurrences of workplace violence (WPV) vary based on the setting and clientele. While no workplace can be guaranteed free from potential violence, research shows that agencies and creative arts therapists (CATs) can use preventative measures to increase workplace safety. To illustrate the impact of WPV, three CATs share their experiences of being assaulted by clients and, based on best practices, eight protective factors are presented. These factors are: staff relationships, culture of safety, clear reporting and communication, environmental safety, training, duty to protect, resilience, and follow up.

Ar(t)chive, a retroactivist technique for queer worldmaking in art therapy, invites sexual, gender, and relationship diverse (SGRD) clients to engage with queer forms from history and construct a continuum of shared lived experiences across differences to challenge misinformation and discrimination, foster resilience, and build community. Phases include: (1) assessment and informed consent; (2) collection and curation; (3) display and artmaking; (4) intersubjective meaning making and synthesis; and (5) closing and reflexivity. A vignette illustrates its application within a queer adult online art therapy group. Resources are offered for adaptive implementation and advocates for the proliferation of more equitable and affirming art therapy practices.

The study examined art therapists' subjective experiences, attitudes, and perceptions when participating in a longitudinal study in the Israeli public education system. Seventy-six reflections written by 38 art therapists on their participation in art therapy research were analyzed. Sixteen therapists also took part in focus groups, 5-7 years after the original study. Findings indicated that despite the time and energy required to take part in the study, the therapists were proud to have made a contribution to research, learned a great deal from participating, and felt that taking part had a positive effect on the course of treatment. They viewed their participation in the research as an empowering and valuable experience for them and for their clients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a single session mindfulness-based art therapy doodle intervention may support and improve: (a) mindfulness, (b) mindful creativity, and (c) positive and negative emotional states. A general community sample of 71 adult participants engaged in the mindful doodling virtual two-hour workshops. Based on retrospective methods from participant self-reported perceptions before and after the workshop, there were statistically significant increases in ratings of mindfulness, mindful creativity, and positive emotions, as well as decreases in negative emotions (p < 0.05). The results suggested the potential efficacy and clinical benefit of this single session art therapy intervention for promoting mindfulness, creativity, and positivity in the community.

The Florida State University (FSU)/Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) Art Therapy in Prisons Program is contractually required to conduct an annual art exhibition of the participants' work. Originally to be held inside the institutions, it evolved into a single art exhibition at an annual state-wide conference for prison educators. This report demonstrates, through survey data and discussions, that the exhibition and an accompanying experiential in which its attendees and prison inmates contributed provided an opportunity for the participants to feel that they were being seen and heard by those on the outside. In addition, the exhibition provided learning experiences about the program, assuring that there is continuous support, appreciation for the art created, and collaboration to meet the needs of those participating.

Art therapy reduces trauma-related psychopathology in refugee youth. Given the added stress of COVID-19 on traumatized refugee populations, we adapted art therapy for refugee youth and their families in the virtual space. We describe program development, implementation and experientials, and clinical recommendations illustrated through two cases. Observations and feedback support art therapy as a tool to address socioemotional functioning in families who resettle as refugees and foster positive emotions, sense of self and community, confer stress coping skills, and enhance resilience. In light of the persistence of the pandemic, the unprecedented number of global refugees, and their unique needs for mental health services, virtual art therapy can expand accessibility and reach of beneficial methods to address trauma in refugee groups.

The Compassionate Arts Psychotherapy (CAP) program integrates self-compassion and arts psychotherapy practices, which are informed by a compassionate arts media (CAM) continuum. A mixed methods pilot program evaluation with a pretest-posttest single group design, followed by an open-ended survey, was conducted. Participants included 18 graduate students who engaged in ten 2.5-hour meetings, over the course of two weekends. Results showed statistically significant increases in self-compassion, and cognitive and affective mindfulness over time and at two-week follow-up. Qualitatively, participants reported positive gains, specifically: openness to new experiences, here-and-now mindful awareness, and self-compassion. These results suggest the clinical utility of CAP and provide novel perspectives on the directionality of the traditional art therapy media continuum.

This case study describes an art therapy intervention with a client diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who was coping with grief. The course of fifteen sessions included three phases: body awareness, grief emotions, and grief acceptance. The positive changes parallel ways that art therapy can benefit older adults by promoting communication, accessing memories, reconstructing identity, and supporting creativity.

This study set out to quantitatively examine the influence of art practice on art therapy students' subjective well-being. A total of 158 Korean art therapy graduate students participated in the study, completing the Art Practice Scale and Concise Measure of Subjective Well-Being. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses. The analyses revealed positive interrelationships between art practice and subjective well-being. A comparison of the two sub-variables art competency and attitudes toward art work showed that actually engaging in art work is more important than having a positive attitude toward art. The study's implications highlight the importance of art practice in art therapy students' psychological happiness.

