The effectiveness of painting therapy on the mental health of male students of primary schools in Gachsaran city

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Counseling and Guidance (M.A)

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of painting therapy on the mental health of male students of primary schools in Gachsaran city. The variables of the present study were mental health with dimensions (anxiety, hostility, physicalization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsession, phobia, paraphobia, psychosis). The statistical population of the present study included all elementary school students of Gachsaran city who were studying in the academic year of 1992-1993. The sample size of the present study was 50 people who were selected using the stratified sampling method. This research is quasi-experimental. The independent variable is painting therapy and the dependent variable is mental health. The measuring tool of the present study was the Revised List of Psychological Symptoms (R90 SCL). To analyze the data, the t-test for independent groups was used. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the mental health (in all subscales) of the students who were given drawing therapy training compared to the students who did not receive this training. Therefore, it can be concluded that the students who were given drawing therapy training had higher mental health than those who did not receive this training.

Key words: elementary school, mental health, drawing therapy

Introduction

Child drawing is a kind of game: throughout childhood and up to the borders of adolescence, most children engage in regular sets of drawing activities and In this way, they establish multiple relationships with reality. Children use different methods to draw their own idea of ??the world. This activity, like other leisure activities, is accompanied by pleasure, discovery and experience of what is possible. Painting, play, humor and art belong to the same behavioral family and for this reason they are a reflection of the set of constructions that children have at their disposal, but in any case, these activities are located at the intersection of the external world (external reality) and the internal world (internal reality) and provide the basis for the expression of conflicts or contradictions between these two categories of reality (Dadastan 1387, 13).

From around the end of the first year of life, many children show an activity that can be called "drawing" to be more precise. In the common culture of today's world, the tool of this painting is often a pencil or a pen, but the child may also use a finger, sponge, a piece of plaster, a wooden beam or any other object. Although this painting or drawing is preferably done on a page of paper, it is possible that the pages of a book or other surfaces such as household items, walls, fabrics, etc. are the scene of action and cause many conflicts with adults. Often, the production of stains precedes the production of these lines or drawings (Dadastan 1387, 13). Thus, on the basis of drawing and even before the first line, scribbles and creation Lines that apparently have no meaning are a complex set of movement behaviors, perceptual integrations and the use of information that result from these continuous and observable effects as the continuity of the body. Authors have investigated the similarities and differences between this "pre-drawing" activity and the child's "identifications". The sounds produced by the child are fleeting, but they are partially organized as a means of communication. Photographs have no effect, they do not have a differentiated meaning, but they represent the "doubling" of a voluntary body. In other words, these paintings are considered works that are separated from the action that leads to their production. They are considered works that are separated from the action that leads to their production. These intentional or volitional drawings, starting from the second year of life, are confused drawings and gradually lead to a perceptual motor restraint. That is, from the stage where the child obeys his hand, in the next stage, the eye guides the hand. According to most authors, it is during the third year of life that the first imitative images appear and the period of scribbling is left behind.

From 2 to 3 years old, imitation of situations (writing) along with some visual elements (rolling as a ball) and execution of instructions (drawings that are more or less oriented according to a pattern). Simai is the beginning stage of drawing movement in the literal sense of the word.From 3 to 5 years of age, the intention of an obvious shaping along with the preparation of a drawing expression is visible. At this stage, the child pays attention to the pattern to some extent, but often replaces it with a sketchy sketch. From 5 to 9 years of age, we witness the copying stage by re-creating geometric shapes (from circles, squares, triangles, rhombuses, to more complex shapes respectively), learning line, producing drawings that have different elements The visualizations are distinguished in them, along with the combination of basic designs with more and more details, which are the characteristics of this stage. From the age of 9 to 13, abandoning abstraction in favor of a more realistic perspective that is not satisfactory for many children in terms of analyzing the pattern and visualizing it, marks the end of the drawing process (Dossant 1387, 14).

Clinical approach, diagnosis bias: children project their emotions in their drawings and interpret what is thus Improvisational reflection is a way to measure personality.

The clinical approach for psychotherapy, the refining aspects of drawing activities, i.e. the projection of objects through projection as a way of improvisational expression or through projection in the form of research of an artwork, has led to the opening of the clinical line of therapy, i.e. psychotherapy, through painting (Dasatan 1387, 15).

1-2-Statement of the problem

The process of painting or making is a complex process during which the child uses various parts of his experiences to make a meaningful whole. In this process, he gives us more than just a picture or a sculpture. He reveals a part of himself to us, how he thinks, and how he feels and how he sees (Lonfled Brittain[1] 1970, quoted by Voodoo Williams[2] 1977, 34).

Using art therapy for disabled children can be the most effective way to bring them to awareness and build communication and motivational bridges. A child who has been angered can have a non-vengeful expression. A self-destructive child can find something valuable to express himself.

A child with developmental delay can gradually and appropriately explore his complex world. Help for a problem that can cause a person's incompatibility through many failures.

Art, games, storytelling, etc. Every disabled or healthy child has natural means by which he expands his capacities. Through such creative experiences, a child tests new ideas, expresses feelings, experiences, fantasies and expresses fears. Children's art is a means to test and express the process of integrating reality with past experience (Voodoo 1977, 13).

Kerplin [3] in 1912 and Bluler [4] in 1918 suggested that drawing can be used as a diagnosis of pathological conditions of patients. After years of experience in working with children, Margaret Namburg[5] found that there is a connection between children's paintings and psychotherapy, and the free expression of children's art can be the basis of psychotherapy treatments (Lewick[6] 1983, 29).

Since children who have aggressive behaviors can harm themselves and others and cause serious dangers in the school and home environment, therefore, inventing methods that can It will be useful to reduce the aggression of these children. So far, researches have been conducted to investigate the effect of painting therapy in reducing various disorders in people with normal intelligence.

Here, it seems necessary to address the question of whether painting therapy is effective for depression, self-morbidity, psychosis, anxiety, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, phobia, reduction of hostility and paranoia among the sixth grade students of Gachsaran city?

1-3- The importance of the research

Due to the harmful effects of aggression on children's development, aggression in childhood is one of the adjustment problems that has been studied on a large scale in the past decades (Parker and Asher [7] 1987, cited by Crick [8] and colleagues 1996, 67).

Painting is not the only means of diagnosing and maladjustment of children, but it is a potential factor of creativity that is a means of effective treatment. It is possible to propose psychotherapy with painting and apply it. Astern says that painting as a means of psychotherapy is suitable for children who are less adaptable, unstable, and backward in education.