Nothing less than a creative triumph: a study of children admitted to hospital for serious somatic illness or injury and their experience of art therapy.

Background: Hospitalization can be an extremely distressing experience for seriously ill and injured children. Art therapy has a well-established clinical history, and recent research has begun to demonstrate its effectiveness in somatic pediatric wards. Descriptive and statistical research indicates that art therapy can alleviate anxiety and fear, improve mood, and enhance communication among children, parents, and healthcare professionals. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the specific elements of art therapy that facilitate a connection with the healthier aspects of the self. Method: A total of 12 hospitalized children, aged 4-12, participated in an art therapy session led by a certified art therapist. Verbalizations during the sessions were recorded, and subsequent observations were synchronized with verbatim transcriptions of audio recordings. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to identify relevant patterns of meaning. Findings: The study identified four significant dimensions of the children's experiences during art therapy: (1) The child feels safe, (2) The child becomes a competent artist, bursting with creativity, (3) The healthy child emerges, and (4) The child achieves something beyond its limits - a triumph. Discussion: The active ingredients contributing to effective art therapy include the stimulation of creativity, guided art-making with scaffolding support, task variation, granting children control over the artistic process, encouragement of free expression, and the display of positive regard. This study also delves into the therapeutic alliance, emphasizing its role in facilitating children's learning, self-expression, concentration, and the creation of work they take pride in. Additionally, certain psychotherapy-like interactions, such as control-mastery dynamics, were observed. Nevertheless, more extensive research with larger sample sizes is required to draw broader conclusions.

The employment of art therapy to develop empathy and foster wellbeing for junior doctors in a palliative medicine rotation - a qualitative exploratory study on acceptability.

BACKGROUND: The interdisciplinary realm of medical humanities explores narratives and experiences that can enhance medical education for physicians through perspective-taking and reflective practice. However, there is a gap in comprehension regarding its appropriateness at the postgraduate level, especially when utilising art therapists as faculty. This study aims to assess the acceptability of an innovative art therapy-focused educational initiative among junior doctors during a palliative care rotation, with the goal of cultivating empathy and promoting well-being. METHODS: A qualitative research project was conducted at the Division of Supportive and Palliative Care (DSPC) in the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). The study involved the recruitment of junior doctors who had successfully completed a three-month palliative care rotation program, spanning from January 2020 to April 2021. In a single small-group session lasting 1.5 h, with 3 to 4 participants each time, the individuals participated in activities such as collage making, group reflection, and sharing of artistic creations. These sessions were facilitated by an accredited art therapist and a clinical psychologist, focusing on themes related to empathy and wellbeing. To assess the acceptability of the program, two individual interviews were conducted three months apart with each participant. An independent research assistant utilised a semi-structured question guide that considered affective attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, coherence, and self-efficacy. Thematic analysis of the transcribed data was then employed to scrutinise the participants' experiences. RESULTS: A total of 20 individual interviews were completed with 11 participants. The three themes identified were lack of pre-existing knowledge of the humanities, promotors, and barriers to program acceptability. CONCLUSIONS: The participants have mixed perceptions of the program's acceptability. While all completed the program in its entirety, the acceptability of the program is impeded by wider systemic factors such as service and manpower needs. It is vital to address these structural limitations as failing to do so risks skewing current ambivalence towards outright rejection of future endeavours to integrate humanities programs into medical education.

Making meaning of one's own life story in words and images: A narrative case report of personal recovery from personality disorder through the interventions "An Empowering Story" and art therapy.

Understanding and processing life experiences are essential in the treatment of personality disorders to promote personal recovery and psychological wellbeing. In this qualitative case report, drafted in co-creation between the client, clinical psychologist, and art therapist, individual treatment consisted of two psychotherapeutic interventions, "An Empowering Story" and life-story-focused art therapy, in 12 parallel sessions for 24 weeks. Hilda, 68 years of age, had been diagnosed with an unspecified personality disorder and various traits of borderline personality disorder. She experienced emotional exhaustion following long-term mental health problems rooted in a traumatic early childhood. This affected her ability to manage her emotions and social relations, resulting in the sense that her life had no meaning. Hilda was invited to reconstruct her life experiences, divided into the past, turning point, and present/future, in a written and a painted life story. This allowed for the integration of traumatic as well as positive memories, enhanced self-compassion, and meaning making. She developed self-reflection and integration of internal conflicts leading to a better emotional balance and self-understanding. Art therapy emphasizes bottom-up regulatory processes, while narrative psychology supports top-down regulatory processes. The combined approach effectively integrated bottom-up, experiential, sensory experiences with top-down, cognitive emotion-regulation processes. The results suggest that psychotherapeutic interventions involving a multi-pronged, complementary, and thus more holistic approach can support personal recovery in personality disorders.

