Art Therapy, Stress Management, and Lupus

Lupus and Art Therapy A 2007 study published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology used disease drawings from the patient’s perspective. 38 women with lupus (SLE) participated in the exercise. The participants attended a ‘My Life’ course for people with lupus. During one of the sessions, the participants were asked to draw a picture of their disease and then comment on the pictures. While no measurements of stress were evaluated, the researcher concluded that drawing provided a “good beginning” to conversation. And, it was an effective strategy to communicate differences and challenges to clinicians. In this way, it was seen as an advantage over verbal interviewing alone. A 2010 review published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association explored studies published between 1999-2007 where art therapy was the only intervention. These studies included had various participant ages, including children, and numerous diseases, including mental health concerns. In addition to the variation in participants, the measured result also differed across the studies. Strategies for measuring improvement included measurements of stress, symptom indices, and some behavioral measures like speech fluency. Despite these variations, the researchers concluded that there is a “small body of quantifiable data to support the claim that art therapy is effective.”

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