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Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 1
Environmental Art Therapy for Gemeinschaftsgefühl:
An Experiential Catalyst for Change in a Secured Residential Treatment Center
Presented to
The Faculty of the Adler Graduate School
_______________
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of Masters of Arts in
Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy
_______________
By:
Connie L. Gretsch
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 2
Abstract
Can environmental art therapy be the catalyst for positive social change in a residential treatment
institution for sex offenders? This question was pivotal in the design of this experiential
project. The mere act of painting a room evolved into an extensive Adlerian art therapy exercise
which was conducted in a maximum security treatment facility for sex offenders. This
Minnesota treatment facility exists for court ordered sexual offenders after they have served their
prison term. According to Alfred Adler the sexual offender exhibits a lack of social interest
from a poorly developed lifestyle (Adler, 1956). The focus of this experiential project was to
develop the social interest of the clients and to document and analyze lifestyle changes in three
different but related categories. Documentations of 42 client evaluations were conducted, focus
groups with staff and clients were held, learning objectives were outlined and working schedules
were designed. The findings of this experiential were multidimensional. Those clients that
became invested in this project, which was a steady group of ten clients, were observed to have
increased social interest according to characteristics that have been outlined by Alfred Adler.
The Adlerian social interest characteristics improved in the areas of attitudes towards: their
peers, their self, their difficulties, staff, the opposite sex and their own lives. Sharing and caring
became a theme in the working groups which was verbalized during the post-activity focus
group. The group painting process, based on the central environmental art therapy directive,
was observed and analyzed as having three metaphorical stages: spackling the wounds, the all
white purification stage and the color stage.
This painting process also began a spiraling effect on changing uninvolved clients, staff and
administration. As Adler often equated therapy with learning, the ecological system of learning
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 3
designed by Uri Bronfenbrenner was also used to describe the areas of change and movement
across therapy and learning environments. According to Bronfenbrenner the learning levels of
environments are divided into macrosystems, exosystems, mesosytems and microsystems of the
organization. In this experiential the Great Room was considered the microsystem and the
fractal of change in the positive realm. The directive in this experiential project was considered
the catalyst for change. Not only was this experiential a physically large undertaking, it also
moved socially across horizontal and vertical realms of treatment culture and policy, while
creating disorder and order in movement ,which is illustrated in the chaos theory rationale
section of this paper.
After the change in the microsystem experiential or what was also called the environmental art
directive was conducted, the social events of the two units began to change with the positive
planning of a governing body. The governing body made up of clients with two staff counselors
was a direct result of the changes that came about in the microsystem after this experiential was
conducted. This group made future plans for group events which included the two units that were
initially in conflict with one another, more importantly, they wanted to increase client and staff
communication. Individual clients that were involved in the project continued to pursue more
successful social growth attributes through education endeavors, on-campus work experience
and movements to higher levels of responsibility.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 4
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Haley Fox who allowed me to create and
conduct this experiential behind the bars where I found the freedom to create and experiment
with an idea.
I want to thank John Reardon, my advisor, for helping me take this chaotic movement of
thoughts and paper from disorder to order and seeing the value of this project.
I would also like to thank Dr. Lisa Mastain and her finely tuned eye as she read through
this paper with expert advice.
And finally I would like to thank my daughter for her constant encouragement and the
five gold stars she gave my paper.
Connie Gretsch
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 5
If you want, truly, to understand something, try to change it.
Kurt Lewin
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 6
Table of Contents
I .The Abstract----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
ll. Rationalizations of the Concepts and Methods-----------------------------------------------8
The Use of Art Therapy-----------------------------------------------------------9
The Use of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Levels ----------------------------10
The Use of Adlerian Concepts------------------------------------------------- 12
The Use of Chaos Theory--------------------------------------------------------14
lll. Chaos begins-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
The Need for Developing Staff Governance-------------------------------- 17
Table 1 Work Plan----------------------------------------------------------------19
The Examination of Disorder and Order --------------------------------------22
The Catalyst of Change/ The Environmental Art Therapy Directive----- 28
Table 2. Work Calendar--------------------------------------------------------- 31
lV. Analysis of the Experiential---------------------------------------------------------------- 33
The Art Therapy Analysis------------------------------------------------------ 33
The Bronfenbrenner Analysis ------------------------------------------------- 39
The Adlerian Analysis ---------------------------------------------------------- 41
The Focus Group----------------------------------------------------------------- 46
The Chaos Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------- 48
V. Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49
VI. References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 7
Abstract for the environmental art therapy directive experiential
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 8
Rationalization of the Experiential Methods and Concepts
By enhancing mental health treatment environments visually, and using art as the means
of enhancement, researchers have found clients to have lower levels of stress. In a review of
literature on art and the environment done by Norma Daykin, results suggested that the design of
the mental health setting affects the client psychologically, physiologically, clinically and
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 9
behaviorally (Daykin, 2008). There may also be effects on perceptions of community spirit and
other forms of ‘social capital’ (Britchnell, 1988).
