Art Heals: Using Arts to Cope with Emotional Disturbance in Children

Art HealsArt HealsK A L Y A K O R N N A K S O M P O P

USING ARTSUSING ARTSTO COPE WITH EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE IN CHILDREN

Study Based on a Study Case Using Art Based Inquiry

The report submitted in partial fulfillment of the courseED 6008 Educational Psychology, Semester 1 / 2009

Graduate School of EducationAssumption University, Thailand

Using Art to Cope with Emotional Disturbance in Children | 2



By

KALYAKORN NAKSOMPOP



Kalyakorn Naksompop | 3

CONTENTCONTENT

PageCOVERCOVER ………………………………………………………………..…………….… 11

CHAPTER ICHAPTER I: I: INTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION TOTO THETHE S STUDYTUDY …………………...…………...…………

Rationale

Purpose of the Study

Objectives of the Study

Hypothesis

Significance of the Study

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CHAPTER IICHAPTER II: S: STUDENTSTUDENTS I INFORMATIONNFORMATION ANDAND R REVIEWEVIEW OFOF R RELATEDELATED LLITERATUREITERATURE……...

Student Information

Student Background

Family Environment

Theoretical Review

Theoretical Framework

Conceptual Framework

Empirical Review

Literatures Focusing on Emotional Disorders

Literatures Focusing on Art Therapy

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CHAPTER IIICHAPTER III: M: METHODOLOGYETHODOLOGY, R, REPORTEPORT, , ANDAND R RECOMMENDATIONSECOMMENDATIONS.....………….……

Research Methodology

Report

Artworks and Evaluation

Interviews and Observations

Analysis and Results

Recommendations

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REFERENCEREFERENCE ……………………………………………………………...………….. 3535


CHAPTER ICHAPTER IINTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

“Young people can have mental, emotional, and behavioral problems that are real,

painful, and costly. These problems, often called ‘disorders,’ are sources of stress for

children and their families, schools, and communities” (SHIN, 2006). It is estimated that

one in every five children and adolescent may have a mental disorder. With this number,

it is considered a serious problem. Educators and psychologists are aware of and have

been seeking treatments for such disorders. “Reliving a traumatic experience in a

supportive environment helps one integrate and work through the experience, preventing

further development of psychological disorganization and chronic mental health

problems” (Pizarro, 2004).

This particular study, however, concentrates only on emotional disorder or

disturbance in children who are traumatized by environmental factors. Based on a case of

Tharini Thepruksa, in comparison with her brother Kunawut Thepruksa, the study

suggests that one of the ways to cope with children who have emotional disorder is to use

visual art as a form of image-based approach in a continuous manner.

RATIONALE

Emotional disorder is not an actual medical term, but it is commonly used to refer

to psychological disorder (Health Grades, 2009). Such disorders are regularly categorized

accordingly to the symptoms (Pinapang, Hasook, Poomma, Tiangtham, & Kotama,

2004); such as anxiety, depression, or instability. Medical reports indicated that such

disorders are likely to be caused by two main reasons. One is the environmental factors;

including family, school, and society, and the other is the biological factors (Special


Education Administration, 2009). Children who have emotional disorders have history of

behaviors that “don't conform to the expectations of their culture or society. The behavior

of sufferers can cause them more stress or reduced ability with respect to their personal,

social and working life (Health Grades, 2009).

Due to the disorders, many times it seems very difficult to find the way to

communicate with these children. Therefore, even if we want to help, it seems almost not

impossible because we do not know where to begin. An instrument this particular

suggests is the using of art to communicate with these children. In many cases, problems

or disturbance in a child can be indicated through his or her art works. That is simply

because art is another form of communication (Alter, Hays, & O’Hara, 2009). When a

child cannot communicate through verbal, physical, or any other lingual forms, they can

use arts to express their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Arts “employ similar cognitive

processes, ultimately allowing language and thought to be expressed through a variety of

representations” (Alter, Hays, & O’Hara, 2009, p. 2). To create an art work is to directly

interpret how you view the world through symbolic shapes, forms, lines and colors. It

enables you “to encode visual concepts…and to decode meaning by responding to

society’s images, ideas, and media which permeate our increasingly complex visual

world” (Sandell, 2009).

