Formal Elements of Art Products Indicate Aspects of Mental Health.

Formal elements are often used in art therapy assessment. The assumption is that formal elements are observable aspects of the art product that allow reliable and valid assessment of clients' mental health. Most of the existing art therapy assessment instruments are based on clinical expertise.

How Art Therapists Observe Mental Health Using Formal Elements in Art Products: Structure and Variation as Indicators for Balance and Adaptability.

In clinical practice, formal elements of art products are regularly used in art therapy observation to obtain insight into clients' mental health and provide directions for further treatment. Due to the diversity of formal elements used in existing studies and the inconsistency in the interpretation, it is unclear which formal elements contribute to insight into clients' mental health. In this qualitative study using Constructivist Grounded Theory, eight art therapists were interviewed in-depth to identify which formal elements they observe, how they describe mental health and how they associate formal elements with mental health.