The Use of Art Therapy
Because of this research and the unique, cutting-edge use of art in sex offender treatment
environments, an art therapy directive was the catalyst for change in this project’s microsystem’s
environment. This directive took the research suggestions from Daykin, one step further, by not
only increasing the visual art, but, by making the experience of creating the new visual
environment interactive with client involvement, therefore, making it a social event. Therefore,
change to the microsystem of this experiential was done by a visual form of physical
enhancement using social interest participation. Social interest according to Adler was the
gemeinschaftsgefühl of what people needed for healthy development. Gemeinschaftsgefühl was
difficult to define in an English word but the term “social interest” was agreed upon by Adlerian
to be the best English interpretation. Adler felt that all individuals needed positive social interest.
In the case of the sex offender Adler believed there was no feeling of social interest (Adler,
1956).
We all know what a fresh coat of paint will do to a room. We paint rooms to lift our
spirits; we want the old to look clean and new. Somehow by doing this our world, our room is
just a little bit better. We know this point is true just by the gallons of paint that go out the door
of Home Depot each day. Makeovers are a way of life in this culture. Of course applying this
“makeover” approach to an art therapy directive did go deeper into the psychological aspects of
personal growth and social interest. Since the book The Artistry of the Mentally Ill in 1922, by
Hans Prinzhorn contemporary writers in art therapy such as Allen, Moon, Malchiodi and
Cameron have continued to explore art and the relationship to personal growth (Vick, 2003).
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 10
The concepts of responsiblility to the project and the choice to participate were integral
components but not intended to be threatening on a deep individual level (Waller, 1993). Art
therapy also encourages the idea of group development, especially, in the ” makeover” of a large
room. There were constant situations where the group needed to make decisions together,
where one person needed the other to hold something and, most importantly, were one group
member needed the whole group’s support with a difficulty. The group often needed the
therapist to teach “social skills” at times, so the group could proceed (Strand, 1990).
Rationalizing the use of the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model?
During the course of this experiential project, all social dynamic phenomenons were
examined by using this treatment organization’s forms of therapeutic/learning systems. They
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 11
were placed in the Bronfenbrenner model of the microsystem, the exosystems, the mesosystem
and the macrosystems.
According to Bronfenbrenner (1993), the microsystem is the immediate environment
consisting of activity patterns, social roles, and interpersonal relationships of the developing
person. The microsystem is the area of direct change for this experiential. It presents change and
movement in the physical, emotional, social environments.
The Microsystem Location: The Great Room
The Person: The client
The mesosystem is the process that takes place between two or more microsystems that
contain the person. The mesosystem for this project would be the social environment of the
physical, private living space and the Great room.
The Mesosystem Location: Residential units and the Great Room
The Person: The client
The exosystem is the process that takes place between two or more settings with at least
one of the settings not containing the person. The exosystems are social environments that are
larger and include treatment policies. It is the culture of the treatment setting.
The Exosystem Location: The Great room, Residential units, Administration
Persons: Treatment Staff and Policies The clients
Macrosystems contain overarching patterns of micro-, meso-, and exosystems which
reflect the given culture’s lifestyles and belief systems.
The macrosystems are social, emotional, and physical environments-that encompasses all
other systems with its influence, decisions and administration governance.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 12
Rationalizing the Use of Adlerian Concepts
The Adler Lifestyle Tree shows:
The Attitude toward self: the self development or self destructiveness
The Attitude toward difficulties: ranges from self-pampering (avoidance of difficulties) to
struggling with difficulties
The Attitude towards others: cooperation vs. rejection, exploitation, domination, or
destruction
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 13
The Attitude toward the other sex: respect, acceptance, affection vs. contempt, rejection,
and abuse
The Attitude toward life: positive, generous giving to pessimistic, self-centered
All these attitudes affect the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and the macrosystem
of this organization. Attitudes of the clients that participate will be graphically demonstrated
later in the analysis section of this paper.
As stated in Bronfenbrenner’s definition of learning levels, lifestyle and belief systems
are the core of the microsystem. With Adler‘s description of the lifestyle and the importance of
the early belief system, one could say that Adler is at the core of Bronfenbrenner’s microsystem.
Social interest is the English interpretation of Adler’s German word gemeinschaftsgefuhl.
Alfred Adler felt that a person’s group or society was integral in developing the individual’s
character, which resulted in the emphasis on social interest. Social interest can be seen in
communities as three important tasks: working with others, friendship and love (Dreikurs R. ,
1989). Dr.Henry Stein believes that “Encouraging social interest and promoting a sense of social
equality are certainly parts of a general treatment strategy for rehabilitating sexual offenders”.
The chosen art directive for the room makeover project began with work and resulted in
friendships, creative expression and problem solving.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 14
Rationalizing the Use of Chaos Theory
The degree of change that came about after the art directive catalyst was released into the
Bronfenbrenner levels of this organization can be described by chaos theory. The small fractal
that was changed by the painting makeover led to changes in all of the nested systems of the
organization and the dance between disorder and order began, which is John Reardon’s
definition of chaos (Reardon, 2002).
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 15
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 16
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 17
Changes and developments at the macrolevel and exolevel
Chaos begins
The Need for Developing Staff Governance
In 1988, the APA Task Force on Psychiatric Services in jails and prisons reminded the
APA membership that correctional officials were obligated to provide adequate mental health
care. Of the six principles the panel outlined, the need for a therapeutic environment in jails and
correctional facilities was listed. It further suggested that an environment can be created in these
facilities under clinical leadership and authority (Gussak, 1997).
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 18
The TEA (Therapeutic Environmental Advisory) group was formed by my supervisor at
this residential treatment setting to do just what was described in a 1988 APA proclamation. The
objective was to designate and approve environmental improvement projects that would be
carried out by members of the institution (staff and clients) in a mindful manner. Projects were
listed with main workers and those who would be champions of the projects. This team effort
was taken from the Kaizen model (Maurer, 2004). Workers would have hands-on, direct
experiences at the microlevel and champions would be support staff at the mesolevels. As noted
by the type of projects involved, changing the physical environment of the secured premises one
microsystem at a time was the main objective of the TEA Projects. During the projects, the
activities involved art, creativity and problem solving (the learning environment) with the intent
on having clients working in a group manner (the social environment), and projects also dealt
with client conflicts (the emotional environment).
The following work plan diagram shows the tasks that were listed by the TEA group as
needing immediate attention by the TEA group. Reading horizontally the adjacent actions steps
were designated along with the people (staff/workers and champions) responsible for the task
completion:
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 19
Table I TEA Group Work Plan
Tasks Definition:
Those tasks
listed by the TEA
group members that
needed to be
addressed 2009-10
Action Definition:
Major steps in bringing about the
physical, emotional, learning and social
environment changes
Workers/Staff Definition;
Hands on task development
working with social, emotional, learning
environments of clients
Working with physical
environment
Working at the microsystem level
Champion
Definition
Working with
macrosystems of
institution to aid
workers
Task
Action
Workers/Staff
Champions
1. Address
conflict and
entitlement issues
between MSI/MAP
clients.
Give “Great
Room” a new look.
Facilitate a group process through
which individuals with higher privilege
levels work together to conceptualize and re-
create a therapeutic environment in their
common space for cooking, relaxation and
socialization.
Rename the space.
Paint.
Prepare a specific work plan for the
space.
Connie Gretsch, art therapist
intern, designer, TEA group co-
facilitator
Clinical and security staff
MSI clients and Alternative
Programming clients at high privilege
levels.
Clinical
supervisor
Unit
Supervisor
2. Expand
horticulture program
in St. Peter.
Make recommendations to
recreational therapists re. Winter sowing
techniques and seed promulgating.
Recreational therapist
Client Groups
Admin
Recreatio
nal therapist
3. Replace Visit facility to meet with clients and Connie Gretsch, art therapist Admin
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 20
signage on walls of
Complex 1 with
inspirational slogans
or art.
staff.
Poll staff and clients to come up with
key slogans and plan (sign shop, art group)?
Get measurements.
Make necessary purchases.
Hold art-making groups, as indicated.
Mount signs.
intern, designer, TEA group co-
facilitator
Clinical supervisor
Unit supervisor
Unit Residents, TBD
4. Select one
unit room in
alternative
programming to
“remodel,” with the
goal being a calm,
optimally therapeutic
atmosphere.
Convene community meeting to
recruit client volunteers for project.
Review and make design choices.
Prepare budget.
Plan and implement art-making
groups.
Complete remodeling project.
Evaluate results and identify second
Pexton room to remodel.
Conduct simple study to measure
client and/or staff responses to new
surroundings.
Connie Gretsch, art therapist
intern, designer, TEA group co-
facilitator
Recreational Therapist
Clinical
supervisor
Senior
clinician
5. Address
empty walls of 2nd
floor lounges, etc.
Visit facility to meet with clients and
staff.
Examine and measure spaces.
Make necessary purchases.
Hold art-making groups, as indicated.
Connie Gretsch, Art Therapist
intern, designer , TEA group co-
facilitator
Senior clinician
Recreational Therapist
Unit Residents, TBD
Clinical
supervisors
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 21
As noted previously, there were several tasks outlined by the committee to be considered
by this new organization. The first decision made by the TEA Group was to start a painting
makeover in the Great Room (TASK #1, ABOVE), which was the recreational, day room for
clients who had earned a higher level of responsibility. However, recent changes in the overall
treatment policy mandated that a new unit, of developmentally disabled clients, had earned the
right to share the room with clients who already had that privilege for number years. This change
in policy created client upheaval and conflict among the two units. The Great Room makeover
was given precedent over others because of an urgent need to deal with this emotional client
conflict. The higher functioning group of clients did not want a lower functioning group of
clients in the Great Room. It was the hope of the TEA group that a working collaboration
between the two conflicting units on a makeover project might bring the two groups of clients
together, physically, socially and emotionally.