Not only that it can be used for communication, using art in a form of image-

based inquiry, or art therapy, can positively affect mental health and generate creative

healing energy (Neiman, 2006). A previous study indicated that creating art pieces about

trauma or stress improves health and reduces stress. Using the techniques of visual arts,

including painting and sculpture, patients are able to “work through fear, anger,

resentment, and isolation” (Pizarro, 2004).

The same method has been regularly practiced in places such as hospital by art

therapists to help patients who have been disturbed as results from war, terminal illness,

natural disaster, and family crisis (Pizarro, 2004). Many cases are likely to be reported

successful. If art therapy is effective in such cases, there is no reason for the similar or

same method to not be successful in the case of healing disturbed children.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY


The study is purely developed and designed to benefit the education in general.

Previous interviews with teachers of regular schools with normal education revealed that

it is common to see emotional disturbed children, mild and severe, in regular classes with

classmates who are normal children. Thus, present study aims to find ways to cope with

these children with disorders who are suffered from the symptoms and probably from

being an outcast in the society (school), for the benefits of teachers, the emotional

disturbed children themselves as well as their fellow classmates.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To determine if a child’s emotional disturbance is transferred through their visual

art works.

2. To examine if art based approaches (art therapy) promote positive improvement in

child’s mental health.

3. To determine if producing visual arts heals emotional disorder in a long term.

HYPOTHESIS

Visual arts can be used as a tool to detect child’s emotional disturbance. Using

visual arts as image-based approach helps the child with such disturbance to recover

from the symptoms or trauma.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

As mentioned in the beginning that with a number of one in every five children

having a possibility to have a mental disorder, it is rather a serious problem. This means

that in reality, 20% of students in each classroom are likely to be emotionally disturbed,

ranging from mild to severe. Supposed there are twenty students in a class, four of them

have a potential to have the disorders. What if there are fifty students, which is a

common number for most classes Thai schools? Then, it is quite a big number of

disturbed students from to deal with.

In addition to the level of the symptoms, we regularly find children with mental

disorders walking among others. Sometimes, it is obvious that you can see signs by just

looking at them. Sometimes, you have to talk to the child before noticing that he or she


has problems. The other times when the symptoms are mild, the only way to detect this is

by looking at his or her art works.

For these reasons, present study is very relevant to the real situation in

classrooms. It suggests how mental disorders, particularly the emotional disorders, can

be detected using art works. It also recommends an approach educators can use with

these children, which is image-based. Learning about this approach gives more options to

both teachers and students. In addition, with such number of children who have the

disorders, it is not possible to put all of them to special school with special education,

due to various conditions. Therefore, it is important for educators to learn how to cope

with these children and, hopefully will be able to apply method suggested in this study to

compromise the gaps between the students of same classroom. The study should purely

benefit teachers as well as the students, both classmates and the ones with disorders

themselves.


CHAPTER IICHAPTER IISTUDENT INFORMATION & REVIEW OF LITERATURES

STUDENT INFORMATION

There are two participants in this study. The main focus is Tharini Thepruksa, a

16-year-old girl who was diagnosed with hyperactivity disorder before she was 10 years

old. Another case included in present study is Tharini’s brother, Kunawut Thepruksa.

Kunawut’s performances are used as a reference and a comparison to Tharini’s case for a

clearer picture and a more accurate outcome.

STUDENT BACKGROUND

Tharini is a 16-year-old girl who is now studying in Mathayom 9 in xxxxx school.

She has been suffering with emotional disturbance since she could remember. A

psychiatrist diagnosed her with hyperactivity disorder and had been treated with

medication. The children who suffer from such disorder are unable to focus their attention

and are often impulsive and easily distracted (Health Grades, 2009). Not only that she has

problems with the inability to focus, Tharini can also be seen with frustration and

aggression with impulsive behaviors. She is usually aware of her behaviors, but is lack of

ability to control them. Often times, the girl finds herself “against” the world, where no one

seems trustworthy and lovable. Thus, Tharini always hates and rejects other people. As

much as how she is anti social, the society seems to reject her as well, because to others,

Tharini seems rude and angry. For this reason, she finds it difficult to get along with her

teachers and fellow classmates, resulting in multiple changes of schools.

Kunawut, on the other hand, has always been under the radar, in terms of

emotional disorder, in his family. Growing up, he has had some difficulties with the


emotional instability, but at the level that is acceptable for the society. Kunawut is now

24 years old and had graduated with a degree in fine arts from Silapakorn University.

