Date of Award

5-7-2019

Access Restriction

Campus Access only Research Projects

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Marital and Family Therapy

School or College

College of Communication and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Joy Yip Green

Abstract

This study is an art exploration of the combined use of mindfulness practice, cultivated through a body-scan meditation, and art-making in mitigating compassion fatigue for a beginning clinician. The researcher used an arts-based inquiry with a quantitative component in her data collection and analysis. A reliable, evidenced-based test was self-administered at the beginning and end of the data collection to measure compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. The arts-based inquiry included the researcher engaging in a body-scan meditation, journaling, and art-making over a period of four weeks as methods to process the relationship between mindfulness practice, art-making practice, and compassion fatigue in her clinical work at a community based mental health agency. The body-scan meditation provided insight into the clinician’s experiences and conceptual understandings. Journaling provided a tool for reflection and analysis of the researcher’s engagement in mindfulness and art-making. The art-making process offered a more in-depth understanding of the researcher’s application of mindfulness, as a tool, in clinical practice with her clients. The One-Canvas Process Painting can be utilized as a tool to reflect the researcher’s transformative learning process about her countertransference with clients. The data analysis in this study indicates that engaging in mindfulness practice and art-making practice can increase a beginning clinician’s compassion satisfaction within her clinical work.

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