Art therapy for patients with psychotic disorders

Introductions: The aim of the study is to investigate art therapists’ experiences of what is working in the treatment of patients with psychotic disorders. Issues: What interventions art therapists use in clinical work with patients with psychotic disorders? How is the art therapeutic method significance for the psychotherapeutic treatment? Method: The study is based on semistructured interviews with five art therapists with experience of treatment with patients in psychotic disorders. The interviews were recorded and then processed using thematic analysis. Result: The result describes five art therapists' experiences of what characterizes the treatment with patients in psychotic disorders. Two main themes emerged in the study with three respectively four subtopic. The interventions applied by the art therapist´s own involvement in the artcreations, it´s supportive interventions ant it´s proposed themes. The other theme is important factors in the treatment; such as visualizing and processing the patients inner experiences, it´s path to verbalization, it´s aid in reality orientation and reliefing effect from psychotic suffering. Discussion: The result is discussed based on the art therapists’ experiences of what is active in the work with patients in psychotic disorders. Interventions and important factors are discussed in relation to different theoretical frameworks of reference. Thoughts on the method are addressed, and that more research is required in the art therapeutic field to consolidate the importance of the method in treatment of patients in psychotic disorders, not least based on requirements for evidence