The difference between Kunawut and his sister, besides the emotional disorder, is that he

started producing art works since he was young and has continued to do that until now,

where Tharini has a history of producing arts but only for a certain period of time.

FAMILY ENVIRONMENT

Tharini and Kunawut grew up in family of four; including them, their father who

is a civil engineer, and their mother who is a housewife. The mother is reported to have

treated her children with regular severe corporal punishment as well as brutal verbal

assault. She is always found with rage and is often aggravated at her children. When the

family sought for help with Tharini’s disorders, the psychiatrist asked the mother to

switch role with the father – let the father take care the children instead of her. Since

then, Tharini’s aggressive behaviors seem to slightly reduce, but her anger still remains.

The father tends to have a softer character. He is strict, but not as harsh on the

children as the mother. However, to Tharini and Kunawut, he symbolizes the weakness

and the incompetence of the family. This is probably because of his inability to stop his

wife from hurting the children, and also because he did not step into the role of taking

care and protecting his children until the psychiatrist asked him to.

THEORETICAL REVIEW

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Emotional disorders are reported to be caused by two reasons. One is genetic and

another, which is more likely the true reason in most cases, is the environmental factors

(Special Education Administration, 2009). This means that how the child’s psychological

development is shaped throughout the childhood is very important. Erikson proposed a

taxonomy that explains how humans grow their personal and social development. He

divided a person’s personal and social development into eight stages. Since present study

only focus on child’s development, hence it only concentrates on the first three stages of

this taxonomy.

First stage starts when a child is born. Erikson’s theory stated that children

develop their basic fundamental sense of trust and mistrust through the relationships with


their mothers. If the mother is inconsistent or rejecting, the child would likely to develop

the inability to trust. The second stage begins after eighteen months, when children stat

forming the character of an “autonomy”. Erikson suggested that children of this age start

to want to do things themselves. Their desires to do things, however, often conflict with

the parents’ desires. Over restrictive parents may create the sense of incompetence and

powerless in the child. Finally, the third stage refers to development of initiative and

guilt when children are three years old. With maturing motor and language skills,

aggressive exploration of environment occurs. The process continues until the children

reach the age of six. Children at this age need to be convinced that it is ok to be the

person on his own. Parents who severely punish child’s initiative may turn the child into

feeling guilty about natural urges (Slavin, 2009).

As suggested in the beginning that one of the treatments commonly practiced for

the children with such problems is art therapy. The present study, however, focuses

purely on the image-based theory. The theory based on believes that “images are a rich

source of data for understanding the social world and for representing our knowledge of

that social world” (Mathison, 2004). Every image created has meaning because it is made

to mean (Becker, 1998). An image we create reports what we know or think about

ourselves and the societies (surroundings) we live in. Using this approach includes

participant or researcher produced visual products of drawings, paintings, sculptures,

photographs, and other visual forms of expression and representation.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The present study focuses to investigate the effect art therapy in the form of

image-based inquiry. In other words, the study aims to determine if creating visual arts

helps children with their emotional disturbance.

FIGURE 1The Conceptual Framework on How Mental Health in Child who are

Emotional Disturbed Can be Improved Using Visual Arts in Image-Based Approach

MENTAL DISORDERS

↔TRAUMA VISUAL ARTS


↓MENTAL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT

EMPIRICAL REVIEW

LITERATURES FOCUSING ON EMOTIONAL DISORDERS

Health Grades (2009) suggested in WrongDiagnosis.com that there are at least

twelve kinds of emotional disorders categorized by its symptoms, such as follow.

1) Anxiety Disorders The children who experience excessive fear, worry, or

uneasiness. It is the most common with conditions range from mild to severe.

2) Depression/Unipolar Disorder The children who often feel sad, cry, or feel

worthless for no obvious reasons.

3) Bipolar Disorder The children who demonstrate exaggerated mood swings.

4) Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder The children who are unable to focus

their attention and are often impulsive and easily distracted.

5) Conduct disorders The children who out their feelings or impulses in

destructive ways.

6) Instability The children who are lack of stability in emotions and behaviors.

The causes for the disorders are varied from drug abuse, injuries, to difficulty in

chronicle illness. Special Education Administration (2009) suggested two main factors

effecting child’s emotional and behavioral developments. One is biological factors where

the mental health is genetic. However, it is more likely to believe that more cases of

emotional disorders are caused by environment factors.

