Art Therapy and the Aesthetic Environment as Agents for Change: A Phenomenological Investigation

Although most social scientists are likely to agree with the idea that the environment influences behavior and vice versa, in practice people are often considered as if they were independent of their environment. This article describes a phenomenological investigation of environmental art therapy as an agent for change. The study tested the hypothesis that improving the aesthetic quality of the environment of a functionally dependent person with traumatic brain injury shows a corresponding positive effect in the attitudes and behaviors of the resident's family system. The family's purposeful manipulation of the environment and creation of a “Talking Book” appears to enhance adjustment to their son. The latter was assessed to have made gains in cognitive functioning. Study interventions may have contributed to these gains through alterations in the human and nonhuman environment.