Reaching a UK consensus on art therapy for people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder using the Delphi method

ABSTRACT

Some authors have suggested that there is low consensus about art therapy practice for people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. This study used the Delphi survey method to seek consensus among UK art therapists. In the Round 1 online survey, 24 UK art therapists working with the client group provided statements describing their practice. These were analysed using content analysis along with statements from relevant art therapy literature and from 32 service users. The resulting list of 713 statements grouped into 13 themes was then sorted by a core group of five art therapists with extensive experience with the client group, producing 111 statements that were then rated by an augmented national UK panel of 30 art therapists in the Round 2 Delphi survey. Rating was according to perceived importance of each element of practice, and 80 items each reached 80% consensus as highly important. In Round 3, 11 items that reached high but not 80% consensus were re-rated by 26 of the panel of 30, and all but two reached 80% consensus. The final list of 89 statements is the first UK national consensus on art therapy practice with people with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder.

KEYWORDS:

• Art therapy
• psychosis
• practice
• consensus
• Delphi method

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sue Holttum, PhD, AFBPsS, is a senior lecturer at the Salomons Centre for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University, providing research training and research supervision on the clinical psychology doctorate programme, the MSc in cognitive behaviour therapy, and the PhD in professional practice. Sue also has a part-time role as the British Association of Art Therapists Research Officer.

Val Huet is the Chief Executive Officer of the BAAT and has been an art therapist since 1986. She later trained as a group psychotherapist and as an organisation consultant, and has recently completed a PhD on art therapy-based interventions for work-related stress in health and social care.

Tim Wright has worked as an art therapist in adult mental health services for 20 years. He is currently head of arts therapies for Local Services, West London Mental Health. From 2008 to 2014, he was editor of the International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape and is currently chair of the British Association of Art Therapists, where he is also involved in a range of research projects.