Theses and Dissertations

Advisor

Smith, Kaleb

Committee Member

Wilcher, Lori

Committee Member

Burson, Debbie

Committee Member

Nunnery, Roseanne

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Immediate Worldwide Access

Document Type

Doctoral Capstone - Open Access

Major

Education (Educational Policy & Organizational Design)

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Division of Education

Abstract

Adolescents in K-12 schools are experiencing a significant mental health crisis, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotional dysregulation, while many continue to face limited access to equitable, developmentally appropriate supports. Although schools increasingly serve as primary sites for mental health services, they often lack resources, training, and infrastructures necessary to implement effective interventions. Arts-based and creative therapy approaches demonstrate benefits for emotional regulation, trauma processing, and social-emotional development but remain underused due to inconsistent implementation and systemic barriers. This capstone project examines how creative therapies can be integrated into school counseling programs to address these gaps. Guided by Ecological Systems Theory, Expressive Arts Therapy, and American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, it explores student outcomes, implementation processes, training and resource needs, and conditions influencing arts-based interventions in K-12 settings. Using a desk-based integrative review methodology, literature and policy documents were analyzed through thematic synthesis to identify patterns, barriers, and best practices. The project produces a research-based Equity-Centered Creative Therapies Implementation Framework as a proposed guide for school counseling practice. The framework has not been implemented or empirically tested and is intended as a conceptual model for future development and evaluation. Consistent with American Counseling Association (ACA, 2014) and American School Counselors Association (ASCA, 2022), counselors should practice within their boundaries of competence and obtain training prior to implementation. This project bridges research and practice by offering a systematic approach to expanding access to school-based mental health services through equity-centered creative therapy implementation.

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