The art of resilience: a psychobiography of Frida Kahlo.

This psychobiography of Frida Kahlo explores the psychology of the famous Mexican artist. Drawing upon Kahlo's paintings and diary entries, a rich psychological analysis of the feminist icon is juxtaposed with the zeitgeist of 20th century Mexico. Framed through the theoretical model of feminist psychology, Kahlo's role in promoting gender equality and dismantling patriarchal society is discussed. Physical pain resulting from illness and impalement by a metal pole in a trolley accident was matched, if not exceeded, by the psychological pain the artist felt due to resulting issues with fertility and the long-sought but never-realized role of motherhood, infidelity within her marriage, and the eventual loss of her ability to paint. Nevertheless, Kahlo's perseverance and strength led to worldwide recognition of her bold and vibrant paintings, vulnerably depicting her rich inner world. The present study utilises perspectives from art therapy and attachment theory to elucidate the factors contributing to Frida Kahlo's resilience in the face of lifelong trauma and chronic pain. Ultimately, Kahlo's life and work offer valuable insight into the psychological experiences of women in patriarchal societies, emphasising the importance of feminist perspectives in psychological research and highlighting the healing and resilience-promoting role of art.

The effects of visual art therapy on adults with depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Depression constitutes a pervasive global mental health concern and stands as a principal determinant of elevated suicide rates worldwide. Recent empirical investigations have showcased the significant potential of visual art therapy (VAT) in ameliorating symptoms among individuals with depression. Nevertheless, specific studies have yielded findings marked by inconclusiveness, underscoring the imperative need for further research to comprehensively establish its efficacy. This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of extant research, to ascertain the efficacy and effect size of VAT as an intervention for adults with depressive symptoms. A comprehensive search was conducted across 10 databases. The search encompassed articles published from the inception of these databases up until October 18, 2023. Two researchers screened the literature in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria and performed a thorough quality assessment. The original data and the data obtained from the literature were extracted for further analysis. The statistical analysis of the data was performed using Stata 17.0 software. fifteen studies were included, encompassing a total of 932 participants. The outcomes of meta-analysis unveiled a statistically significant effect of VAT in diminishing depressive symptoms among adults (SMD = -0.73; 95% CI, -1.07 to -0.39; p < 0.001; 15 randomised controlled trials (RCTs); low-quality evidence). The subgroup analysis indicated that VAT exhibited heightened effectiveness among adults below 65 years of age, with interventions lasting ≤12 weeks demonstrating superior efficacy. Additionally, sensitivity analysis underscored the robustness and reliability of the findings. VAT appears to alleviate depressive symptoms among adults. Existing research indicates that the effectiveness of VAT is influenced by factors, such as intervention population characteristics and intervention duration. However, to comprehensively probe the efficacy of VAT, future studies should strive for larger sample sizes, multicentre collaborations, and long-term follow-ups.

Art therapy is associated with a reduction in restrictive practices on an inpatient child and adolescent mental health unit.

BACKGROUND: The elimination of restrictive practices, such as seclusion and restraint, is a major aim of mental health services globally. The role of art therapy, a predominantly non-verbal mode of creative expression, is under-explored in this context. This research aimed to determine whether art therapy service provision was associated with a reduction in restrictive practices on an acute inpatient child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) unit. METHODS: The rate (events per 1,000 occupied bed days), frequency (percent of admitted care episodes with incident), duration, and number of incidents of restrictive practices occurring between July 2015 and December 2021 were analysed relative to art therapy service provision. The rate, frequency and number of incidents of intramuscular injected (IM) sedation, oral PRN (as-needed medication) use, and absconding incidents occurring in conjunction with an episode of seclusion or restraint were also analysed. RESULTS: The rate, frequency, duration, and total number of incidents of seclusion, the frequency and total number of incidents of physical restraint, and the rate, frequency and total number of incidents of IM sedation showed a statistically significant reduction during phases of art therapy service provision. CONCLUSIONS: Art therapy service provision is associated with a reduction in restrictive practices in inpatient CAMHS.