This practice paper demonstrates an art therapy session that revealed the internalized monstrous and demonic identities amongst those who have sexually offended. Several of the participants represented their shadow-self as: (1) nebulous demonic self-representations, (2) internalized monstrous selves as hurtful or uncontrolled, or (3) a dichotomy of power and helplessness. Making these negative self-images visible during such an art therapy process can inform the initial step toward reconciliation, especially within the transitional space of reintegrating into society post-incarceration. Implications demonstrate the use of metaphorical expression and how such images can address the stigmatized and internalized negative self-perceptions of those who have sexually offended.

During the unprecedented time of COVID-19, one art therapist noticed that her clients created images expressing their loneliness. To foster a sense of community catharsis, the art therapist worked with her clients to create an art display at a public mall to enable the general population to receive secondary therapeutic support for their own feelings of isolation and depression during the pandemic. Such use of a therapeutic art exhibition promoted a sense of connection and understanding.

Undergraduate art therapy education programs in the United States have endeavored to prepare students for graduate level art therapy training and entry level positions in art facilitation since the mid-1970s with minimal published guidelines or established professional standards. The authors reviewed the art therapy literature regarding current undergraduate and graduate educational instructional content, and educational pathways. We scrutinized current undergraduate guidelines and standards for instructional content among allied disciplines and investigated current undergraduate level employment opportunities and skills required for these positions. Based on these findings, we propose seven undergraduate instructional content areas appropriate for non-clinical pre-professionals. Recommendations include expanding the scope of practice to include undergraduate level art facilitators, developing scaffolded learning outcomes, establishing tiered credentialing, and evaluating outcomes.

A 10 week supportive arts program was conducted in Jinja, Uganda via the collaboration between a local nongovernmental organization, a Ugandan artist, and two art therapists from the United States. The artist facilitated weekly artmaking sessions for former unhoused youth being served by the organization, as well as engaged in weekly virtual meetings with the art therapists. Anecdotal observations of the program indicated therapeutic benefits, such as participant's general willingness and flexibility, increased adaptability to art making, and investment in program sessions. Further implications include the impact of colonialism and the resulting power imbalance that influences the relationship between artists and art therapists.

The integration of somatic approaches in art therapy can counter the trauma of microaggressions. By adopting a power-from-within stance, art therapists can facilitate sessions for clients to affirm their LGBTQIA+ identities while resisting the impact of discrimination. This article, co-written by an art therapist and client, provides lived experience examples of somatic art therapy: Somatic Experiencing® integrated with body tracing, and sensorimotor art therapy (the Clay Field®). The authors concur that somatically integrated art therapy has helped replace automized behavioral patterns based on fear with behavioral choices that emerged from a place of safety. Implications for therapeutic alliance and power dynamics within art therapy sessions are explored as tenets of body-based self-reflection.

To examine the complex layers of those who are multi-racial/ethnic/cultured, the mixed-identity of the first author -- an art therapy doctoral student -- is first deconstructed, followed by the delineation of systemic and historical contexts. This viewpoint further examines how the therapists' multiple identity[ies] informs and intersects with those they work with. This includes not only clients, but also those with whom they find themselves in a potentially hierarchical relationship such as within the coauthors' teacher/student dynamic. Recognizing how these examinations may inform a dissertation agenda, this viewpoint identifies gaps that need to be bridged to inform cultural and mixed-identity humility and awareness, and untangle these invisible intersections.

The study evaluated the impact of an international online summer program for art therapy students from Mexico, the United States, and Israel on their cultural and global perspectives. Quantitative (pre- and post-program measures of the Global Perspective Inventory) as well as qualitative tools (focus groups, art and written responses) were used. There were significant mean increases in four of the six global perspective inventory scales. Students' narratives and art responses illuminated four overarching themes: (1) gratitude for global connection; (2) growing awareness of one's experience and context; (3) growing understanding of similarities and differences; and (4) art as facilitator of intercultural communication. Findings suggest that the program supported the development of culturally informed art therapy.

This article conceptualizes art therapy as an intercultural contact zone or social ecotone, defined as the liminal space that emerges when two or more habitats overlap. In the unresolved tensions of their interaction, negotiation of power through cultural humility is an ongoing, profoundly ethical process. This premise is illustrated with examples from a high-contrast contact zone the author experienced as an art therapist in collaboration with a social justice-oriented organization serving marginalized communities in their emancipatory goals. The implications of cultural borderlands are discussed as transgressive zones of transformative power and exchange.

