Art therapy as a therapeutic resource integrated into mental health programmes: Components, effects and integration pathways

To understand the effectiveness of art therapy within the framework of multidisciplinary therapeutic programs, it is essential to adopt a holistic perspective that allows for the description of effect relationships. Under this premise, and in the context of the work carried out in two Mental Health Day Hospitals in the Community of Madrid, a study has been conducted with the primary objective of identifying and analysing which conditions and/or therapeutic factors make art therapy an effective therapeutic resource. Semi-structured interviews including questions about key factors, therapeutic contributions and suggested improvements were administered to a total of 10 professionals, 5 from each hospital. The responses were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. From the analysis of the interviews, 5 categories were identified: Common Factors, Specific Factors, Benefits to Patients, Contributions to Therapists and Improvements. The study concludes that art therapy is a practical and helpful treatment, particularly for narrative regulation and elaboration. It requires an interdisciplinary approach to fit into each patient’s treatment plan. Clinical debriefings with multidisciplinary clinicians have been effective and essential. • Art therapy is perceived as a useful therapeutic intervention by the medical teams. • Wellbeing, Therapeutic Effects, Regulation, Metacognition and Elaboration are the main benefits. • The Clinical Debriefing is necessary to integrate the art therapy into the treatment.