Experiencing art creation as a therapeutic intervention to relieve anxiety - a case study of a university's ceramic art course.

Background: University students are anxiety prone. Due to their changing their social roles, the proportion of university students with anxiety is relatively high. In this study, using the simple random sampling, we surveyed 53 university students, including sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Aims: This paper examines the relationship between art creation and anxiety. Methods: This study uses the Self-Assessment Anxiety Scale (SAS). The test form measures the presence and extent of their anxiety problems through a series of questions. We tested the effects of an art creation process on SAS scores and suggest best practices for course settings and teaching methods for art-related subjects. Results: Art therapy intervention reduced anxiety. The most effective technique was found to be slapping the clay board during the creation process. Other actions relieved anxiety as well. Results suggest that the art creation process is an application of art therapy effective in relieving anxiety in university students. Conclusion: Key actions in the process of creating art are closely related to the treatment approaches used in art therapy interventions. This has the potential to not only improve mental health, but also to promote the health and well-being of students. Implications for future research: Rapid societal changes increasing competition for employment creates work and life pressures. University students face challenges with learning, peer competition, and employment, often resulting in anxiety. A diversified curriculum can alleviate anxiety through proper curricular planning and design. Based on this, the university's arts courses should be able to study how to improve and optimize the existing teaching and learning outcomes and can be integrated with the university's general education curriculum planning. Through appropriate teaching content and learning methods, the courses of university general education can play a role in reducing students' anxiety and promote physical and mental health, thus contributing to sustainable development of the society.

Art therapy masks reflect emotional changes in military personnel with PTSS.

Among disabling post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are irritability, aggressive behavior, distressing memories and general impaired cognition and negative mood. Art therapy interventions, including mask-making, can potentially alleviate these symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that art conveys emotions and predicted that blinded viewers would be able to perceive changes in theoretically derived emotional profiles expressed in art made by military personnel with PTSS from the onset to the end of therapy. Five service members and veterans exhibiting PTSS were enrolled in an 8-session art therapy protocol, during which they artistically transformed papier-mâché masks at the beginning and end of the protocol. We found that blinded viewers without knowledge of the masks' creation stage (onset or end of therapy) read initial masks as conveying more negative emotions (e.g., angry, upset, and challenged) and later masks as conveying more positive emotions (calm and pleasure). Based on the assessments from the blinded evaluators, we infer the emotional transition experienced by the participants was expressed in the masks. In an exploratory arm of the study, we also found that viewers were better able to empathize with the negative emotions experienced by participants with PTSS when asked to explicitly take their perspective.

The effectiveness of therapeutic artmaking on depression, anxiety, quality of life, and psychological distress in cancer patients on chemotherapy: a systematic review of the literature.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the evidence of art therapy on depression, anxiety, quality of life, and mental distress in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted. A systematic search of online electronic databases including, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus Web of Science, PsycINFO, and EMBASE was performed using keywords extracted from Medical Subject Headings such as "Art Therapy," and "Neoplasms," "Cancer," and "Chemotherapy" from the earliest to January 11, 2023. A total of 3890 publications were assessed for relevance by title and abstract. The remaining 1298 articles were examined using three inclusion criteria: interventions were guided by an artist or art therapist, participants were actively involved in the creative process, and anxiety, depression, and/or quality of life were included as outcome measures. The methodological quality of the included studies was appraised using specific checklists. RESULT: A total of 495 patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy participated in ten studies. Among the participants, 87.21% were female and 63.43% of them were in the intervention group. The mean age of the participants was 53.93 in five studies that reduced depression in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Six studies investigated the effect of different art therapy methods on the anxiety of patients, which in four studies reduced their anxiety. Also, three studies investigated the effect of different art therapy methods on patients' distress, which in two studies reduced their distress. CONCLUSION: Art therapy had positive effects on depression, anxiety, quality of life, and psychological distress of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Meanwhile, research on art therapy in cancer patients on chemotherapy is insufficient. We cannot conclude that art therapy benefits cancer patients on chemotherapy. More rigorous research is needed.

