Possibilities of Art Therapy in Working with Parents of Children with Disabilities

Article presents results of an experiment aimed at establishing the effectiveness of art therapy techniques for parents of children with disabilities. The inquiry was the quality of life of parents caring for a child with disabilities (mental retardation, cerebral palsy, ASD and combined handicaps). The investigation triangualated both qualitative and quantitative design. Quantitatively – analytical design of educational-psychological project was saturated with data from psychometric tests administered, evaluated and interpreted by experienced clinical and counseling psychologists in a format of "before" and "after" (test-retest) of data paired and compared between each other, with regard to the statistical significance of the measured phenomena. Data were collected through the following psychometric instruments: Coping Strategies Questionnaire (SVF-78), self-rating scale for measuring anxiety STAI, existential scale, Bortnerova scale, Logo-test. Qualitative research component complements information to the quantitative survey. It is based on three data sources: 1) a written reflection of parents (research respondents), accompanied by reflections of teachers and obtained at different stages of the project, 2) focus group of parents, 3) direct interaction and communication with parents during expressive creative activities. Data were collected and evaluated independently of the findings from the quantitative survey, only in the final phase, qualitative research data were taken into account when summarizing the knowledge from the whole project. The article states the results of the experiment with respect to its representativeness isa affected by the type of sampling and also by a small number of respondents.

1. Balcar K. Logoterapie a existenciální analýza. In Vymětal a kol. Obecná psychoterapie, Grada Publishing, Praha, 2004.
2. Balcar K. Standardizace dotazníku Logo-test na vzorku studujících českých vysokých škol. In Československá psychologie, 39, č. 5, s. 400-405, Academia, Praha, 1995.
3. Frankl, E. V. Člověk hledá smysl: úvod do logoterapie. Psychoanalytické nakl. J. Kocourek, Praha, 1994.
4. Frankl, E. V. Teorie a terapie neuróz. Grada Publishing,  Praha, 1999.
5. Frankl E. V. Vůle ke smyslu. Cesta, Brno, 1994.
6. Glass D. C. Pattern a Behavior and Controllable Stress. In Dembroski, T. M. et al.,eds., Coronary-Prone Behavior, Springer, New York, 1978.
7. Haden C. A., Haine R. A., Fivush R. Developing Narrative Structure in Parent – Child Reminiscing Across the Preschool Years. 1997.
8. Hendl J. Kvalitativní výzkum. Praha : Portál, 2005.
9. Janke W., Erdmannová G. Strategie zvládání stresu – SVF-78. Praha: Testcentrum, 2003.
10. Kobasa S. C. The Hardy Personality: Toward a Social Psychology of Stress and Health. In Sanders, G. S.; Suls, J.; eds. Social Psychology of Health and Illness, Erlbaum, Hilsdale, 1982.
11. Kobasa S. C., Maddi S. R. Existencial Personality Tudory. In Corsini, R., ed., Current Personality Theories, Peacock, Itasca, 1977.
12. Krátký I. Koncepce „odolnosti vůči zátěži“(hardiness) a tzv. „chování typu A/B“, TES, Praha, 1988.
13. Kronick J. Alternativní metodologie pro analýzu kvalitativních dat. Sociologický časopis, 1997.
14. Längle A., Orglerová Ch., Kundi M. Existenciální škála. Testcentrum, Praha, 2001.
15. Längle A. Smysluplně žít. Aplikovaná existenciální analýza. Cesta, Brno, 2002.
16. Lukasová E. Logoterapie ve výchově. Portál, Praha, 1997.
17. Maslow A. H. Ku psychológii bytia. Persona, Modra,2000.
18. May R. Láska a voĺa. Ikar, Bratislava, 2005.
19. Pillemer D. B. Momentous Events and the Life Story. Review of General Psychology, 2001.
20. Průcha J. Učitel. Praha: Portál, 2002.
21. Reiterová E. Základy statistiky pro studenty psychologie. Olomouc: UP, 2000.
22. Richert A. J. The Self in Narrative Therapy: Thoughts From a Humanistic/Existencial Perspective. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 2002.
23. Rogers C. R. Způsob bytí. Praha: Portál, 1998.
24. Ruisel I. a kol. Dotazník na meranie úzkosti a úzkostlivosti. Bratislava: Psycho, 1980.
25. Suinn R. M. Intervention with Type A Behaviors. In Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 933-949, 1982.
26. Vavrda V. Otázky soudobé psychoanalýzy. Praha: Lidové noviny, 2005.
27. Yalom I. Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books, New York, 1980.