Decreasing Anxiety and Depression Through Art Therapy with Self-Identified Adult Lesbians
Graduation Date
Spring 2010
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
Arnell Etherington, PhD, MFT, ATR-BC
First Reader
Laury Rappaport, PhD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
David Nylund, PhD, LCSW
Abstract
This grant proposal is written for the purpose of requesting funding to support an art therapy group for self-identified adult lesbians at the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center designed to decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, known to be associated with internalized homophobia. Often, when an individual is working toward integrating their sexual identity with their present identity, the stigma surrounding the minority sexual identity can cause internalized homophobia. Internalized homophobia can be defined as a person disliking or hating their sexual identity because it is not widely accepted by society (Kort, 2008). Symptoms of this internalization can include depression, anxiety, drug use and abuse, and suicidality, among others. To address internalized homophobia, this research grant proposes a 6-week art therapy group with self-identified lesbians. It is hypothesized that there will be a decrease in symptoms known to be caused by internalized homophobia, such as anxiety and depression, in self-identified lesbian women after completing a six week art therapy program.