The effects of online art therapy on ego functions, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationship styles in neurotic personality organization.

Art therapy, as an effective therapeutic intervention, is used to improve positive self-image and self-awareness, promote insight, and enhance therapeutic communication. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of art psychotherapy on ego functions, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationship styles of individuals with neurotic personality organization. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, 60 participants were assigned to intervention and control groups, each further divided into three subgroups (n = 10 per subgroup). The intervention group engaged in online art therapy sessions twice weekly over nine weeks, while the control group received no intervention. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, paired samples t-tests, and independent t-tests. There was a significant decrease in the intervention group's judgmental subdimensions of the Ego Function Assessment Scale. A significant decrease was found in the intervention group in "awareness" (p < 0.01), "clarity" (p < 0.05), and "impulse" (p < 0.001) subdimensions and total scores of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. There was no statistical difference between the intervention and control groups' mean pretests and posttests and comparing those groups with each other concerning IRSQ scores. The online group art therapy led to successful improvements in participants' ego functions and emotion regulations.

Experiences of a Circus Performance Among Patients with Depressive Symptoms: A Phenomenological Study.

Introduction: Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Support can be provided by the arts. Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of patients with depressive symptoms after a circus performance. Methods: A qualitative research study using a phenomenological approach was carried out. The design was approved by an ethics committee. Volunteers were referred by general practitioners to an ambulatory cultural program and were invited to express their experience throughout interviews that were analyzed with the interpretative phenomenological analysis method. Results: Twelve patients participated in the interviews. The effect on the patient was linked to interactions with the performance. It was an effective way of socializing for patients. The show offered patients distance from their daily difficulties. The circus provided specific elements as a resource for patient empowerment. The experience lived by patients during a circus performance is a cognitive phenomenon inducing an influence on the spectator with depressive symptoms. A beneficial effect depended on the artistic content selected, the support offered by the organization operator, and the medical orientation. Conclusions: The observations characterized the emotional reception of a circus show among people. This study invites further exploration of the impact of circus art on the quality of life of patients with depressive symptoms.

Utilizing the arts to improve health, resilience, and well-being (HeRe We Arts®): a randomized controlled trial in community-dwelling individuals with chronic medical conditions.

Background: Healthcare workers are concerned with promoting behavior changes that enhance patients' health, wellness, coping skills, and well-being and lead to improved public health. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to determine if participation in an 8-week arts-based program leads to improved mood, health, resilience, and well-being in individuals with chronic health conditions as compared to a wait list control group. Methods: Self-report questionnaires for well-being, mental health, physical health, overall health, social health, mood, coping, and resilience were administered at baseline, Week 8 (end of program), and Week 16 (8-week follow-up). Results: Statistically significant improvements were noted in all outcome measures for the treatment group, as well as in most areas compared to the control group. Many of the positive results at Week 8 were either maintained or further improved at Week 16. Discussion: These results suggest that arts-based programming can have a positive effect on the mood, health, resilience, and well-being of individuals with chronic health conditions. Therefore, arts-based programming should be utilized more frequently in the management of chronic conditions in community-dwelling individuals. These benefits should be further assessed in larger clinical trials.

The Modernization of Oriental Music Therapy: Five-Element Music Therapy Combined with Artificial Intelligence.

In recent years, music has been regarded as a promising non-pharmacological intervention for a number of physical and mental conditions. Five-elements music therapy-based on the five-element theory-is a unique non-pharmacological therapy of East Asian traditional medicine. It has the potential to effectively provide individualized music therapy to individuals with illness. However, one limitation of this music therapy is that the classification of the five elements and its application is mainly based on subjective judgment. The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled the acoustic analysis of multi-factor sound sources. This can develop five-element music therapy. Here, we discussed the challenges proposed by the future combination of five-element music therapy and AI. Further, we hypothesized that AI may promote its use in the medical field.

Role of Creative Therapies in Gynecological Oncology: Results of a Multigenerational Survey in Patients and Caregivers.

