Helpful and hindering events in art therapy as perceived by art therapists in the educational system

This study examined significant events in therapeutic sessions as perceived by art therapists working in the school system. Sixteen female art therapists employed by the Israeli educational system filled in the Helpful Aspects of Therapy (HAT) questionnaire each week during the 2015–2016 school year immediately after the therapy session about a specific pupil they had selected. We implemented an open-ended qualitative analysis based on a thematic analysis. The findings were compiled into five main categories according to the main source generating the events: (1) Helpful and hindering events originating from the therapist, (2) Helpful and hindering events originating from the client, (3) Helpful and hindering events originating from the group, (4) Helpful events originating from the creative work, (5) Helpful and hindering events originating from the surrounding environment. The findings suggest that the human factors in therapy, that is, the interactions and relationships between the therapist, the client and the group all entered prominently into the meaningful events across categories. In addition, the joint observation of the artwork was perceived as an important element in the art therapy sessions.