The effect of school-based creative expression group therapy on the self-concept of female adolescents

Adolescents face a wide array of social, emotional, and academic problems in today’s world during what is often described as a challenging and complicated stage of development (Perryman, Moss, & Cochran, 2015). During adolescence, the peer group becomes more important as teens begin to search for and establish their identities. Therefore, group work can be an advantageous way of reaching the adolescent population. Creative and expressive art techniques allow a safe way for adolescent girls to express themselves and relate to others around them. They learn in a group setting that they are not alone in the world and that others struggle with similar challenges. Together, they are able to learn healthy coping skills and a positive sense of self in a setting and manner that is developmentally appropriate. Additionally, social-emotional health has been strongly correlated with academics in the literature: the better a teen’s social-emotional health is, the better their grades will be. Although the use of creative mediums in working with adolescents has been relatively well-established, many teens are intimidated by the idea of creating art work. The researchers propose a manual of creative expressive interventions designed to allow clients to create art with easy-to-assemble projects, thereby decreasing stress and anxiety related to art, while still allowing a creative process (Spangler, 2015). In this single-case research design, researchers utilized the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale 2 to measure the effects of a creative art expression group on adolescent females at a high school in the Midwest. Participants provided responses before the intervention for 3 weeks to establish a baseline (A), for 8 weeks during treatment (B), and for 3 weeks following the completion of the study (A). Preliminary results of the pilot project are presented along with application-based materials.