graduate work
Graduate Dissertation
Using a heuristic art-based approach, the researcher explored the effects of telehealth on the
therapeutic relationship and therapeutic presence on the field of Art Therapy through the
duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although at the time of writing the pandemic is far from
over, the researcher was able to recruit five participants, all practicing Art Therapy during the
pandemic in the United States, while conducting a series of interview questions and an artmaking
directive via an encrypted and HIPAA compliant telehealth platform of Doxy.Me. Through this
work, the researcher discovered the varying sense of control, connection, communication, and
contradictions that the body of participants (and the researcher, alike) had been experiencing, and
how this sense of awareness affects the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic presence when
working with clients via telehealth.