The authors recount a collaborative art-making journey centered on self-reflexivity to sustain a partnership across racial, social, and cultural differences. The image of a chair, re-imagined as a Humble Chair, was a symbol to anchor critical inquiry. The authors' explorations provide a pragmatic and artful approach to fostering cultural humility.

The multicultural orientation framework centers on three pillars of cultural humility, cultural opportunities, and cultural comfort. Cultural humility is the foundational pillar that encompasses intrapersonal and interpersonal essence of which cultural self-awareness is a vital component. Cultural self-awareness involves an awareness of a therapist's cultural and social identities, beliefs, assumptions, and behaviors. Addressing self-awareness through self-portraiture offers a reflective process for self-exploration.

This article identifies the importance of art therapy integrating a sex-positive approach to support healthy sexuality and sexual well-being. It outlines the harmful impact of the sex-negative culture in the United States and defines a sex-positive social justice approach. Based on a review of relevant art therapy literature and the author's teaching experience, steps toward incorporating a sex-positive approach in art therapy include awareness, knowledge, and skills.

When working with sex workers, mental health professionals should provide affirming and validating health care that does not further perpetuate victimization. This brief report introduces a community and open studio approach to art therapy as a potential means of increasing mental health accessibility for sex workers. Based on two case studies, participants who explored their identities about being sex workers described reduced isolation, heightened respect, and mutual support.

A pilot research study examined how US graduate-level creative arts therapists (CATs) engaged clients in sexuality discussions as part of treatment, a mixed-methods concurrent design of survey research and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative survey obtained comprehensive data from over 130 CATs on their comfort and willingness to address sexuality in session. Limited qualitative data was gathered from four CATs during individual semi-structured interviews, which identified therapist qualities of being open, accepting, inclusive and nonjudgmental to contribute to clients' overall well-being, and explored the impact of sex-positive and sex-negative theoretical frameworks. The findings indicated a high level of comfort, with over 80% of the CATs surveyed and all CATs interviewed addressing sexuality in various settings and across age groups.

Sexuality is negotiated through intimate and familial relationships within larger systems of culture and society. In contemporary Iran, religion and cultural upbringing exert a large influence on women's sexual development. This article presents a case study of a young adult, single woman in Iran who participated in online, client-centered art therapy to explore her sexual identity in a safe space. Social role and sexual double standards emerged in the case, along with relief from sexual repression and the provision of a safe space that empowered her to discuss a taboo subject within the norms of her culture and religious family structure. Through her artmaking process and related discussions, she was able to gain understanding of healthy sexuality and identity, and lifestyle choices and constraints within a culturally sensitive relationship.

A diorama, a three-dimensional scene created within a box or vessel, can be used in art therapy to explore aspects of the sexual self, including: sexual identity, fantasy, and desire, as well as issues pertaining to self-image, gender identity, and sexual empowerment. Based on case examples in workshop settings, the sexuality diorama intervention may be particularly useful in the areas of: sexual empowerment and self-affirmation; body acceptance and exploration of gender identity; increased self-awareness; processing of trauma; and future exploration of sexual self. The diorama intervention is an option for art therapists who are looking for means to help clients connect and gain insights on their sexuality within a safe container.

Queer worldmaking (QWM) in art therapy offers liberatory sex-positive interventions and modes of critical inquiry that affirm the lives, imaginations, and pleasures of all who enter the studio. The authors provide three major strategies for QWM in art therapy. A queer ethos of care decenters cis-heteronormativity by embracing the diversity of sexuality and gender identity and expression as valuable ways of knowing. A radically inclusive studio prioritizes queer and trans pleasure in establishing physical, psychological, and imaginal safety. Facilitating critical connections with(in) art and the community centers LGBTQ+ historical strategies of care for healing and social justice. Art therapists can unite in the shared pursuit of making queer(er) worlds for individual healing and social transformation.

This novel study pushed forth current research by evaluating the effects of a clay art therapy (CAT) program on emotion regulation and the level of hair cortisol as a physiological response. Forty-one students aged 15-17 years with at least a mild form of emotional problems were randomized into a CAT group and a waitlist control (CON) group. The CAT group comprised six 2-h weekly sessions led by an experienced art therapist. Wilcoxon t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests and a full regression model were employed to analyze the results. The study supports the positive effect of CAT on the emotion regulation ability of youth. The elevation of HCC after intervention may not be pathological but a sign of benefit to health.