Further examining this phenomenon, the Great Room microsystem was about to change
because of decisions handed down from the macrolevel and exolevel systems. Chaos was about
to be experienced at all levels.
The group workers were the clients and the project leader would be the art therapist for
the working duration. It was decided that clients would be involved in the process as equal
members. This thought was equally supported by the work of Christopher Day, a designer of
community living projects. He feels that if designers would listen to the community, it was
serving and was conscious of their feelings by actually having them work on the project at all
levels, the process would ultimately serve the individuals of the community in a more efficient
way than a project that was designed and isolated from the community (Day, 2002).
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 22
The Examination of the Disorder/Order in the Microsystem
Physical Environmental Disorder Observations. Before starting the project the request
to get a series of pre-project pictures of the environment was made. Apparently several
photographs were taken but the following three were the only pictures that were processed
correctly and sent to the therapist. The photos speak for the situation and the environmental
feeling of the space. It is important to note that a staff member was the photographer. The
photographs of the trapped toad in the window well, the bar over the window well and the actual
condition of an area of the Great Room hold numerous symbols. They show the mutual feeling
of the space between staff member and client. The change that was to take place was not just for
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 23
the clients, it was also for the staff that was exposed to this oppressive environmental climate on
a daily basis. The symbolism of the trapped toad is interesting because many times the toad
represents the ugly or the unfortunate; however, its biological relationship to the frog is so close
that the symbolism of the frog and toad are sometimes the same. The frog symbols are
transformation, life and the “trapped prince”. Even more importantly, the toad is used by a
psychologist at this same treatment center to stand for the sexual offending part of his clients’
personalities in a visualization process.
While viewing the second photo of the bar in the window one can see the repetition of the
bar symbols as the movement to the third photo is made. The bar imagery continues and is seen
in the exposed copper pipes above the washer. An interior reminder of bars had been created,
probably, unconsciously. With the metal legs of the stools, chairs, tables and other visible
vertical lines, there are over twenty hard-edged vertical lines in this small photograph which
could be seen as relating symbolically to the window bars. This visual motif is seen throughout
the Great Room.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 24
Trapped Toad
Window Bars
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 25
Besides the examination of photos it was also necessary to take a physical inventory of
the room before the project could start. These conditions of the room were noted: air quality,
light, space usage, color and function.
Air Quality: The air was stagnant and dusty. It was a lower level room with poured
foundation walls. Because of the secured necessity of this situation, there was no natural air flow
because the windows were permanently sealed with bars covering the outside of the windows.
Lighting: The barred window wells were filled with debris and at times small dying
animals that had fallen through the grid... The main lighting was fluorescent with plastic panel
covers which were filled with dust and dead bugs. This condition created a grayish green tint
over the room.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 26
The blue and light brown wall color was applied by clients about 10 years ago. The
kitchen color was a lime green that had not been redone since the 1960’s. This kitchen color was
a source of much criticism and dismay. It represented the lack of concern for the room’s
importance
Living things –one plant
Art work-velvet matador, Vikings blanket
Space –disordered many chairs and tables, 12 large wardrobe shaped cabinets on wheels,
some attempts at creating a small TV room were already done, within this large open space. The
function of each area was undefined.
Ceiling: dropped with badly damaged sections
Floor: Dirty and marked by a constant layer of dust
Makeover proposals:
Air concern: There was really no way of changing the condition of the fresh air intake
into the room, but using a different type of paint would seal the cement walls and would
hopefully cut down on the daily quota of dust in the air.
Possibilities for future: air purifiers
Light: It was suggested that cleaning the panels that cover fluorescent lights and adding
clean white translucent curtains for windows would change the quality of light in the room.
Possibilities for future; full spectrum bulbs
Living Things: Plans were suggested for the purchase of more plants and an aquarium
was proposed.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 27
Space and Function: Initially the space was disordered with furniture scattered around the
large area. -A washing machine when used added noise, heat and excess humidity to the room.
Refrigerators and freezers were placed wherever there was an electrical outlet.
Possibilities: Make certain smaller areas out of the large open space with color and
furniture arrangement boundaries. Move appliances if possible, to define a utility area away
from recreation and leisure areas.
Possible room designs (taken from client suggestions during an earlier art therapy
exercise)
TV room
Game Room
Reading Area
Dining Area
Kitchen
Storage Areas
Other environmental concerns: tiled floor needed to be cleaned, waxed and polished.
Some clients had been trained to do this.
The ceiling tiles were badly marked and mismatched. A proposal for new ceiling panels
would be presented to building owners.
