The area that I intend to research is people in Thailand’s creative industries who have burnout. Art therapy and the creative workshop process can help them overcome their problems. So, my research question is, “How can art therapy help people in Thailand’s creative industries cope with burnout?”
Why will this research be of value to me and the world? Because I have been through mental health issues and work in the creative industries. I want to help people in the way that I know I can. So, I want to find ways to raise awareness and help them improve at work and in life. They can do the job more creatively and love themselves more. This research can build self-compassion for me and the people I will work with.
I created the survey and collected data from people in Thailand’s creative industries, such as creatives, graphic designers, writers, etc. They have mental health problems in the workplace: burnout, stress, and work pressure. 37.6% of them want to change and fix the problem now. Then I interviewed six people from the survey, and they said the same things but deeper, depending on their position of work: full-time, part-time, or freelance. Based on research, Self-Compassion Explains Less Burnout (Hashem and Zeinoun, 2020) and Joseph (2022) said that in future interventions, “self-compassion is a crucial and essential component of burnout intervention that contributes to self-care practises. Regarding ethics, I will complete the participant consent form and MAAI Ethical Reflection Document, keeping this data only for this research and always discussing my project with tutors and therapists. In the intervention, I will consider content warnings, setting firm boundaries, and creating a safe space.
Methodology: Early Intervention. At first, I will promote art therapy via online social media and let Thailand’s creative industries people take a burnout pre-measurement: Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) (Bria et al., 2014), which was translated into Thai, then choose participants who have high scores to be in my first workshop in July. The process in the workshop will be:
Introduction and Ground Rules
Icebreaker: pick a postcard, explain, and introduce yourself.
Part one: create self-compassion. Draw a heart with any art form, then discuss it in a group.
Part two: talk about work experience in the group.
Part three: unblocking creativity
Creative Unblock (Krysa, 2014) Create a painting that has no relation to your typical style. Use colours and materials you would prefer to avoid, make marks that feel strange, and take risks that go against your established practices. Your ability to think creatively has grown and could soon become a liability. Do something that nobody can attribute to you. Then discuss it in the group.
After the workshop, let participants take the Burnout Post-Measurement (MBI-GS) and write feedback on the pros, cons, and feelings about the workshop.
If I achieve this mastery, I want to explore new opportunities in the creative industry and build connections for career growth. This project will help people in the creative industries understand mental health better. The outcome of this project will give the participants and those who know about it a positive outlook on their mental health and overall well-being. Also, connect networks of people in the creative industries together and create a community for these people to share their stories.
Bria, M., Spânu, F., Băban, A. and Dumitraşcu, D.L. (2014). Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey: Factorial validity and invariance among Romanian healthcare professionals. Burnout Research, [online] 1(3), pp.103–111. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2014.09.001.
Hashem, Z. and Zeinoun, P. (2020). Self-Compassion Explains Less Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals. Mindfulness, 11(11), pp.2542–2551. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01469-5.
Joseph, T. (2022). Burnout and How Self-Care and Self-Compassion Can Help. Psychology Doctoral Specialization Projects. [online] Available at: https://encompass.eku.edu/psych_doctorals/22/?utm_source=encompass.eku.edu%2Fpsych_doctorals%2F22&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages [Accessed 17 May 2023].
Krysa, D. (2014). Creative block : get unstuck : discover new ideas : advice and projects from 50 successfu artists. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books Llc.
Many Idaes from the book Creative block : get unstuck
Creative unBlock
Project No. 01
Draw something on a piece of paper. Stare at it.
Trash it. Draw it again on arother piece of paper.
Dane at it. Trash it. Repeat. Orce you feel you’re done, ungrumple all the preces of paper and line them up in order
ARIAN BEHZADI
Creative unBlock
Project No. 08
Visit a thrift store and buy an old magazine and an old book. Take them home, chop them up, and make five new collages.
ANTHONY ZINONOS
Creative unBlock
Project No. 15
Creativity thrives when we are given restric-tions. Ask someone to write a story about anything and they’ll wallow in indecision.
Ask them to write one page about their first pet in less than three minutes, and the story will start to flow. Create an original image in less than thirty minutes based on one of the metaphors below, one from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and one attributed to Groucho Marx. Don’t worry about the outcome, just get it done.