A previous study by Dodge (1993) has identified three primary casual factors that

influence the development of conduct disorder, one of the most common emotional

disorders. First is the adverse environment, especially on the early stage, that the child is

raised. Dodge suggested that “the relationship children have with their parents,

particularly during the early years, is critical to the way they learn to act. Interactions

between parents and their child influence the child's opinions, behaviors, and emotions”


(Special Education Administration, 2009). Two is an aggressive pattern of behavior that

is displayed to child on entering school. Three deals with society when the child is

rejected by peers.

LITERATURES FOCUSING ON ART THERAPY

Art Therapy has been somewhat a popular alternative for therapist in the process

of healing pains in traumatized patients for the past few years. Why Art Therapy, an

article by Terri Pifalo, an art therapist in Lowcountry’s Children in South Carolina,

suggested that anyone who has experienced trauma usually have difficulty expressing

their thoughts and feelings in effective words, especially in children who are not able to

possess vocabularies as adults. In addition, “art is a non-threatening way to visually

communicate anything that is too painful to put into words” (Pifalo, 2008). Using arts,

then, opens the opportunity for nonverbal expression and communication. Therefore,

therapists are likely to use art as the instrument to diagnose patients who have emotional

disturbance and to communicate with them.

An interesting case study of how children’s internal emotional schema can be

indicated through their works of art was revealed when an art therapist, Karla Leopold,

visited the children, who were the young victims of Hurricane Katrina. In Using Crayons

to Exorcise Katrina (Dewan, 2007), the article reveals that Karla was intrigued when saw

how many of the children drew similar pictures of their house, symbolized with a shape

of triangle, are damaged by rains. From the outside, these young victims seemed happy

like other normal children, but their drawings showed that “the trauma of the hurricane

has influenced thoughts of home and safety” (Dewan, 2007). Katrina victims expressed

their fear not verbally, but through drawings (visual art) with symbolic like snakes in

swimming pool, dead birds, and rescue boat, because it is the collective unconscious.

Besides indicating child’s disturbance with their drawings, Using Crayons to

Exorcise Katrina (Dewan, 2007) also discussed how these negative feelings can be

cured. Karla practiced art therapy on these children by asking them to think what can be

put (drawn) in the picture to create the positive feeling of safety. In such approach,

children are asked to process the positive thinking and should eventually help them, more

or less, overcome their fear.


A few samples of art works made by children who are victims of Hurricane

Katrina are shown as follow. Looking at these works, it is obvious that the children were

traumatized by the effects of the hurricane.

“Brown in the center is the hurricane. The rest of the brown is the water. The buildings are the stores and houses. The big one is my house (upper right corner). Lower left corner is my auntie who died, she was 89. We went to the shelter to drop stuff off and when we got back she was already floating. My uncle and my grandmother were waiting too but they were in a safe place - in the closet. We tried to take my auntie with us but she wanted to stay with my grandma then she drowned. We walked back to the shelter through the water - it was up to my tummy." (http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/photoalbum/source/4.htm)

http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/photoalbum/source/4.htm


“One day there was a hurricane and her name was Katrina. She was full of water and wind. She did bad damage. She destroyed my dad’s truck and my house. It made me sad. The water was high and it was dirty. Full of fishes and dead dogs and humans.” (http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/photoalbum/source/12.htm)

“A triangle house drawn by an eight-year-old male. For many of these children, a triangle house has replaced the typical drawn house. This is indication that the internal schema of these children has been compromised. The roof now provides the sense of safety.” (http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/photoalbum /source/16.htm)

http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/photoalbum/source/12.htm


CHAPTER IIICHAPTER IIIMETHODOLOGY, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

METHODOLOGY

Present study investigates on how producing visual arts effects children’s emotions,

particularly those who have emotional disorders. It also aims to find if the disorders or

disturbances can be detected through their art works. To find answers for the objectives,

qualitative approaches are selected to perform on two case studies. The main case study is

Tharini Thepruksa, a girl who was diagnosed with hyperactivity disorder. Another is the

case of her brother, Kunawut Thepruksa, which is used as a comparison to Tharini’s case

for a clearer outcome. The methods include interviews and observations, which play most

important role, in association with the using of visual arts in form of image-based

approach.