INTRODUCTION: Although creative therapies like painting, dancing, and writing are often used and encouraged to treat various diseases, including cancer, there are few systematic scientific studies on innovative therapies in medical care. METHODS: An anonymous survey was developed for female patients, their relatives, and female medical staff on the impact of creative therapies on optimizing clinical therapy management in exclusively female trials. RESULTS: Of 718 respondents, 358 were female patients, 69 were medical personnel, and 291 were in the control group. Overall, 91.2% of respondents had sought access to creative therapies, indicating strong self-motivated engagement in activities to improve health and well-being. This study also uncovered a significant preference for creative writing among patients. Furthermore, the data suggest that integrating innovative therapies into biopsychosocial anamnesis could offer valuable insights into patients' mobility, mood, and social behaviors. Despite a general hesitation to discuss leisure activities with medical professionals, many patients wanted to incorporate creative activities into their treatment plans. Moreover, group settings for innovative therapy were preferred, highlighting the need for more structured support in medical environments to facilitate these therapeutic interactions. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests creative therapies can be valuable in medical care.

Michelangelo Effect in Virtual Sculpturing: Prospective for Motor Neurorehabilitation in the Metaverse.

We investigated the Michelangelo effect, i.e. the facilitatory effect of a virtual art therapy in motor rehabilitation (Iosa et al. 2021), with a novel virtual reality paradigm in which users are engaged in motor exercises with 3D sculptures. In particular, thirty young adults were immersed in a virtual environment where they could sculpt, by using the real hands, some famous sculptures in the history of art, such as the David of Michelangelo, the Venus of Milo and the statue of Laocoon and His Sons, and their control stimuli, i.e. statues in very low resolution or cubes. We recorded the kinematics (length, the time to complete each trial, mean normalized jerk) and questionnaire answers (objective and subjective beauty, User Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire and Nasa Task Load Index). In general, we found that the perception of subjective and objective beauty was higher when sculpting the statues than control stimuli, the judgment of usability of the system was high. The perceived fatigue was not higher when sculpting the statues despite the longer time spent in completing the task that with respect to the control stimuli. Moreover, we found that the interaction with the experimental statues affected the fluidity and symmetry of hands movements. Finally, we discuss this evidence regarding the art therapy and neuroaesthetics principles for motor rehabilitation in the Metaverse with VR, including the possible role of virtual embodiment (illusory feeling to have a virtual body) for boosting the efficacy of the clinical applications.

Medical clowning in hospitals: practices, training and perception.

Previous studies on medical clowning focused on patients, while research remains inadequate concerning clowning itself: training programmes and prerequisite requirements, clowning methods, deontology and accepted practices. Diverse approaches and paradigms in this field of complementary medicine are promoted by non-profit organisations worldwide. Based on an ethnographic study, we explore the current forms of medical clowning in 5 Israeli hospitals. The observed clowns are from the two Israeli organisations, Dream Doctors and Simchat Halev (in Hebrew: joy of the heart), consisting of paid professional medical clowns and volunteers, respectively. According to the findings, significant differences were observed to exist between the organisations. Dream Doctors is conceived and pursued as an expertise practised by performance art professionals, requiring extensive training. These clowns work unaccompanied, receive a salary, are considered members of the medical team, and, given their privileged status, have access to hospitals' open and closed areas. The Dream Doctors consider medical clowning as a paramedical practice, in which interventions are individually suited to the circumstances of each patient, and obtain therapeutic results. In contrast, Simchat Halev's medical clowns are volunteers with no prerequisite artistic background and undergo shorter periods of training. The access granted to these clowns, usually working in pairs, is restricted to open areas. Simchat Halev promotes medical clowning as a volunteer-based public practice, offering general entertainment to all patients indiscriminately, and their contribution is characterised as achieving basic entertainment value.

Filling the form: Expressive Therapies Continuum-guided treatment of narcissistic personality disorder.