After the visit to the room and a discussion in the TEA group, the makeover of the Great
Room was approved and an art therapy directive, titled The Enviro- Art Therapy Directive was
established as the change catalyst.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 28
The Catalyst of Change = the Environment Art Therapy Directive
Objective
To promote community partnership and collaboration
To introduce the benefits of art therapy to programs
And populations unfamiliar with its use
To educate institutions, agencies, funders and the
public about the extensive applications of art therapy
To provide creative and therapeutic opportunities
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 29
for social interaction, communication, expression
and emotional development
To establish partnerships with other departments within the organization
Materials:
Paints Low VOC, White and color varieties wall
Watercolors Primaries
Wall glaze-water base non-toxic
Rags
Roller Pans
Stencils
Lazure Brushes
Procedure:
Steps-
Spackling
White base coat
Color paint application
The process technique
Lazure Painting
Therapeutic/teaching process for social and emotional environments. The learner is
central to the process throughout this activity. Learners can only make the best use of this
opportunity if they are actively involved in the painting, decision making and problem solving.
Adler’s sense and practice of encouragement is totally embedded in all of the following steps to
therapeutic learning.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 30
Learning will go on without the therapist
Allow clients to work through things themselves
The art therapist creates learning opportunities by introducing new tasks and
creates a free flowing atmosphere
You can’t predict the therapeutic learning an individual will take from any
activity
You can’t predict how far a therapeutic learning experience will take another
person
There is a potential for therapeutic learning to be at different levels
Developing basic skills in an encouraging environment is relatively simple
A therapeutic learning activity is a means to an end not an end in itself
A review of the work is viewed with encouragement and constructively
Learn from the positive learners need to develop conclusions during the review
with help from facilitator. (Thompson)
With these teaching steps, one of the first lessons taught was: “if you don’t like it, paint
over it”. With this in mind the idea of process over product was really presented as paramount.
This idea was amazingly new to the clients who had experienced the feeling that everything they
did was written in concrete, figuratively and literally. Below is the Great Room work calendar
for November 2009 to December 2009. The work calendar is an excellent document of the
physical and emotional work that went on during the art directive process.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 31
Table 2 Work Calendar for Great Room
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Notes
15
16
Plan
for Saturday
Set an
afternoon or
morning time
for client
group issues
and color
choices
w. theme
decide on
partner for
Connie on
Saturday
Snacks
17
Brainstorm ways
to start
woodworking
projects
Quilting projects
Tiling project
for kitchen walls
Upholstery
project
budget
SherwinWilliam
s in SP)
18
Get Camera
Maybe
purchase
19 20 21
9-2
Paint day
Client
Group
topics
Issues : velvet
painting
What is the
issue?
Colors -final
plans for
layout
-
Themes
22
23
Decide on
partner for
Connie on
Saturday
Snacks
24
Decide on other
needs
Recommendatio
ns
Furniture, ceiling
etc.
25 26 27 28
9-2
Paint day
Client
Group
Topics:
Recommendat
ions for the
future
Projects that
should be
continued
Form a
committee of
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 32
clients to
make Great
room
decisions
Plans for
celebration :
Date
What
needs to be
ordered
30
Decide on
partner for
Connie
Snacks
plants
12/1
Group to plan for
celebration
2 3 4 5
9-2
Paint
Day
Kitche
n
Group
ideas:
Clients create
agenda
6
7
Schedule floor
cleaning and
buffing for
next week
8 9 10 29
12
9-2
paint day
Completion
Open house
Focus Group
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 33
Analysis of the Experiential
Analysis of the Art Therapy
The Spackling Stage. It was necessary to spackle the walls of this room because of the
many visible pits from a poorly constructed concrete pouring for the foundation of the building.
The therapist was not concerned with covering all the blemishes because the use of a textured
painting technique, Lazure, would mask the look of the wall marks. In a matter of minutes the
clients began attacking the walls with spackling with amazing energy. One wall was entirely
covered with a coat of spackling. Looking at this stage metaphorically the need to either cover
those wounded walls or to mend the walls represented the need to mend the wounds of sexual
offenses. It was a powerful gesture witnessed by this therapist. It was also powerful to see the
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 34
group working together on this task. It seemed that they were giving each other the energy to do
this work.
The All White Stage. After the wounds were filled and the holes were spackled,
everything was painted with a flat, snow- white and non-toxic paint. It was a therapeutic move
the therapist decided to make so the clients could see the room totally white. There was a total
envelope of white purity when you walked into the room. A sense of cleanliness and
detoxification was prevalent. Many group members wanted the room to stay white. However, the
white walls gave them a place to think about the transition to color and a place to imagine the
room with endless possibilities: a new space and a space to start over were symbolic at this point.
People are containers for their imaginations but for them to express their creativity they must
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 35
prepare a space (Malchiodi, 2002). This stage gave the clients a clean surface to work;
metaphorically, this therapist saw this stage as the stage of transition in treatment.
