What do you want to learn about research?

in General Discussion

Hello!

I am Nancy Gerber one of the co-founders of this project and website. We have been having some inspiring small group meetings with interested participants. As a result we have been working on the Community Board to invite you to ask questions, propose reserach ideas, volunteer as a research assistant and offer anything else you would like to propose!! Perhaps we could also talk here. What would you like to learn about art therapy research? What kind of research would you like to conduct? What aspect of our strategic plan for art therapy research interests you?

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Unknown member

Aug 15

Hi Nancy,

I have a preposed research idea and have no idea where to start. I have wanted to engage in research and writing for a long time to contribute to art therapy research but can't afford to engage in a Masters or PHD and feel lost without the formal education and being predominantly in clinical settings. I have been working clinically in UK, New Zealand and NSW since 2017 - graduated from Herts University Art Therapy MA and have had such rich clinical experience that isn't being documented or researched (my own doing).

I am working in NSW with a child and family charity (past 3 years). We have recently received funding to start working in Central Coast/Hunter region of NSW. I have started with a pilot psycho-social art therapy group for care givers and their children who have experienced relational violence. This currently involves children and their mothers attending a ''pop up'' art therapy group in a community setting.

The caregivers are engaging in clay (self led) and the children engage in individual/group piece work whilst checking in - co-regulating with their care giver.

The role of clay has been pivotal for the care givers. It's offering an opportunity to feel grounded whilst attending to their child's needs in small interactions. What the families are noting are feelings of capability, hope, resilience and more joyful interaction with their children. It's quite a magical project.

I would like to continue working on this this year and gain knowledge of research methods and how I can think about documenting this research as a way of working in more regional areas.

I would really love a mentor! Or even a path to follow to build a practice combined research and clinical work.

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you for setting this up - it is fantastic.

Warmly,

Emily

Unknown member

Aug 16

Replying to

Hello Emily!

Thank you so much for your interest in our website and project. We love to hear from people like you who are interested in conducting Art Therapy research. One of the goals of our Art Therapy research community network and our Art Therapy research strategic plan is to really set up mentorship for people like yourself interested in pursuing research. I have discussed your post with Dr. Theresa Van Lith, my partner in this venture. We would like to suggest that Dr. Van Lith, myself and you schedule a Zoom meeting to discuss your ideas further and see if we can find some way to support you. If you are interested, please contact me by email at

ngerber@fsu.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Dr. Nancy Gerber

Edited