Characteristics of parent-child art psychotherapy in the education system

This study documents the specific characteristics of parent-child art psychotherapy practices in the education system, based on diaries recorded by four parent-child art therapists working in primary schools with six clients. Fifty-five journal entries recorded during 2016–2017 were analyzed according to the principles of Consensual Qualitative Research. The findings fall into six primary domains: (1) Therapeutic objectives, (2) The therapeutic setting, (3) Parent-child interaction characteristics, (4) The art therapist's position in parent-child art psychotherapy, (5) The roles of art, and (6) Emotional content that emerges in the parent-child art psychotherapy process, and are examined broadly in the Discussion. Overall the analysis shows that integrating parents in art therapy with their children in the school system increases the impact of the therapy in the life of the child.