Objective 1: To determine if a child’s emotional disturbance

is communicated through their visual art works.

For the first objective, assessment of art works created by participants is

performed. Art works are randomly selected from the past and present, if any. Each art

piece is evaluated to see if it reflects the participant’s disturbance, using evaluation sheet

in Table 1. The researcher looks for signs, such as symbols, colors, and strokes, which can

be interpreted into story.

Information on participants’ background is also included as an instrument for result

analysis. The researcher looks for connections between moods and stories displayed in the

works and the story of the participants themselves.


TABLE 1Evaluation Sheet for Art work of Participants


Objective 2: To examine if image-based approach (art therapy)

promotes positive improvement in child’s mental health.

Interviews and observations are conducted on the participants as well as their

family, teacher, and friends. Questions for the interviews (Table 2 and Table 3) cover

whether the participants have improved in behaviors and emotions during the time period

that they produce the art works.

TABLE 2Listing of Questions for Interviewing the Participants

No Questions

1 How was your life when you started producing arts?2 What is your motivation?3 What did you feel when you were creating each art piece? How was your

emotion?4 How often did you produce works?5 What do you think of art6 Do you think it is easier to talk through words or through arts?7 Did you notice any changes in yourself or your moods and behaviors from the

time before you started producing arts?

TABLE 3Listing of Questions for Interviewing Others Around Participants

No Questions

1 How were participant’s moods and behaviors before he/she started producing arts?

2 Are there any obvious emotional or behavioral problems of the participant that you could spot before he/she started involving arts?

3 What was going on in participant’s life when he/she started producing arts?4 What do you think is his/her motivation?5 Do you notice any changes in participant’s moods and behaviors from the time

before he/she started producing arts?6 Do you think producing arts help the participant? How?7 Did you notice any changes in yourself or your moods from the time before you


started producing arts?8 Do you feel more, less, or as equal comfortable being around the participant

after he/she started practicing arts? 9 Do you feel there are any problems about art curriculum and instruction in your

school?

Objective 3: To determine if producing visual arts

heals emotional disorders in long term.

Similar to methods used for Objective 2, interviews and observations are

conducted on the participants as well as others associated with them, such as teachers,

friends, and family. This part of the study, however, aims to investigate how the effect

producing visual arts has on each participant in a long term. The questions are more

likely to ask about then and now.

REPORT

To analyze the results, the outcomes for each part of the study are collected

systematically. First part is the evaluation of participants’ art works. This method was

performed by using researcher’s interpretation of each work combining with the

interviews of participants about each particular piece. Second and third parts are likely to

be conducted at the same time. Methods used for these two parts are interviews and

observations. The information was then placed in categories; before arts, during arts, and

after arts (for Tharini’s case) or now (for Kunawut’s case).

ART WORKS AND EVALUATIONS

Evaluating art works of both Tharini and Kunawut, several common symbols and

forms are found. Both often use free form shapes with not many geometric forms. The

lines are usually heavy and bold. The works mostly contain colors, if not black and

white, that are dark with strong contrast. Both created arts that are negative.

In Kunawut’s works, the stories usually imply to the society and how he views it.

He usually picks a story from his own experience in the real world and displays it in the


paintings or drawings. The moods and feelings that are transferred through his works are

usually negative and displeasure. It can be implied to how he does not appreciate the

truth that he found in the society.

Tharini’s themes are usually much smaller. She is likely to imply her works to the

closer ones, such as family and friends. Most works are intense. Hence, the art works and

evaluation of each are displayed on the following pages. Unfortunately, Tharini agreed to

share her works only with the researcher and did not allow the researcher to share them

with any other persons. This means that her works are not permitted to be published in

this report. Descriptions of how each of Tharini’s works look like are made with the best

attempt to be as accurate as possible.

Tharini’s Work 1

In this first piece of hers, Tharini drew a picture of her aunt, whom she thinks of

as a liar. She transferred her hatred and anger through several symbols. The aunt’s

character of lying is represented with ugly face, curly messy hair, dog body, hug lips,

and extremely long tongue. The tongue wraps around the body very tight that the aunts

seems torture.

Seen in her drawing, Tharini used very bold lines in the black and white pencil

drawings. Her anger is transmitted through the heaviness of the lines as well as the forms

she chose to draw. It is clear that she is disgusted by her aunt’s behavior and personality.

