Istituto Toscano Tumori, Florence, Italy.
Palliat Support Care. 2010 Mar;8(1):41-8. doi: 10.1017/S1478951509990691. Epub 2010 Feb 18.
Art therapy has been shown to be helpful to cancer patients at different stages in the course of their illness, especially during isolation for bone marrow transplantation, during radiotherapy treatment, and after treatment. The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to assess whether patients during chemotherapy sessions perceive art therapy as helpful and (2) to outline in which way art therapy is perceived as helpful.
157 cancer patients attending an Oncology Day Hospital (Siena, Italy) met the art therapist during their chemotherapy sessions. The art therapist used the same art therapy technique with each patient during the first encounter ("free collage"); afterward the relationship would evolve in different ways according to the patients' needs. A psychologist interviewed a randomized group of 54 patients after the chemotherapy treatment using a semistructured questionnaire.
Out of the 54 patients, 3 found art therapy "not helpful" ("childish," "just a chat," "not interesting"). The other 51 patients described their art therapy experience as "helpful." From patients' statements, three main groups emerged: (1) art therapy was perceived as generally helpful (e.g., "relaxing," "creative"; 37.3%), (2) art therapy was perceived as helpful because of the dyadic relationship (e.g., "talking about oneself and feeling listened to"; 33.3%), and (3) art therapy was perceived as helpful because of the triadic relationship, patient-image-art therapist (e.g., "expressing emotions and searching for meanings"; 29.4%).
These data have clinical implications, as they show that art therapy may be useful to support patients during the stressful time of chemotherapy treatment. Different patients use it to fulfil their own different needs, whether it is a need to relax (improved mood) or to talk (self-narrative) or to visually express and elaborate emotions (discovering new meanings). Some illustrations of patients using the art therapy process to fulfill these three different needs are provided.
艺术疗法已被证明对癌症患者在疾病过程的不同阶段都有帮助，尤其是在骨髓移植期间的隔离期、放疗期间以及治疗后。本研究的目的有两个：（1）评估化疗期间的患者是否认为艺术疗法有帮助；（2）概述艺术疗法是如何被认为有帮助的。
157 名在意大利锡耶纳肿瘤日间医院就诊的癌症患者在化疗期间与艺术治疗师会面。艺术治疗师在第一次见面时（“自由拼贴”）与每位患者使用相同的艺术治疗技术；之后，根据患者的需求，这种关系将以不同的方式发展。心理学家在化疗治疗后使用半结构化问卷采访了随机选择的 54 名患者。
在这 54 名患者中，有 3 名认为艺术疗法“没有帮助”（“幼稚”、“只是聊天”、“没有意思”）。其他 51 名患者则描述他们的艺术治疗体验是“有帮助的”。从患者的陈述中，出现了三个主要群体：（1）艺术治疗被普遍认为是有帮助的（例如，“放松”、“有创意”；37.3%）；（2）艺术治疗被认为是有帮助的，因为有了二元关系（例如，“谈论自己并感到被倾听”；33.3%）；（3）艺术治疗被认为是有帮助的，因为有了三元关系，即患者-形象-艺术治疗师（例如，“表达情感和寻找意义”；29.4%）。
这些数据具有临床意义，因为它们表明艺术疗法可能有助于在化疗治疗的紧张时期支持患者。不同的患者使用它来满足自己不同的需求，无论是放松（改善情绪）、交谈（自我叙述）还是视觉表达和阐述情感（发现新的意义）。提供了一些患者使用艺术治疗过程来满足这三种不同需求的例子。
