Case study of an art therapy-based group for work-related stress with hospice staff

ABSTRACT

From its beginnings, the hospice movement has addressed the potential impact of stress related to working with dying people, their families and friends. Art therapists have provided several types of interventions to alleviate stress for hospice staff but research evidence on their efficacy remains sparse. This case study was conducted as part of a larger research project and explored the processes at play within art therapy-based groups with hospice staff to identify which of these may actively address work-related stress issues. The approach combined art-viewing and art-making over the course of three group sessions and data were collected through these groups as well as through a series of semi-structured individual interviews. An outcome measure (Professional Quality of Life, or ProQOL) was also used. Results indicated that combining art-viewing and art-making enabled relational processes and supported personal insight. Several participants reported some positive impact on well-being, creativity and improved communication as well as some lessening of work-stress, attributed at least partially to the process.

KEYWORDS:

• Work-related stress
• art therapy groups
• art-viewing
• hospices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Val Huet trained in sculpture at Camberwell School of Art and qualified as an Art Therapist in 1986. She introduced art therapy to community mental health services and was the head of the Arts Therapies Department at Springfield Hospital, London. She later worked in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and taught on the art therapy training at Goldsmiths’ college for 12 years. She is a qualified Group Psychotherapist and Organisational Consultant. Val is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the British Association of Art Therapists, a post she has held since 2003. She also works freelance as an organisational consultant and supervisor. She co-founded the Art Therapy Practice Research Network in 2000 and has been actively leading it since. Val has lectured internationally in France, Russia, Spain, Greece and Singapore. In 2015, Val completed a PhD on art therapy groups for work-related stress. She has also published widely. Val’s art practice remains active and at present focusses on life drawing.