Sara was a 65-year-old Caucasian woman who requested art therapy after the death of her partner. She had experienced incest by her father and verbal abuse by her mother until she left home at 21. Her life was characterized by broken relationships due to alienating anger outbursts and an interrupted work history; she met three criteria for narcissistic personality disorder. Sara initially was socially isolated and intellectualizing. She desired recognition but was fearful of exposure. The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) theoretical framework, which consisted of a gradual progression from cognitively-dominated sessions to more emotionally focused processing, guided the therapeutic work. The ETC theory encourages transparency and collaboration between therapist and client regarding therapeutic tasks and goals, and provides a framework for addressing and repairing ruptures in the therapeutic alliance. Art therapy began with the cognitive tasks which Sara completed relatively comfortably, then encouraged integration of emotion via expressive writing, diagrams, and body mapping. Through careful attention to repair of ruptures by directly discussing and adapting the direction and tasks of therapy, Sara slowly was able to experience emotions other than anger. She integrated cognitive and emotional insights about her life and developed empathy for her childhood self. At termination Sara had cultivated two friendships and met only one criterion of NPD. Limitations of this case study include a lack of research evidence for ETC-guided art therapy with NPD clients and by the retrospective approach. Future research efforts could provide this support by encouraging clinicians to conduct prospective case study research.

Drawing your way out: Imagery rehearsal based art therapy (IR-AT) for post-traumatic nightmares in borderline personality disorder.

Posttraumatic nightmares (PTN) are a frequent symptom after a traumatic event and often play part in the psychopathology of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) currently offers the best evidence for an effective treatment to reduce PTNs, although high drop-out rates are common. Art therapy in IRT may counteract this, by its indirect, nonverbal, and often playful approach that helps to break through avoidance. This case study focusses on the perception of a patient with BPD in an art therapy based IRT treatment for patients with PTNs. It tells the story of Aurelia, a 40-year-old woman who, within this treatment, processes traumatic contents of her childhood like physical and sexual violence, but also current interactional problems that manifest themselves in her nightmares. Following the IR-AT treatment for PTNs Aurelia noticed a reduction in her nightmares, was less afraid of them and felt calmer towards her trauma. She expressed herself in the art medium and by this developed more self-efficacy. Her process resulted in an integration of the trauma and a perceived decrease in borderline symptoms. Future research can build on this basis to further explore the mechanisms and effects of IR-AT for PTNs.

Cognitive behavior, art, and music therapies intervention for treating the depression of children: A randomized control trial.

This study compared the effect of interactive media-based cognitive behaviour, art, and music therapies in reducing depression in children who survived abduction in Nigeria. A randomized control trial was conducted using three randomly selected secondary schools in Northern Nigeria. The study sample comprised 450 children randomly divided into a control group of (n = 225) and an experimental group of (n = 225). The treatment group was further divided into three groups; cognitive behavior (n = 75), art (n = 75), and music (n = 75) therapy, respectively. According to the findings of this study, cognitive behaviour, art, and music therapies via interactive media are a successful intervention technique for treating the depression of schoolchildren who survived abduction in Nigeria. However, compared to art and music therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy is more effective at treating depression. To lessen the depression of children who survived kidnapped in Nigeria, we recommend adopting cognitive behavioural therapy.

[Nursing Experience Using Art Therapy to Help Women With Breast Cancer Face Changes in Body Image].

The subject in this study was a female professional painter who underwent bilateral mastectomy because of bilateral breast cancer, experienced postoperative wound scarring, and developed alopecia due to the side effects of chemotherapy, which caused the patient to lose body image confidence and the motivation to engage in artistic creativity. The patient had shed tears early in the intervention and complained of difficulties with body image adjustment due to her altered appearance. Mastectomy patients must not only undergo drug treatment but also adjust psychologically to body image changes to decrease negative emotions. This was the author's motivation for involvement in this case. The nursing period was from 23 September to 30 December 2021. Physical, mental, spiritual, social, and family data were collected using observations and interviews. These data were evaluated and the main problems were determined to be disturbed body image related to altered body perception post-surgery, alopecia caused by chemotherapy, impaired physical mobility due to upper limb mobility limitations post-surgery, and nausea due to chemotherapy. The patient was encouraged to paint again and to use artistic creativity to comfort herself. Moreover, she was guided to express her innermost thoughts to face the impact of her changes in appearance. In addition, a care consultation channel was provided to facilitate experience sharing with other breast cancer patients, thus assisting the patient to cope with the mental impact of her treatments and face subsequent cancer treatments with a more positive attitude. Art therapy embraces a diverse variety of methods, including drawing and music. Art therapy is a valuable tool that facilitates both physical and mental healing. Based on this experience, nurses should include patients' close relatives when performing art therapy to facilitate shared care to overcome difficulties. We hope this nursing experience provides a practical reference for nurses.