The effectiveness of short-term psychodynamically oriented art therapy with South African children.

Abstract

Youth and children constitute seventy percent of the population in South Africa. It is these children who carry the potential for the future of our nation. However, in the aftermath of apartheid, the number of children requiring psychological services far outweigh the resources available. There exist only small numbers of mental health services and professionals within the communities, to deal adequately with these difficulties. Thus this research aims to determine the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamically oriented art therapy with South African children. Six children were selected for therapy from a school in Soweto, on the basis of immediate need for therapy. The subjects participated in a six week intervention programme, where each child was engaged in art therapy individually once a week. Pre and Post-Art Therapy Questionnaires were completed by each subject’s class teacher.These questionnaires, together with the images created by the children, were analysed qualitatively in order to assess whether art therapy with children is effective from a short-term psychodynamic orientation within the South African context.