Recovering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms: A study on the combination of art and mindfulness

Even though sexual assault is rarely considered a serious social problem; it can lead to severe mental-health consequences.

The aim of the current study was to assess the attrition rates and the effectiveness of a therapeutic program of art and mindfulness on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in female sexual assault survivors.

This study was a controlled clinical trial with a design of pre-test, post-test, and a two-month follow-up. The population included women with sexual assault experience that had sought professional help in the psychotherapy clinics of Hamedan in 2019. 16 individuals were first selected using purposive sampling and then were allocated randomly to control (N=8) and experimental groups (N=8). The utilized questionnaires included the Impact-of-Event-Scale (2007) and the Depression-Anxiety-Stress-Scale-21 (1995). The combined treatment of art and mindfulness was conducted for the experimental group through eight two-hour weekly sessions. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, one-way ANCOVA and SPSS software-version 22.

Findings indicated that the combined art and mindfulness therapeutic program reduced intrusion (F=20.34, P<0.001), arousal (F=20.43, P<0.001), avoidance (F=14.32, P<0.002), and stress scores (F=33.46, P<0.001) significantly in the experimental group.

The findings indicated that the combined art therapy and mindfulness method could play a significant role in the alleviation of PTSD symptoms in sexually traumatized individuals. It is suggested that the therapists consider this intervention for individuals that are severely afraid of their trauma-related memories.