Using Biofeedback with Art Therapy, especially with those with PTSD

Could Art Therapy be enhanced by using Biofeedback?  Could Biofeedback quantify the effectiveness of Art Therapy?  Could Biofeedback help hone in on the most helpful method of Art Therapy?

These were questions I asked at a recent Symposium on Art Therapy.  At least one person thought Biofeedback might help with Art Therapy.  Therefore, I thought I'd write this article to stimulate discussion and innovation in this area.

Art Therapy has proven to be a very helpful adjunct to psychotherapy, especially when cognitive approaches have been unsuccessful.  Biofeedback combined with psychotherapy could be viewed as a form of Polygraphy, revealing the inner emotions of the patient.

Biofeedback might provide relief from those suffering from PTSD, according to an article from PubMed.  In addition, Art Therapy could be helpful those with PTSD, according to another article from PubMed.  Therefore, it makes sense to me to combine Biofeedback with Art Therapy, especially for those with PTSD.  I'm not a health care professional, in any sense, but I thought I'd at least propose this new concept to the public in this article.

Some ideas on how Biofeedback could be helpful are listed below.

• Emotional triggers (stressors) could be identified for those with PTSD, Autism, Epilepsy, etc.
• A patient's stressor profile could be determined.
• Using Art, Music, Sculpture, etc. a patient could learn how to deal with difficult emotions, thoughts, etc., using standard Biofeedback Therapy techniques.
• The Art Therapist could have a visual readout of the emotional state of the patient, thereby regulating the amount of trigger stimulation.
• The emotional state of non-communicative patients could be determined.
• The therapist could determine if the patient is "playing her", giving the "expected response or reply".

I couldn't find much previous work in this area.  Perhaps the following might give others clues, however, on how this concept might be implemented.  I used this search string - ("art therapy" (biofeedback OR polygraphy OR lie-detector))

• "Medical Art Therapy with Children", by Cathy A. Malchiodi, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1999 - Page 201
• "Confirming the Efficacy of Art Therapy with College Students Through Biofeedback", by Shubha Chatterjee, Emporia State University, 2010
• "Music Therapy & Biofeedback" by Eric B.Miller Ph.D. CMT-BC BCIAC

Some Biofeedback Tools available to the public:

• Mindplace Thoughtstream USB Personal Biofeedback
• GSR2 Home Biofeedback Unit
• CalmLink Biofeedback Software

Takeaways - 

• Art Therapy can be helpful to those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.
• Biofeedback can also be helpful to those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.
• Perhaps, Biofeedback could be combined with Art Therapy, to especially help those with PTSD and other emotional disorders.

Disclaimer - Article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice.