This study is to find a research trend in art therapy for adults by
analyzing 171 articles in Korean Journal of Art Therapy published from 2005
to 2014. We divided each type of research into specific characteristic of
adults, purpose of treatment, examined tools, treatment skills. In addition, We
analyzed research plans and therapy sessions. A frequency and a percentage
were used as analyzing methods. The results of the research were as
follows. First, published articles were increased from 2009 and most of
researches were completed in 2010. Second, in the trend of research types,
experimental type of research(43.9%) was the most popular, followed by
survey type of research (28.6%) and a case type of research(27.5%). Only
one person was chosen in most of types of researches. When we compared
normal adults with medically diagnosed adults, normal adults were more in
art therapy. Third, regarding methods of researches, quantitative research
(38.5%) was the most popular, followed by qualitative research(32.8%) and
unified research(28.7%). Category of research plans were made personal case
group(25.4%), experimental and regulated group(28.7%), single group(41%),
experimental and compared group(4.9%). Most of therapy sessions were
treated 11~20 times. Therefore, from now on, more various types of Art
Therapy researches were needed for adults.