The Traveling Loom is an example of community-based art therapy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was designed to foster connections in a city that experienced social, cultural, political, religious, and socioeconomic challenges. The community-based format of The Traveling Loom provided space for interaction amongst community members, thereby helping individuals relate to others with whom they may otherwise not interact. Case examples demonstrate how participants directly expressed themselves, challenged perceptions, forged connections, and developed cross-neighborhood opportunities.

Art therapy is an emerging allied health profession in Singapore, although attitudes toward the role of the service remain unclear. This study surveyed 80 healthcare professionals from two tertiary care hospitals, exploring three areas: (a) perceptions of art therapy, (b) the referral process, and (c) suggestions to increase art therapy utilization. Findings suggest that healthcare professionals perceive art therapy as a form of psychotherapy, but need for clearer referral processes. Additional research in art therapy is necessary to support its implementation in acute healthcare in Singapore.

This study investigated the effect of mandala coloring on the attention level of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Iran. This research was a quasi-experimental pre-post study (N = 38) with a control group. The results showed that mandala coloring statistically increased the attention level of children with ADHD both when compared to the control group and within the intervention group. Mandala coloring, as a complementary therapy, might be effective in improving attention in children with ADHD.

This case study integrated feminist theory and social action approaches through the use of a storycloth (fiber arts-based intervention). The feminist approach of being transparent and egalitarian focused on addressing social, cultural, and political issues that are not always covered in the therapeutic setting but may be an underlying cause of distress and mental health issues. The case follows 35 art therapy sessions between a white art therapist in training and a LGBTQIA African American woman, who had a history of trauma. As an outcome, the client experienced a therapeutic space to tell her story and enabled her to self-advocate within art therapy sessions which translated to new understanding within her day-to-day life.

This study investigated art therapy-based self-help online tasks (ATB-SHOT) as a means to support university students during the COVID-19 lockdown by (a) measuring effectiveness on mood repair (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Self-Assessment Manikin scales, pre- and postintervention) and (b) correlating outcomes with participants' personality profiles (resourced profile [resilience and emotional intelligence] and a vulnerability profile [trait anxiety and somatic complaints]). Based on data from 57 participants, findings indicate that all ATB-SHOT tasks significantly reduced negative mood and two increased positive mood and control. Participants with a vulnerability profile showed greater reduction in negative emotions. The significance of the research demonstrates that students in challenging emotional situations could benefit from ATB-SHOT tools.

This qualitative study explored how online individual art-therapy based (ATB) self-help tasks could support international students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Twenty-two students participated in 7 weekly online asynchronous sessions that included both art-making and reflecting writing. Emergent themes included: (1) frustration of isolation, (2) loss of control, and (3) support (nature, transpersonal, attachment). Implications of the study offer preliminary evidence that when there is not a possibility for an in-person or real-time encounter, ATB self-help tasks may be a source of coping.

In January 2020, a new state-wide art therapy in prisons program was established to bring art therapy to youth offenders in four prisons to help mitigate obstacles to their education, such as emotional dysregulation, behavioral issues, and cognitive difficulties. Shortly thereafter COVID-19 halted regular programming. In a system where sequestration is already a normative practice, over-isolation occurred. Art therapists developed strategies to continue providing services, including art-based workbooks and written correspondence. Three case vignettes and overall program feedback illustrate the participants' experiences and responses to the programmatic adjustments.

In the wake of 2020's racial tension and civil unrest in the United States, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) art therapists and graduate students found themselves in need of support from like-minded, social justice-oriented peers. A virtual monthly peer support group called the BIPOC Art Therapists' Circle was formed. A different member selected reading materials to which members created response art. Outcomes of the Circle include: shared experience of oppression; connection and empowerment through art sharing; safety; emotional support and validation; vulnerability and authenticity; widened perspectives; and motivation to advocate outside of circle meetings. The experience of the BIPOC circle confirms its critical importance as a source of support for BIPOC art therapists and students.

This case study explores the use of the Psychological First Aid (PFA) in the context of online art therapy with a 26-year-old woman undergoing home quarantine due to COVID-19 for two weeks after entering Korea from the United States. The client received a total of seven 60-minute sessions, which took place every other day. Her experience encompassed three areas: (a) perceiving stressors, (b) coping with stressors through art therapy, and (c) benefits of art therapy beyond the quarantine. This article identifies the therapeutic value of the employed approach as well as practical and ethical concerns.

In March 2020, The Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic [HBL ATC] transitioned to art therapy telehealth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article presents a qualitative case study focused on emergent themes related to the efficacy and clinical themes as experienced and observed by a group of art therapy graduate student trainees. Findings show that art therapy trainees experienced art therapy telehealth to create opportunities for more diverse populations to access mental health services, provided safe spaces to promote self-expression, created a sense of hope and purpose, and increased connectedness during a crisis.