This is shown through the symbols she used to describe the aunt; ugly face, distorted dog

body, and long tongue. Based on this picture she drew, Tharini seems very aware of

reality of people’s true colors.


The Evaluation Sheet for Tharini’s Work No. 1


THARINI’S WORK 2


Similarly to the first drawing, in present work, Tharini tried to tell a story about

the person that she hates. She portrayed a picture of one of her neighbors as a greedy

man. The eyes pops out, the hands reaches for money, and the body is twisted. Even

with his body almost crumbled by the piles of banks and coins that collapses onto his

body, the guy in the picture still seems very happy to be surrounded by wealth. Tharini

explained that this neighbor of hers is willing to do anything for money and he never

seems to have enough money. She thinks that one day, he may die of his greed.

It is obvious, looking at the drawing, that Tharini does not like this neighbor.

Her feelings are very well transferred through her black and white pencil drawing. She

used bold outlines with no shadings or colors. Her lines are very tense and heavy. Very

similar to the first drawing, the curvy-free forms are used to create loathing feelings to

the viewers. The face of the man is disproportioned and ugly – showing the ugliness of

his character.

Tharini shows her hatred and anger with sarcasm through her drawing, using

lines and forms that create negative feelings and moods. The pessimistic way of

viewing the clearly comes through Tharini’s art works. She has hatred and anger. She

also does not know how to see the goodness in people, especially the adults.

The Evaluation Sheet for Tharini’s Work No. 2


KUNAWUT’S WORK 1


The Art Work

As seen in this drawing, Kunawut used strong pencil strokes, crossing back and

forth with heaviness. The colors are black and white since it is a quick sketch on a

notebook with pencil. The drawing contains bold lines that are heavy. The artist probably

drew lines with intensity. There are forms that are rather free-forms. However, there are

noticeable shapes of humans with limbs that are intentionally disproportional. Every

shape and form seems to head towards the same direction-towards the light. It seems as if

people are struggling and trying to reach towards the light.

The Evaluation Sheet for Kunawut’s Work No. 1


KUNAWUT’S WORK 2


The Art Work

Very obvious symbols are presented in this piece of Kunawut’s work. He drew

shapes that remind viewers of something that can create loathsome feelings. Colors are

used, but not as important as curvy forms in bugs’ legs and bold lines, which seem to

be the most outstanding elements in the drawing. Most importantly, Kunawut transfers

his feelings of disdain and disgust towards this creature, in which he calls “Wealth–

Sucking Spider”.



KUNAWUT’S WORK 3


The Art Work

Kunawut chose to display his feelings towards the white collars and those of

higher rank in the society with sarcasm. He used shapes of animals, such as buffalo and

bugs, dressed with aiguillettes walking on the red carpet to create some kind of

metaphor. This piece is all about story-telling and the moods that he created instead of

lines or strokes. Colors are dynamic with contrasts between blue-red and green-red.



KUNAWUT’S WORK 4


The Art Work

The symbols in these painting are very obvious. Kunawut used high heals, hair,

and dress to refer to woman. He also used aiguillettes and sashes to represent status of

people in higher rank of society. Different sizes of shapes are also used as symbols to

represent the socio-status. Kunawut mostly used dark colors with dynamic contrasts in

some part. The message transferred through this piece is how he does not appreciate the

society or people in the society being the way he implied in his painting.



KUNAWUT’S OTHER WORKS 5


INTERVIEW AND OBSERVATION

By interviewing and observing both participants, it is very likely to make

assumption that both Tharini and Kunawut show symptoms of emotional disorders. Both

grew up in the same family with a very similar environment, with an aggressive an

impulsive mother. They both have difficulties trusting and liking others around them.

They tend to be aware of the worst in people before seeing the best.

Furthermore, Tharini’s case seems much more severe. Her symptoms have been

very apparent since before she reached the aged of 10. Her parents sought for

professional help from a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with hyperactivity disorder and

treated her with medication. Direct observations and interviews indicated more multiple

emotional disorders. Tharini shows signs of possible instability as well as conduct and

bipolar disorders. She has very impulsive behavior with noticeable anger. She is also

very anti-social.


Kunawut said his sister was very much more expressive with her anger when she

was little. Her behaviors toned down a little bit during the time she produced art works.

