پریسا دارویی

Studies have shown that the Syrian war has significantly impacted the mental health of children, leading to increased levels of stress and anxiety. Various studies indicate that stress and anxiety levels can be modified using art therapy and psychological interventions. However, the utilization of art therapy grounded in psychological interventions for addressing the repercussions of war on Syrian children remains underexplored.

This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an art therapy intervention based on the coping cat program in reducing the fear of failure in children affected by the Syrian war and experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS).

The current study utilized a semi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up (3 months) measurements, involving a sample of Syrian children aged 10–12 exposed to the war. From this population, 153 children who had relocated to the city of Salamieh due to the war were assessed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride et al., 2004). Out of these, 44 children with higher symptom scores were selected, and, based on entry and exit criteria, 20 of them were randomly assigned to two groups of 10 children: the experimental group (Expressive Art Therapy) and the control group. The art therapy intervention sessions used the Art Therapy Based on Coping Cat Program (Kalthom et al., 2023), and data was collected using the Performance Failure Apprehension Inventory (PFAI) questionnaire (Conrow et al., 2002). Data analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance and the SPSS 26 software.

The result of this research demonstrated that art therapy based on Coping Cat Program significantly reduced fear of failure and its dimensions (fear of experiencing shame and embarrassment, fear of loss of self-esteem, fear of an unknown future, fear of losing the love of important people, and fear of upsetting important people) in Syrian children (p< 0.05).

Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that art therapy based on Coping Cat Program can reduce the levels of fear of failure and its sub-dimensions in children affected by the war, and it is recommended to replicate the experiment with a larger sample of war-affected children for further validation.

There are villages in the world that have a different color than what is always thought of as a village, and the coloring of the landscape in these villages not only provides happiness and vitality to the local community but also by attracting tourists to the village and promotes the local economy. The present research, with the help of a qualitative method (Thematic analysis) and interpretive structural modeling through MICMAC software, strive to identify the key drivers for turning the village into a tourist destination with the help of coloring the rural landscape. The tool of data collection in the present study was an interview form and the data was collected using the snowball sampling method. The results of the data analysis illustrated that the three factors of the safety of access routes to the village, the existence and possibility of developing infrastructure and tourism facilities, and the proximity to natural color mines are among the most critical and key infrastructure drivers. Also, based on the results extracted from MICMAC software, empowerment of the local community was identified as one of the most important social drivers. In addition, the choice of color to be used and its quality according to the architecture and climate of the village, cracking and underlying of the walls, using special colors for the facade (silicone), avoiding busy work on the patterns of the walls, the color of the village soil and the type of materials used was introduced as the most effective physical variables.Lastly, it can be said that paying attention to the key drivers in the coloring of the rural landscape can be a creative economic solution for promoting rural tourism.There are villages in the world that have a different color than what is always thought of as a village, and the coloring of the landscape in these villages not only provides happiness and vitality to the local community but also by attracting tourists to the village and promotes the local economy. The present research, with the help of a qualitative method (Thematic analysis) and interpretive structural modeling through MICMAC software, strive to identify the key drivers for turning the village into a tourist destination with the help of coloring the rural landscape. The tool of data collection in the present study was an interview form and the data was collected using the snowball sampling method. The results of the data analysis illustrated that the three factors of the safety of access routes to the village, the existence and possibility of developing infrastructure and tourism facilities, and the proximity to natural color mines are among the most critical and key infrastructure drivers. Also, based on the results extracted from MICMAC software, empowerment of the local community was identified as one of the most important social

Problem statement: 

using art education programs –compiled with defined goals and appropriate approaches would make a positive influence on children. On one hand, it could help them to receive continually the beauties and wonders of the universe to which the art is a suitable implement for this perception growth and promotion. On the other hand, discipline-based art education can be effective in designing educational programs with this goal, focusing on artworks; hence, the research question is what effect does the educational package designed with a discipline-based approach have on children’s perception of aesthetics?

to evaluate the effect of an educational package compiled based on the discipline-based approach on the aesthetic perception of children from 7 to 9 in Isfahan city.

In terms of purpose, it is practical and in terms of method it is mixed. At first, the educational program was designed with a qualitative method of exploratory type with a discipline-based approach, and then to evaluate the effect of this program with a quantitative method of semi-experimental type with a pre-test-post-test design, using Pearson’s Aesthetic Test (which was designed based on Parsons’ Aesthetic Evolution), was conducted on 10 children aged 7 to 9 years. Children were randomly selected and participated in the research. The intervention program was conducted for 12 training sessions, each session lasting 90 minutes. The obtained data were analyzed by paired t-test mean statistical method.

The statistical findings show that there is a significant difference between the children’s performance in the pre-test and post-test stages (p<0.01) and it can be concluded that the present educational program affects growing children’s aesthetic perception.

