Art therapists’ perspectives on working with a central issue in time-limited art therapy

This study explored art therapists' perspectives on working with the central issue in Time-Limited Art Therapy (TLAT), a structured short-term framework grounded in Mann’s Time-Limited Psychotherapy (TLP; Mann, 1973). While previous research has noted the benefits of short-term art therapy, structured conceptualizations of such approaches remain under-researched. The study examined how art therapists initially formulated and then collaboratively refined and engaged with the central issue across TLAT. Attention was given to the role of artmaking in illuminating emotional and self-related aspects of the central issue, maintaining therapeutic focus, and fostering change. This study was conducted in an art therapy research clinic in a college setting, where nine art therapists delivered 26-session individual TLAT treatments. Data collection included semi-structured interviews at three phases of therapy (post-intake, mid-therapy, post-termination) and 290 process journals written by the therapists. These materials were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) to identify key domains, core ideas, and themes related to therapeutic work with the central issue. The analysis revealed five interrelated domains: the integration of art in the intake phase, formulating the central issue, delivering the central issue to the client, the significance of the central issue during therapy and at termination, and the meaning of therapy in terms of the central issue. Overall, structured work on the central issue, supported by artmaking, appeared to deepen emotional exploration and promote client self-awareness, relational growth, and therapeutic progress. These findings underscore the potential of TLAT, as a dynamic art therapy approach, to optimize outcomes within time-limited treatment.