The Color Stage Kitchen Makeover
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 36
The Color Stage Great Room Space
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 37
The Color Stage the Viking Room
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 38
The Color Stage the Pool and Game Area
The work group had done some basic color theory exercises pre-project but it was still
necessary to present this group, with some structure, to the color choices. There was a plan to
start with a container of color choices and to let the clients become more independent in their
choices as the project developed. Expressing emotions through color, release certain emotions
that could stand in the way of healing (Ganim, 1999).
The technique of color paint application used is called the Lazure method, which is a
method of painting that was created by Rudolph Steiner for the Waldorf schools’ interior walls.
The painted method uses a series of thin color washes applied to the walls, which is illustrated on
the previous pages (Marberry, 1995). The method also uses brushstrokes that move in a lazy
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 39
eight pattern or the symbol for infinity which has also been referred to in this paper when
describing the movement of chaos.
Analysis using Bronfenbrenner’s ecology of learning spaces
Although the materials, mentioned in the Enviro-Art Therapy directive earlier, might be
considered a minor requirement of this experiential, the act of bringing certain materials into this
secured environment represents the far reaching concern the micro level of this institution has
over all the levels of the environment. It is important to note that the institutional restrictions and
steps needed to bring items into this secured area because items could be used as weapons
(macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem concerns over the microsystem). Because of this concern
it was necessary to think creatively when having to substitute needed tools to complete this
makeover (microlevel creativity). When beginning to order and plan for the first day of the
directive in this restricted setting, such as this setting, careful organization was of the utmost
importance. Not only was the therapist conscious of all the materials needed to paint the large
day room, the therapist had to understand the state’s system of paying for things, what is allowed
in this restricted environment (contraband) and obtaining permission for bringing things into the
area days in advance ( microlevel personal adjustments) had to be followed.
The clients were in a container of a restricted environment, the microlevel had physical
walls, emotional walls, and social walls, and many of these walls were handed down from the
macrolevel system. More significantly, many of the walls were created at the personal
microlevel by each client. Because of these walls of containment, everyone involved in this art
directive was forced to create and problem solve in the most ingenious ways. The group became
the art backdrop for this to safely happen (Skaife, 2004). For example, one client was able to fix
the wheel on a cabinet by unscrewing the screws with a dime. The therapist was taught how to
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 40
open the paint cans without a screw driver. At times, it seemed like the clients were able to find
ways to break the walls of the system to get what they wanted.
Even though this determination and skill in creative problem solving was witnessed
among the clients, there was a strong feeling that they were not being heard on other unit issues.
The therapist felt that positive communication between staff and clients would really be the
underlying joint group goal of this project and it was then presented to the TEA Group. Through
this micro to macro level of exchange an important issue was identified which was the need for
clients to communicate their ideas as members of this social institution, and to do so in the form
of a governing board with a staff consultant.
At first the experiential was designed to clean up and enhance the microsystem room and
it went beyond that boundary, when significant positive behaviors emerged. Creative problem
solving began to take over the work sessions not only in the physical design of the room but also
it was witnessed in the social behavior and the emotional levels of the clients. This was seen
when clients began to take pride in their work, to share their ideas and to help one another on
certain tasks.
It is important to realize that this endeavor had many facets to it. Improving the room’s
physical environment was an important aspect, but not the number one reason. The major reason
for this Great Room project was to further develop the clients’ relationships, their treatment and
their learning by using the integration of art into their environment. In doing so the process
crossed many departments, some the Tea group had prepared for, others were handled in a
creative impromptu manner. The project developed a prototype for procedures for future
projects by extending the ideas to the social and cultural environments, changing perceptions and
bringing new knowledge to the environment (Drucker, 2002).
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 41
Adlerian Analysis: Social Interest Development Findings
The Environmental-Art therapy work was offered to all 42 clients but only a steady group
of 10 workers volunteered to be involved with the work. Of those ten men changes and social
behaviors were observed. Especially noted were the characteristics of social interest: cooperation
and group concern. The working group was central to the process throughout this art therapy
directive. In a way the act of volunteering became an assessment tool in social interest. The
clients could only make the best use of this opportunity if they were actively involved in the
painting, decision making and problem solving.
The inventory measurement tools. It is also important to analyze the following data
collected from a series of inventories created with Adlerian social concepts, such as value’s
expressed through empathy, universality, and positive striving for community (Ansbacher,
1956). The intent was to measure attitudes of the clients that would be asked to volunteer for the
environmental art therapy directive before the activity and after the activity. The inventory was
given previous to the directive to 42 clients and read orally while staff helped with any questions
but they instructed not give any opinions. The post inventory was given about two weeks after
the experiential was completed at the same population. At that time, there were 40 participants.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 42
Table 4 Pre- Inventory results from the client population before the art directive was
presented
Nine Questions from the inventory
1. I feel comfortable and relaxed
2. I have a lot of energy today
3. In this I am among friends
4. I wish certain people were not in this
group
5. This group makes me nervous
Response Possibilties
Blue- Series 1-Strongly Agree
Orange- Series 2-Agree
Green- Series 3-Unsure
Purple- Series 4-Disagree
Turquoise- Series 5-Strongly Disagree
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 43
6. People work hard to get privileges
7. Some people here think they’re better
than the rest
8. I want to work with others to make
things better.