The process of artistic work creation is an experience that leads to human growth and awareness and thus can be considered as a bridge between internal and external experiences of a person who has a therapeutic basis. Art and its connection with the mandala can serve as a bridge of communication with the inner person and help the person through its relaxing state. The mandala can calm the emotions and therefore helps the person to express him/herself deeply and because it is inherently healing, it can be a good medium for communicate with the inside of the person and his/her suppressed feelings, emotions, excitement and repair and to tackle any interfering and vicious cause.   The aim of the present article is to compile an expressive art therapy package based on the mandala pattern and to achieve that, it uses the exploratory research method and approach of expressive art therapy, and uses different types of art, that has been used in this article for reducing loneliness feeling.    Expressive art therapy has been linked to the traditions and cultural precedents of world healing practices because they frequently involve the integration of all the arts. Expressive therapy has been defined as using the arts and their products to foster awareness, encourage emotional growth and to enhance relationships with others through access to imagination; including arts as therapy, arts psychotherapy, and the use of arts for traditional healing; and emphasizing the interrelatedness of the arts in therapy.   About how to compile this package it should be said that first, after examining the consequences of feeling loneliness, fear, sadness, anger, depression, having experience of anxiety and stress, etc. it has been tried to combine the therapeutic feature of art and the adopted art therapy method using expressive art therapy, that used of various art forms such as painting, collage, pottery, music, etc. The implementation of this package in the form of mandala pattern with expressive art therapy approach (which is based on imagination and creativity) was considered to improve the above (loneliness feeling) consequences.   The therapeutic property of the mandala was used as a symbol of self to provide a basis for projecting unconscious mechanisms in symbolic relationships and balance of personality and concentration for the individual. Mandala, which is the best tool for concentration, meditation and mindfulness, as a therapeutic tool can provide insight and awareness, like dream analysis; it also shows the order that so-called imposes itself on psychological chaos. Because in mandala, a person has the opportunity to be creative and can use all of his/her personality and discover him/herself. Finally, mandala causes concentration and relief from stress and anxiety, emptying and refining the mind and calming the person, and helps to empty the mind and its projection, as well as the connection between the unconscious and the conscious in people and with these features, its application in the mentioned package can help the factors and negative consequences of loneliness feeling. In each program, an attempt was made to consider art programs with a variety of types, with the aim of improving the feeling of loneliness and in line with the therapeutic properties of mandala in order to eliminate one of the consequences of loneliness feeling and to be integrated and arranged with the method and approach of art therapy. Finally, with using and combining therapeutic nature of mandala patterns and expressive art therapy, for reducing loneliness feeling, 14 diverse art therapy plans (any plan in one session) was compiled.  As a result, the answer to the research question on how to compile this treatment package and its description will be determined, and to clarify it, three of the schedules will be described:  For example, the plan of the second session, that was called “My Inner World” and its aim was “mental projection”, which has been compiled based on: First, drawing in circle form; because, an important feature of the mandala is helping to empty and project the mind and it is effective in overcoming stress and anxiety (which is a consequence of loneliness feeling). Secondly, due to the simultaneous use of several types of art in the expressive art therapy method, painting in the form of Doodle Art style was used. Because in addition to the expressive and projective nature of color in the release the emotions, the art of doodling as an unconscious stimulus, can be effective in mental cohesion and inner concentration and can subconsciously integrate the scattered elements in the subconscious, which can cause mental fragmentation, with complementary movements on paper, and reduce the scattering of the art work and its internal stimuli and mental associations. This schedule was also done with the method of self-expression in the happy process of inner discovery based on creativity and imagination (which is characteristic of the expressive art therapy approach) and so the rest of the sessions were done in the same way.   The third session, entitled "Me and the Other", was compiled with the aim of increasing communication with the other, overcoming feelings of sadness and anger, and throwing internal issues out and creating self-awareness gained from internal dialogue, and was implemented through the artistic media of painting. In collage and the quilling art, members were first asked to draw a circle and then use their personal photos and magazine photos to think about their relationship and position with others.   The twelfth session was entitled "Creating A Group Mandala" which was created by group interaction programs jointly and improving relationships, creating peace and relief from anxiety and overcoming shyness and withdrawal. Painting media was used alone. Creating a group mandala required a large size of circle  that how to measure it and the layer-by-layer divisions of the inner circle of the mandala were done with the concurrence of the subjects themselves and to draw the mandala, they started from the central point of the mandala, the "Common Starting Point" to its end.   In this research, the person who creates and colors the mandala, talks to him/herself; it means that he/she has an inner discourse with him/her. Mandala coloring can subconsciously improve and regulate the inner discourse by creating awareness; therefore, at this stage, the person has become aware of him/herself of these discourses and gained a clear understanding of the positive and negative aspects of these inner discourses. As a result, the therapeutic properties of mandala can be effective in reducing the consequences of loneliness feeling. Expressive art therapy is also, due to the method of spontaneous self- expression and the variety of art models that can be used in this method and approach, provide different methods for individual expression that can reduce fear and low risk and extreme introversion (consequences of loneliness feeling).   The present study was only about how to compile a mandala-based art therapy package with an art therapy approach to improve the loneliness feeling.   For a case study, it was performed on an experimental group of 10 orphan female teenagers aged 12 to 18 years in Isfahan which according to the statistical results of the relevant test (LACA: Loneliness & Aloneness Scale for Children & Adolescents Questionnaire) before and after the sessions and compared with the control group showed that it has been effective.

