Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Expressive Arts Therapy with Hospitalized Children: A Pilot Study of Co-Creating Healing Sock Creatures©
Jane Siegel1, Haruka Iida2, Kenneth Rachlin2
1California Pacific Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, San Francisco, CA.
Abstract:
A novel form of expressive arts therapy was developed in a pediatric unit and received enthusiastic support from hospital staff and family members because of their impressions that the children were calmer following therapy, as well as throughout the remainder of the hospital stay. A pilot study was conducted to assess the feasibility of quantifying such impressions by measuring changes in the children's mood by self-report. Twenty-five children (mean age 8.34 years, SD 3.77) were recruited for the study, coming from diverse social-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and an array of medical diagnoses. The results document improvements in mood for children following therapy sessions, compared to children in a wait-list control group. Additionally, a meta-analysis examining external influences and changes in salivary cortisol levels measured before and after therapy sessions illustrates the importance of considering aspects of the clinical setting when assessing the effectiveness of this and other expressive arts therapies for reducing stress during hospitalization.
Related Concept Videos
Modeling in Therapy
Participant Modeling
Participant modeling involves therapists demonstrating calm and effective behaviors in...
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
Humanistic Therapy
Group Therapy

