Status Updates From Using Textile Arts and Hand...

"Exner also reports that people separated from those
they care about show an increase in texture responses. If texture
is the main motivation for handcraft-making, we should consider
whether fiber artists have intense feelings of isolation."

"Texture is implicitly part of textile-making. The Exner system
describes texture responses, for example tactile sensations that
describe the surface (such as smooth, rough, grainy, sharp, furry,
and bumpy), as corresponding to loneliness and a lack of contact
comfort."

"Luscher’s and Dewey’s approach relies on individual colors, but the specific hues, values, and chroma are not in the public domain."

"Cultural associations with color may also have completely opposite meanings. White is frequently used as the color of purity in the USA; however, in Japan, China, and India, it is associated with death. Green suggests safety in the USA but possibly criminality in France."

"People are just too complex to reduce their individual color preferences to a cook-book typology."

"There always exists a tension between
the not-for-profit academic world and the private sector. Clearly,
the Luscher and Dewey systems have not been subjected to peer-
reviewed journals to substantiate their claims, but have each been
a market success. However, given the lack of published research
findings, it is fair to seriously doubt their validity."

"The Dewey system asks about favorite and least favorite
colors, to create an astrological-like description of the individual.
The Dewey system claims to be associated with individual
preferences, making it helpful in vocational support. It is also
patented and copyrighted. "

"Blue is frequently reported
as representing peace, tranquility, and calm; green is seen as
demonstrating nature, the environment, health, and vigor;
red is seen as implying danger, desire, violence, and anger."

"Color is an important variable for most handcrafters. Some women
will embrace the dynamics of color; others will have nothing to
do with it and stay with neutral tones and/or black and white.
It is important to discuss this concept with your client. What is
her preference for certain schemas? What meanings do particular
colors hold? Are some colors more provocative or more emotive
than others?"

"Emotive artists had more than three times the incidence of mental disorders than artists in the formal category (75% versus 22%). Although it is not “diagnostic,” clients who make functional, formal pieces may be more grounded, psychologically, than clients who create textiles as a means of self-expression."

"Research does suggest that mental illness is associated with
artistic style. Ludwig (1998) examined lifetime rates of mental
disorders among artists whose work was primarily formal
(structural, compositional, or decorative elements) compared with
artists whose work was primarily emotive (emphasizing self-
expression)."

"Interestingly, the women who had the most skill and experience
in fiber arts actually reported the opposite of this. They had so
mastered their skills at textile-making that they knew how to put
aside, neutralize, and transform any personal agitation or sadness
while creating with textiles."

"They firmly believed that the making of textiles should only be done when positive energy and thoughts could be transferred to the object being made. If they were making a garment that they wanted to infuse with hope and love and spirituality, they thought coming to the handcraft-making in a
negative mood would sabotage their work. Some women gave
prayer shawls as an example."

(Taylor and Gonzaga 2007)

Befriend and tend theory, look into for further research...

"Thus, the more typical female response to stress is to engage in relationships with friends and to care-take. Again, these activities are very likely biologically adaptive to protect the women and their offspring, as well as to further reduce distress."

"If a mother were to either fight or flee during times of danger,
her offspring’s chance for survival would decrease dramatically,
especially if she is pregnant, smaller in stature, or compromised
by caring for multiple children."

QUOTE CONTINUED....

(Taylor et al. 2000). They define “tend and befriend” as the female’s underlying biological need to protect her offspring (tend) and then seek out the social group for mutual defense (befriend). Their theory speculates that
it would have been evolutionarily superior for females to develop
a calm response to stressors instead of a “fight or flight” response.

QUOTE CONTINUED....

"Brenner (2007) astutely described these changes as “becoming more developed forms of their original selves” (p.13).

Isn't that just self actualisation? why not just reference self actualisation?

"Because of these gender differences, Lincoln (1991) termed the
changes women go through as a process of enclosure, magnification
(or metamorphosis), and emergence. Some have even likened women’s
passages to the metamorphosis of a butterfly, going from caterpillar
to cocoon and then on to butterfly."

"By providing gender-specific diagnoses, some investigators believe we are pathologizing normal female processes. This, in turn, opens women up to societal discrimination. Those in support of these diagnoses argue that
gender-specific diagnoses validate the experiences of the women
that do have PMDD, thereby increasing the odds for health
insurance coverage and providing impetus for additional research
and therapy."

"Research has also accumulated suggesting that female-specific disorders have explicit pathogenic mechanisms which are in turn associated with detrimental outcomes (Wittchen 2010)."

The pathogenic mechanisms of a disease (or condition) are set in motion by the underlying causes, which if controlled would allow the disease to be prevented.

"Research has clearly demonstrated that female hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, influence both brain function and stress response."

"Menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause all directly increase the occurrence and intensity of depressive and anxiety symptoms (American Psychiatric Association 2009)."

"Women with psychotic and bipolar disorders, which
have similar prevalence rates in women and men, have a later onset
of the disease and a different pattern of comorbidity and cycling
than men do (Surgeon General’s Workshop on Women’s Mental
Health 2005; WHO 2011a)."

"Gender differences also exist in the pattern of help-seeking for
psychological disorder: women are more likely to seek help
from and disclose their mental health problems to a primary care
physician. Alternately, men are more likely to seek mental health
specialist care and utilize inpatient care (WHO 2011a)."

"Having a female gender actually significantly increases the likelihood
that physicians will prescribe mood-altering psychotropic drugs."

BABES SITE UR SOURCES, I SWEAR TO GOODNESSSS AGHHHHHHH

"Within the 20 percent of adolescents that have emotional
disturbance, girls are seven times more likely than boys to be
depressed, and twice as likely to attempt suicide (American
Psychological Association 2007)."

"Over and over again, I have found textile handcrafts to be a safe,
familiar way to engage women in art-making for psychological
reasons."

Several investigators have discussed the concept of skill and
“flow” in artistic and athletic endeavors (e.g. Nakamura and
Csikszentmihalyi 2005; Rheinberg 2008). Flow is a mental state
in which a person is fully engaged in an activity, has mastery yet
feels challenged by the activity, becomes completely absorbed,
feels an energized focus, and finds the activity to be intrinsically
rewarding (Csikszentmihalyi 1990).

"In a recent art therapy study, Dalebroux, Goldstein, and
Winner (2008) reported that the greatest mood valence change
in participants occurred after creating a drawing that depicted a
positive emotion, compared with venting or a neutral control. This
is contrary to the more typical approach in art therapy: to encourage
clients to express negative feelings through their art-making."