| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Decades of drug addiction research and clinical work have underscored the need for multifaceted and comprehensive treatment responses in order to sufficiently address the varied needs of individuals struggling with addiction. One valuable treatment component that can be incorporated into traditional treatment protocols to expand the comprehensive nature of treatment response is art therapy. A conceptual framework is presented, detailing the integrative opportunities and benefits of including an art therapy component to short-term hospital-based inpatient substance abuse treatment programs. A creative arts component can be particularly beneficial for brief inpatient programs, where the client population is diverse, in crisis, and at high-risk for relapse; and where clinicians need to obtain comprehensive client information from multiple sources in a short amount of time. Art therapy methodology can provide a mechanism for collecting such collateral information for assessment purposes, can be employed to facilitate therapeutic change, and is used to track and document client progress and clinical change over time. Practice guidelines and specific treatment techniques are presented through short case examples. |
