Acceptance of Anxiety through Art Therapy: A Case Report Exploring How Anthroposophic Art Therapy Addresses Emotion Regulation and Executive Functioning

Anxiety is a major problem for many individuals, causing impairment in daily life. Art therapy is often deployed and although positive results are communicated in clinical practice, its effectiveness and working mechanisms have hardly been studied. Therefore, it is important to systematically describe the intervention process and to detect the working mechanisms to be able to evaluate them. Narrative case studies help to understand the intervention in more depth. A typical case file was selected for case reporting according to scientific (CARE & CARE-AAT) guidelines, with the aim to explore the therapeutic elements that contributed to the reduction of anxiety. The report describes the intervention process of a 54-year-old female, suffering from anxiety since childhood and diagnosed with panic disorder, agoraphobia, claustrophobia and hypochondria. After 14 sessions of anthroposophic art therapy, reduction of anxiety was shown, as well as improvements of emotion regulation and executive functioning. The client indicated that she became more tolerant and accepting towards her anxiety. She noted a softened attitude towards herself and her complaints, even one year after art therapy. The course of treatment suggests that aspects of emotion regulation and executive functioning were addressed through implicit learning processes in different art therapy assignments.Development Psychopathology in context: clinical setting

The Effectiveness of Art Therapy for Anxiety in Adult Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: Art therapy (AT) as a treatment option for anxiety is regularly employed in clinical practice, but scientific evidence for its effectiveness is lacking, since this intervention has hardly been studied. The aim was to study the effectiveness of AT on anxiety in adult women. The specific type of AT studied was anthroposophic AT.Methods: A RCT comparing AT versus a waiting list (WL) condition on anxiety symptom severity, quality of life, and emotion regulation. Factors influencing treatment outcome were additionally explored. Participants were women, aged 18–65 years, diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder or panic disorder, with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. The trial was registered in the Dutch Trial Registration (NL6661).Results: Fifty-nine women were included, of which 47 completed the trial. Both per-protocol and intention-to treat analyses demonstrated effectiveness of AT compared to WL, showing a reduction in anxiety, an increase in subjective quality of life (both with large effects) and an improvement in accessibility of emotion regulation strategies (medium effect). Treatment effects remained after 3 months follow-up. Improved acceptance of emotions and improved goal-oriented action are aspects of emotion regulation that are associated with the decrease in anxiety level.Conclusion: AT is effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, improving quality of life and aspects of emotion regulation. Future RCTs should use active controls (treatment as usual) and study cost-effectiveness.Development Psychopathology in context: clinical setting

Revertants of the amylose-free (amf) potato clone 86.040 (2n=1x=12)

The amylose-free (amf) potato clone 86.040 (2n = 1x = 12), in which the enzyme granule bound starch synthase (GBSS) is affected, has been used for the induction and isolation of revertants with loosely branched amylopectin. Screening of 5500 microtubers, which were induced on stem segments of 685 irradiated buds gave in 44 cases reverted sectors from which 22 solid revertants were isolated. However, biochemical analysis showed in a revertants GBSS activity and a compound present in the starch granules which in all probability was amylose. The frequency of spontaneous reversions in tuber cells of the amf mutant 86.040 1x, 2x and 4x and of amf-mutations in wildtype AM 79.73221 1x, 2x and 4x was investigated indirectly by screening, after iodine staining, for starch granules with altered composition. The amf-mutation occurred at the monoploid- and diploid level. Spontaneous reversions occurred also at the tetraploid level and in high frequencies in older microtubers from monoploid shoots. The reversion frequency in microspores of fertile amfamf-plants appeared to be lo Revertants of the amylose-free potato clone 86.040 (2n=1x=12). - ResearchGate. Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/40179289_Revertants_of_the_amylose-free_potato_clone_86.040_%282n1x12%29 [accessed Mar 26, 2015]