Considerations in Art E-therapy for Anxiety Disorders

Brief and online versions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—the favored treatment for severe anxiety disorders—have answered critiques that traditional CBT is too inaccessible and unaffordable. The integration of art into CBT protocols may address further critiques that the concepts of CBT can be too abstract and verbal by adding tangible components. Therefore, art e-therapy may offer a unique treatment option that is more financially and cognitively accessible. In a previously reported single-subject experiment, art e-therapy combined with a CBT protocol resulted in marginally significant decreases in the self-reported general anxiety of a participant with generalized anxiety disorder. Aspects of the case relating specifically to art e-therapy are discussed, including considerations for art e-therapy best practice. Taking the reported case and related literature into account, potential costs and benefits of using this treatment modality are discussed. Although art e-therapy can involve greater risks to confidentiality and reduced clarity of the art making process than in-person art therapy, it resulted in greater participant independence and convenience in this case.