THE OUTCOME OF SHORT‐TERM PSYCHODYNAMIC ART THERAPY COMPARED TO SHORT‐TERM PSYCHODYNAMIC VERBAL THERAPY FOR DEPRESSED WOMEN

Abstract

The primary aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to compare the outcome from two types of short‐term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The participants were thirty‐nine women with depression. Half of the participants (n = 18) received art psychotherapy and the other half received verbal psychotherapy (n = 21). Data was collected before and after psychotherapy, and at a 3‐month follow‐up using self‐rating scales and interviewer‐based ratings. Results showed that art and verbal psychotherapies were comparable, and at follow‐up, the average participant in both groups had few depressive symptoms and stress‐related symptoms. The conclusion was that short‐term psychodynamic art therapy could be a valuable treatment for depressed women.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to the County Council of Vasterbotten and to the Department of Psychiatry for financial support. We are especially thankful to the participants in the study who made this study possible. We also wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable help.