After she stopped associating with visual arts, she turned to fashion and music as she

reached adolescent. Her parents said, “That’s when her mood swings came back, but she

did not express it the way she used to. She tends to contain her anger inside more in front

of others.” She is also reported to currently have other risky behaviors with alcohol and

clubbing with friends.

The researcher, however, failed to get in contact with Tharini’s teachers, due to

her multiple changes of schools. Nonetheless, her friends and family agreed that she

usually has problems in schools, mostly with teachers and often with fellow classmates.

Those she has problems with her tend to not understand her and reject her, as much as

how she rejects them. In addition, Tharini is usually the one who requests for change of

school.

Kunawut’s case is rather different. Growing up in the same environment, but with

the help from visual arts, his life has been much easier. All of his teachers and friends

confirmed that he is a competitive person, but his competitiveness did not come out as

aggressive to anyone. Kunawut said that he was also an angry kid, but he put all of his

anger into the art works. “If I didn’t have art, I wouldn’t be like what I am today. I would

have lost it like my sister,” said Kunawut.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

This study investigates how emotional disturbance can be detected through art

works and how it can be healed using a form of arts-based inquiry. The study based on a

case study of Tharini’s Thepruksa, a 16-year-old girl who had has problems dealing with

her instable emotions and behaviors before she reached adolescent, in a comparison with

Kunawut Thepruksa, a 24 year-old-man who is her brother.

The relationship between emotional disorders and visual arts produced by the

participants is found to be positive. The emotional disturbance was shown in both Tharini’s

and Kunawut’s art works. The result is confirmed to be accurate when interviews and

observations could only detect the signs of such disorders in Tharini but not in Kunawut.

This is probably because Kunuwut’s case is mild. He also learned to control his behaviors

and feelings as he grew older and became more mature. Art is the only place he allows


himself to express his emotions freely. Tharini’s case is, as mentioned, very obvious since

her symptoms are rather severe. Although her inability to focus and her instability are

apparent, looking at her works clarifies more specific problem of what bothers her.

Interviews and observations indicated that producing arts do have positive effect on

participants. It improved their emotions and behaviors. In Tharini’s case, her improvement

was noticeable during the time she was producing art works, but it lasted only a short period

of time after she stopped. Unlike the first case, Kunawut has been associating with arts since

he was young and he is still producing arts today. It was not obvious that because of arts,

Kunawut’s case is mild that his behavior, although it shows signs of instability and

aggression, but they are at the level that is acceptable for the society.

From this outcome, it is likely to conclude that emotional disturbances can be

detected through art works. Moreover, producing art works can heal such disorders, but

only if it is practiced in a continuous manner.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A lot of times, teachers have to face situations where parents put their children,

who have emotional disorders, in the same school and same class with other normal

children. Teachers then have to find ways to cope with those disturbed children, hoping

to compromise the flow in the classroom. Present study proposes one effective method

for teachers to deal with such situation that is to use visual arts to detect the problems as

well as to improve the symptoms that other children may find disturbing. This is because,

through this study, art is found to be a great instrument for communication with

emotional disturbed children. It is the only place children feel free to express themselves,

allowing others to see what is in their mind. In addition, the activity can be entertaining

for other fellow classmates as well.


Nonetheless, there are some limitations to this study, due to a small number of

study cases that this research based on. Future study may aim to investigate with a larger

number of participants with more details how to practice this methods in classroom.

“If I didn’t have art, I wouldn’t“If I didn’t have art, I wouldn’tbe like what I am today. I wouldbe like what I am today. I would

have lost it like my sister.”have lost it like my sister.”Kunawut TheprukaKunawut Thepruka

(September 7, 2009)(September 7, 2009)

REFERNCEREFERNCE

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Mullen, C.A., Buttignol, M., and Diamond, C.T.P. (2005). Flyboy: Using the Arts and Theaters to Assist Suicidal Adolescents. Educational Journal of Education & the Arts, Vol. 6(5).

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http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/mathison/archives/2007/02/image_based_res.html

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Special Education Administration (2009). Definition of Seriously Emotionally Disturbed. In Sevier County Special Education. Retrieved September 9, 2009 from http://www.slc.sevier.org/edandbd.htm

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http://www.slc.sevier.org/emoclass.htm

http://www.slc.sevier.org/edandbd.htm


By

KALYAKORN NAKSOMPOP



Art Heals: Using Arts to Cope with Emotional Disturbance in Children

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