9. I can’t wait for group to be over.
Inventory Results
Numbers 1, 2,3,6,8 request an agree response to reflect a positive social attitude (an
average in the 2.0-1.0 range)
Numbers: 4,5,7,9 request a disagree response to reflect a positive social attitude (an
average in the 4.0-5.0 range)
Table 6 Comparison of average item responses
Question
#
Pre –
art directive
Post-
art directives
1 2.4 2.1
2 2.2 2.1
3 2.2 1.8
4 3.5 3.5
5 3.7 3.7
6 1.5 1.5
7 2.1 2.7
8 1.7 1.7
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 44
9 2.8 2.8
Questions that showed improvement:
1. I feel comfortable and relaxed
2. I have a lot of energy today
3. I am among friends
7. Some people here think they’re better than the rest
Questions that stayed the same:
4. I wish certain people were not in this group
5. This group makes me nervous
6. People work hard to get privileges
8. I want to work with others to make things better
9. I can’t wait for group to be over
From the pre and post inventory results the answers improved or stayed the same. It is
important to be reminded that this responding group included both client groups: those that
volunteered to work and those that did not. In the post group it would be a 10/30 ratio, 10
workers to 30 who did not volunteer. A question that reflects strong social interest, especially in
the area of universality, is #3. I am among friends, which showed a change of .4 from the pre
response to the post response.
Events timeline. This measurement tool graphically represents the horizontal
development of events before and after the art directive.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 45
Table 6 Events before and after the room makeover
This graphic (above) shows the catalytic power of the experiential project (Room
Makeover) by illustrating the events that occurred before and after the initiation of the project.
The initial policy change which is on the left side of the environmental art therapy directive was
causing a negative effect on the population by initiating a conflict between two units. The choice
to insert the art directive at a critical time shows the beginning of the events changing from
negative to positive results on the right of the room makeover.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 46
Positive events began with giving the clients a voice in such room makeover decisions.
This voice increased and eventually reached the staff in a positive manner by forming a Great
Room governing body with staff advisors. Social development was reflected in the desire to
include both units in a potluck dinners.
The Focus Group as Qualitative Measurement Tool
The final event conducted as a part of the Great Room makeover and the ending of the
environmental art therapy directive was an open house. This was a time when the clients were
able to show off their work to the rest of the organization including staff and clients. After the
celebration those who worked on the room and anyone else who was interested in the makeover
project could stay for a discussion. About twenty clients wanted to be involved while this
therapist and this therapist’s supervisor conducted the group. There were clients who worked on
the project combined with clients who had not.
These questions were asked:
Focus Leader: Who wants the two units to come to the Great Room together for shared
activities and events?
Clients present responded: All participants raised their hand.
Focus Leader: What have you learned from this experience (the art directive-makeover)?
Client A: At first I didn’t want to come. I was involved in painting the room ten years
ago and I didn’t think it should be painted over. Also, I knew it would be hard for me to take
instructions from a woman (the art therapist). But I learned so much. I became friends with
people I ignored before. I was able to take instructions.
Client B: We really want to have more things to do with the other unit but now that we
have done all this work we can’t schedule time together. There isn’t enough staff to escort the
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 47
other unit to this place. (My supervisor assured them that this would be brought to the staffs’
attention).
Client C. When the project first started I wanted to be a part of it I came down a couple
times but then I didn’t feel like I had anything to do with the decisions so I stopped coming.
Client D. Next time you do something like this you need to let us know in advance when
the Great room will be closed because we need to know this. We had plans for Xmas and we
couldn’t come down here to cook.
Client E: I really want to start cooking down here again I used to do it but I stopped now
I want to start to teach people.
Focus Leader: How is the Great Room governing board coming along?
Client F: We really only have had two meetings?
Focus Leader: Why only two?
Client F: We can’t get a staff person to supervise the meeting.
Focus Leader: This is all new to everybody but don’t give up on it. You have a channel
of communication open now use it to the best of your ability.
Focus leader: How many of you can start planning and working on a potluck to start the
social events down here?
Clients: A majority raised their hand
After the focus group, client- A. came to me and said he never knew what some of the
clients go through just to do one small task. He described getting really frustrated with another
client (from the disabled unit) when that client was trying to spackle the wall. He was having so
much trouble that client A had to redo the spackling. But then something changed and client-A
felt good about helping his fellow client and later, became that client’s mentor.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 48
Client –discussed the frustration everyone felt when things started happening to the Great
Room without the clients or the therapist in charge of the project new about it
Client discussed the metal lockers arriving in the middle of the freshly painted room
without anyone telling anybody.