Many attempts to understand the nature of perception and its phenomena have been the result of the thoughts of phenomenologists and Gestalt psychologists. Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Rudolph Arnheim are two of the prominent philosophers and theorists in this field, who’s their opinions are influenced by Gestalt school with a phenomenological approach.The present article aims at achieving a broad cognition of the nature of perception by comparing the opinions of these two philosophers and analyzes these implications in the field of art education.This research was carried out with phenomenological approach, using an analytically-comparative method and utilizing authentic documents and library resources.The findings of the study show that Merleau-Ponty and Arnheim share the same thoughts, they believe that in visual perception, contrary to the dualistic doctrines of Descartes, the essence of the inner and outer world (subject & object) takes the form of a gestalt in the interplay between different forces and it is through this intertwining of the organism with the perceived world and it,s possible to understand the real thing. Also, by relying on this overall structure, we can achieve the meanings and Visual expression that there are in vision and visual arts as communication tools of artist. Therefore, the necessity of creating and understanding an artwork is the mental ability to understand these integrated and meaningful structures, which doubles the excellent understanding of visual phenomena in art education.

Art therapy helps people to cope with their unknown feelings and emotions and, as a result, to achieve the self-awareness and the ability to overcome problems in a variety of ways. Emotion regulation plays a pivotal role in children’s mental health and it can contribute to their future achievements. The goal of this research was to study the effect of expressive art therapy on emotion regulation of primary school students in Isfahan.

This research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design. The sample included thirty two 8-9 year-old boys studying at grade two of primary school in Isfahan in 2017, who were selected by purposive sampling. Then the participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group (16 students per group). The experimental group received twelve 60-90 sessions of expressive art therapy whereas the control group underwent no intervention. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2001) was used to gather the data. Finally, data were analyzed by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

Based on the results of ANCOVA, expressive art therapy was effective on positive emotion regulation; in such a way that there was significant difference between the experimental and control group in terms of emotion regulation scores (p<0.05, F=4.72). Also, results showed that expressive art therapy had a significant positive effect on positive emotion regulation and reappraisal (p≤0.000, F=8.39) whereas it had not a significant effect on negative emotion regulation (p≥0.755, F=0.10). 

Through using self-expression, imagination, active participation, mind-body relationship and by activating and strengthening the cerebral cortex networks, expressive arts therapy can improve the positive emotion regulation skills which can help children to cope with stressful situations and to manage their behaviors.

