Table 4.

Responses to Open-Ended Questions

Theme	Example(s)	N	%
Question 13: What would you change about today's group? Please describe what and why. (n= 59†)
None	“Nothing; Overall, I enjoyed it as it was.”	35	59.3
Session structure	“Shorten art piece/lengthen discussion.”	14	23.7
Session content	“Instead of writing a letter to yourself, write it to your child.”	6	10.2
	“Maybe more psychology about releasing feelings and explanation of expression?”
Group-level comfort	“Group sharing, in general, is difficult for me.”	4	6.78
	"Difficult with parents who are at different points, some kids just starting program, others finishing in same week.”
Question 14: What was the most helpful aspect(s) of today's group activity? (n= 75†)
Group process	“Being able to relax and be with other parents who understand the journey.”	38	50.7
	“Having others add input and encouragement (supportive) to the original thoughts I expressed”
Opportunity for self-expression	“Expressing the emotions.”	7	9.33
	“It was a good experience to express my feelings in another way.”
Art-making	“Being creative.”	13	17.3
	“Using art to express your feelings”
Self-reflection	“Just thinking about my family and supporters”	17	22.7
Question 15: Through this group, has your understanding of art therapy changed? Why or why not? (n= 66†)
Yes	“Yes. Was easier and more relaxed than I thought.”	33	50.0
No	“No, I was familiar with how art therapy works.”	22	33.3
Overall positive feedback	“I'm appreciating the value of this more each time I participate.”	9	13.6
	“Yes, was very nervous about art therapy, no experience but still learned and expressed feelings and overall was very helpful”
Unsure	“Not sure yet.”	2	3.03

^†Note. Parents were asked to answer these questions at the end of each group session, thus there are a greater number of responses than parents in the sample.