The effect of mindfulness‑based art therapy on psychological symptoms and happiness levels in patients with migraine: a pilot study

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program on the depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, and happiness of participants. This study is a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest design. The independent variable of the study was the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program, which was applied to the study group between the pretest and posttest. The dependent variables of the study were the depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and happiness of the individuals included in the study group. The study group consisted of a total of 10 participants (8 females and 2 males) between the ages of 24 and 46, who met the inclusion criteria. The Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Oxford Happiness Scale Short Form (OHS-SF) were applied to the participants both at the beginning of the study and at the end of 8 weeks. A total of 8 sessions of the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program were applied to the study group. Each session lasted 180 min. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to analyze the data obtained to evaluate the efectiveness of the program. The analyses showed that the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program was efective in reducing the depression and stress symptoms of the participants and increasing their happiness but was not efective in reducing their anxiety symptoms. In conclusion, although positive clinical fndings were observed in this pilot study, more studies are needed to confrm these fndings about the Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Program as an alternative treatment method for patients with migraine.