Feders' The Art and Science of Evaluation in the Arts Therapies: How Do You Know What's Working

This second edition follows the tradition of the first edition as both an introductory text and a handbook in evaluation and assessment in the creative arts therapies. It was written to be useful both for graduate students in the arts therapies training programs, doctoral programs, and for practitioners in the field who want guidelines for developing and implementing evaluation programs. The first section deals with fundamentals and principles that apply to all evaluation, qualitative as well as quantitative. This general treatment is followed by chapters that deal with specific approaches to evaluation: psychometric, clinical or intuitive, and behavioral. The implications for evaluation of the three major philosophical orientations (psychodynamic, existential, and behavioral) are discussed. The last section focuses on evaluation procedures in art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music therapy, contributed by individuals who have specific expertise in those areas. Existing procedures are reviewed and emerging trends are examined. The basic theme of the book is the interrelationship between the creative and the scientific approaches to evaluation. The book's purpose is not to provide formulas or recipes but rather to help therapists relate their evaluation program to their goals, to identify what they are interested in evaluating, and to design the kind of evaluation program that can do what the therapist wants it to do.