Identification and understanding of meaningfulness of life events is one of the most fundamental issues in the quality of human life and its positive changes which also has always had an important role in his mental health and life satisfaction. This study by surveying meaningfulness of life events in Quran and unity-oriented psychology, aims to achieve a conceptual structure, so that effective artistic practices and programs could be designed on its basis to be used in the psychological interventions.
Some psychologists such as Alport, Frankl and Maslow consider meaningfulness of life as the most important factor affecting positive psychosocial actions. So it can be said that giving attention to the meaning of life has been very much considered in the field of psychology. The answer given to the question of “meaning of life” affects our life experiences and everyday practices. It is creation of meanings that makes sense of the world to us and specifies the path of our life in the world; thus true achieving of it decreases the level of negative emotions (such as depression and anxiety) and also reduces the risk of mental illnesses, so that the “Meaning Therapy” (MT) is considered as one of the main interventions in psychology. Although meaningfulness of life is a subjective perception and mental cognition; but it depends entirely on the attitude of man to life, and religion is the factor that gives direction to the attitude and worldview of an individual. As a result, the necessity of examining religious psychology is also felt.
In Islam, the Holy Quran has repeatedly expressed the divine goal in meaningfulness of life and giving meaning to the living of human beings. It has stated - in the verses of belief through the explanation of this principle and in the verses of the commandments and ethics by mentioning the way of meaningful life- that it is the wonder and psychological miracle of Quran. One of the psychological characteristics of Quran is its consideration of its goal-oriented and immortal human conduct which is reminiscent of human attachment to the One Being and his origin “God Almighty” which he ultimately will return to (Al-Baqarah, v. 46). The forgetfulness of this connection leads to separation from the true self, forgetting oneself and fear of loss and insecurity which are the main root of concerns and fundamental anxieties (al-Hashr: 19 and al-Yunus: 62).
Unity-oriented psychology as a new meaning-oriented approach in psychology based on religious knowledge with the centrality and theoretical framework of the concepts of the unity of being and the Quranic teachings, and relying on the unity-oriented transcendent wisdom and by its use, has tried to make a unitary connection between the self of person, his environment and the changes. So that; one can get a positive perception of his life events_ which are the natural causes of his developmental stages_ leading to the constructive change of himself/herself. This monotheistic and religious attitude to the nature of man and the universe describes all the changes and subtleties of individuals in how to respond to the need for one's own monotheistic connection in growth stages of life and considers the separation, lack of interconnectedness and weakening of its attachment in the stages of development as the main causes of anxiety and fundamental fear and the origin of many mental disorders.
Hence, by examining the issue of meaningfulness of life events based on Quran and unity-oriented psychology and the concept of monotheistic outlook toward life experiences and events, it was concluded that in order to objectify, materialize and better adapt to the life events, respectively, three indicators are derived from it: 1. “unity-oriented recognition and acceptance of life events”, referring to verse 23 of Surah al-Hadid, and related concepts in unity-oriented psychology to create a balanced and meaningful life with reminiscent of the lack of ecstasy in joys and lack of disappointment and frustration in plights; 2. “the conjunction of opposite pluralities” on the basis of the verses 5 of surah al-Yunus, verse 3 of surah al-Molk and other verses referring to the conjunction of divine guidance such as the chain loops, and interpretation of the same concept in unity-oriented psychology with an emphasis on the continuity of any incident with the past, future, nature and environment, and the adventures before and after it; 3. “giving meaning to multiplicities of life” referring to verse 216 of Surah al-Baqara, and the concept of the existence of the purpose and wisdom of good and the constructive cultivation of all that occurs, with the intention of opening up and guiding man to purity and consciousness and discovering himself towards progress, prosperity and enlightenment of the path in the unity-oriented attitude.
On the other hand, since the main attribute of religious and Islamic art in Iran has monotheistic foundation, and art is also considered in the unity-oriented approach as a facilitating tool for opening the way for the influence of positive imagination and receiving inspiration and intuition on the mind and makes the clients see their status in an integrated mode and get consistent with the events of life; as a result, artistic design, media and artistic techniques (design, painting, collage, photography, sandbox, etc.) could be used in this regard. Hence, each of the three indicators deduced from unity-oriented psychology and the teachings of Holy Quran in the context of the concept of a unitary attitude in experiences and events of life can be the basis for designing artistic exercises, so that by the use of unity-oriented art, one could give meaning to his/her life events and by removing negative effect of some events, their positive role in the growth and life balance could be found. In this approach; by unitary narrative of his/her life and doing artistic and unity-oriented practices in accordance with the extracted concepts and along with their interpretation by the viewpoint of Quran and unity-oriented psychology approach, one could be able to explain what she/he has perceived from life events and adapt them with examples of his/her own life.

The mental visual association of a vague and shapeless form may happen for anybody but only an artist can make an objective form out of it through drawing. This article studies the relationship between the visual associations of a random cardboard piece as the pattern drawn by the artists and the type of their personality as well as the level of their creativity. The samples consist of 80 artists in different educational levels including BA, MA and PhD in the Art University of Isfahan and Isfahan Painters Association that were selected by convenience sampling. A white piece of cardboard with an identical random form was given to samples on which they were asked to draw their visual association. Then, they were asked to answer a questionnaire made by the researcher along with Eysenck personality test and Torrance creativity test. This research is a quantitative study using correlation method and its data was analyzed drawing on descriptive-statistical and deductive techniques as well as SPSS software. The results of this study show that there is a significant relation between the type of personality, creativity and visual association; that is, the samples with higher level of creativity had higher personal sensitivity and were more extrovert relative to lower-creativity samples. The results also show that among various themes acquired from visual association of the cardboard piece only the association of “the man in hat” has a significant relation with the form of the piece so that the samples with higher level of creativity drew different themes whereas samples with lower level of creativity tended more to draw “the man in hat” theme. Moreover, amongst the samples, extrovert persons outnumbered other groups. The most prominent difference between extroverts and introverts lies in the association and drawing of “the man in hat” theme in which extroverts outnumbered other groups. There is also a significant relationship between the feeling of motion and various visual associations which may be due to the state or form of the piece.Hence, it could be suggested that there is a significant relation between the type of personality (introversion or extroversion), creativity and visual association among visual artists.