One client came up with a better place for them to be but was discouraged before he even
suggested the idea he said: They won’t listen to me. The idea was brought to the TEA group
and lockers were moved to the place he thought would be the best. This part of the project was
not only a revelation on social interest dynamics but just how important encouragement is to the
state of well being. Without encouragement everything is a never ending struggle for client and
therapist. The focus group also pointed to two more things one the continued need for
communication from the microsystem to other layers of the organization and communication in
the other direction.
Analysis According to Chaos Theory
As described in the chaos theory the tiniest, the most infinitesimal change or movement
in the microsystem is seen in all layers of the learning/therapeutic environment. In some
instances, it seems to extend to the outside layers and beyond. Again the Environmental-Art
Therapy Directive was the catalyst. However, the actual changes were visually seen in the
physical look of the makeover room, the emotional change of client/therapist and the social
change of the nested system layers (Bronfebrenner, 1993) of the whole organization. Emotional
(Ansbacher, 1956) and social changes (Stein, 2004) were analyzed earlier with Adlerian
concepts, however, organizational change explanations will be discussed using chaos theory
principles. (Reardon, 2002)
When the activity first began it was definitely approached with change in mind, but,
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 49
soon, the idea moved to innovation and transformation. The most successful types of innovation
are those that relate to unexpected occurrences, incongruities, process needs and behavior
changes within an organization (Drucker, 2002). Based on these four characteristics, the
Environmental Art Therapy activity qualified as a successful innovation.
The TEA group moved from selective feedback to open receptive behavior after the
directive began. The directive jogged macro to micro level consciousnesses. New language was
created for clients and staff. Thought was challenged especially in the areas of client therapeutic
environments (Reardon, 2002).
The Conclusion of the Environmental Art Therapy Experiential
Originally, this experiential asked if an environmental art directive could be a catalyst
for change in sex offenders ‘social interest within the confines of a residential treatment facility.
It started with a simple question but evolved into a catalyst that ignited a large reaction involving
the whole treatment community at a multidimensional level. Through a series of eclectic
documentations, measurements and observations the experiential has shown that an
environmental art therapy directive was the catalyst for change in social interest in several ways.
The first documentation of social change was the therapist’s observations and documentations of
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 50
the ten men who consistently volunteered for the project. According to the Adler lifestyle
attitudes these men exhibited social interest characteristics by the mere act of volunteering for
the job. Their social level reflected a change from those that did not volunteer, especially in the
area of friendships and caring about their lives. They also continued to develop in social
attitudes by moving to Adler’s life tasks, in the areas of work, and education.
Secondly the post-inventory of attitudes toward others and the room that was painted
reflected an increase in positive social interest especially in the social interest area of friendship
(Table 3). Another positive reflection of social changes and the most drastic demonstration of the
art directive as a catalyst was the horizontal depiction of the social events timeline that followed
the art experiential (Table 4).
It is important to recognize the use of many measurements modalities and system theories
when discussing the change of social interest and measurement. Because of the complexity of
the subject of social interest and the fluid nature of the concept, it is really impossible for one
measurement or observation to result in a dependable conclusion.
Future research and documentation on the ten men who volunteered over the next year is
recommended. It is also recommended that social aspects be broken down into categories of
social attitudes much like Crandall’s social assessment categories (Crandall, 1991). Since this
question really focuses on change, an audit format should be devised to look for success in the
area of social interest and to make plans for continued development exercises (Gilroy, 2006).
So it is recommended to continually audit the change of social interest in many different
tasks including continued art directives and to make careful predictions regarding change in
social interest. It is also recommended that research regarding other layers of the social system
at this organization examine the social interest categories at the exosystem, mesosystem and
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 51
macrosystems for correlations in change. If there is a change in one system it will be reflected in
the other related system layers.
Most importantly all interventions should be devised with treatment strategies that could
be patterned after the art directive described in this paper which was a community constructive
project with a therapist directly involved but it is important to note Henry Stein’s comment on
sex offender treatment:
However, unless the style of life is actually "dissolved" there is still the risk of repeated
offending. From an Adlerian perspective, the best way to fully protect society from any
individual's acts of aggression, exploitation, or destruction is to change that individual's
fictional final goal of dominance, superiority, and revenge. This may take more time and
skill than is actually available.
In this experiential there were changes denoted in the different aspects of social interest
in all the areas of analysis. For further study it would be important to devise and test a tool that
reflected the dissolved life style built on the dominant final goal. It would also be important to
use this experiential as a framework to develop that tool.
This experience has not only given this therapist numerous ideas for future research, it
also gave this therapist a sense of freedom to create while behind bars with my clients. The
social interest and encouragement was also experienced by this therapist. The results were
plentiful and the power of making a minor change truly did make this therapist understand this
treatment organization at several levels in just a short time.
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 52
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Paint behind the bars –Cgretsch 2010
ENVIRONMENTAL ART THERAPY AS A CATALYST 55
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