Date of Award

Spring 5-2018

Document Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

EVMS School of Health Professions

Program/Concentration

Art Therapy and Counseling

Committee Director

Mary Roberts

Committee Member

Madeline Dunstan

Abstract

This capstone proposed an existential art therapy approach to improve coping for an individual with Early Stage Alzheimer’s disease. A review of the available literature emphasized the differences between memory loss due to neurocognitive decline and symptoms of normal aging, as well as a gap in research relating existential art therapy to treatment options for people with the disease. A variety of treatment options were highlighted despite treatment options, no medical cure is currently available, stressing the need for more research in the area of treatment options for symptoms of distress. The project proposed nine individual art therapy sessions with an individual in the early stage of Alzheimer’s Disease, with an experience of depression and/or anxiety. The utilization of pre-and post-tests for depression, anxiety, and quality of life were the measures used to explore the effects of existential art therapy for an individual with AD. Recruitment yielded no participants that met inclusion criteria and recommendations were made for future case studies in this subject area.

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