Creative unBlock
Project No. 34
Choose one thing you love to draw or paint (and feel comfortable drawing or painting) already: an animal, object, a person, what-ever. For thirty days, draw or paint that thing thirty different ways, a different way every day. You can use different mediums, expres-sions, positions, colors, whatever. Each day, push yourself to do something much different than the day before, but keep the subject the same. See how keeping one element constant (in this case, the “thing” you love to draw or paint) can allow you to break out creatively in other ways.
LISA CONGDON
Creative unBlock
Project No. 39
Okay, this challenge is one I’ve given myself many times, and every time it has inspired something new: Do a painting that is nothing like anything you would usually do. Make marks that feel awkward, use colors you would never reach for, use materials you don’t necessarily know what to do with, dare to go against what you know. If you are an artist who works a lot, you’ve probably developed a certain style that is unmistakably yours. Your creative muscle has become strong, maybe overbearing. It’s time to stretch! Try to do something that no one would recognize as yours, that people would look at and say, “Really? You did this?” (And they need not mean it as a compliment!)
This exercise always helps me break out when I’m feeling bored by myself. It has radically changed my work many times over the years, and I’m counting on it to continue doing so.
The rolling stone gathers no moss.
FIONA ACKERMAN
It is when I find myself playing more than trying that I find my way out of a block. —ARIS MOORE
Jc-What advice would you give to your younger self about getting out of a creative block?
AZ-I’ve learned to reassure myself that all I have to do is sit back and patiently wait, or step away from all things art related for a while. It is so easy to get caught up with what you’re working on. By stepping away, it gives you a chance to put things into perspective, and realize that it’s not actually the end of the world. So, I would tell the younger me, “Don’t worry or stress about it; take some time out and do or think about something totally different. The block will always pass, leaving behind some magical inspiration.”
ANTHONY ZINONOS
REF
Krysa, D. (2014). Creative block : get unstuck : discover new ideas : advice and projects from 50 successfu artists. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books Llc.
Art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.
Art therapy is an established form of psychotherapy, delivered by trained art therapists (also known as art psychotherapists).
Art therapy uses art as the primary mode of expression, alongside talking with an art therapist. It aims to reduce distress and improve social, emotional, or mental health by promoting insight, self-compassion and a sense of agency and self-worth.
During art therapy, you are supported by an art therapist to use art to express and articulate often complex thoughts and feelings through art making. This may be following difficult or traumatic experiences which may be hard to talk about.
Who is art therapy suitable for?
Art therapy can help people of all ages and at all stages of life, including those whose life has been affected by difficult personal or cultural experiences, illness and/or disability. You do not need to be skilled in art to benefit from art therapy.
Art therapy is suitable for anyone who is willing to use art to express their feelings. It can be especially helpful for those looking for a creative way to move forward when they feel stuck in life. It can help people reflect on long standing dynamics, issues from the past or simply find a different way to understand yourself and others.
The British Association of Art Therapists (‘BAAT’)
Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and
reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.
A Novel Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Reducing Burnout and Promoting Resilience Among Healthcare Workers: Findings From a Waitlist Randomized Control Trial
an essential quality of museum-based art therapy that supported healing and therapeutic change. Implications of the study are presented as three interrelated areas that emerged as important considerations for future research and partnerships between art therapists and museums. These topics include poetic verse as art-based inquiry; empathetic imagination in community art therapy; and an organizational structure for museum-based art therapy
Art therapy isn’t for everyone. While high levels of creativity or artistic ability aren’t necessary for art therapy to be successful,10 many adults who believe they are not creative or artistic might be resistant or skeptical of the process.
In addition, art therapy has not been found effective for all types of mental health conditions. For example, one meta-analysis found that art therapy is not effective in reducing positive or negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
The most important thing is that you should try art therapy only if you want it. Expressing yourself through art can be self-revealing and sometimes equally painful as talking. So, if you still don’t feel ready to try it, that is okay.
More than 3 million Thais live with poor mental health;
The study notes that while Thailand has made important progress in addressing child and adolescent mental health especially in national policy and legislation as well as specific response in the health sector, there are still crucial gaps in addressing adolescent mental health such as inadequate budget, limited coordination among different service sectors as well as insufficient psychiatrists and skilled workforce across all sectors.