ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1651008
This article is part of the Research TopicWell-being and Cognitive Science in Higher Education: Measures and InterventionView all 5 articles
"Happiness Tree": A Thematic Art-Based Group Counseling Method for Enhancing Positive Psychological Traits in Chinese College Students
Provisionally accepted
- 1Student Mental Health Education Center, Hefei Preschool Education College, Hefei, China
- 2Department of Student Affairs, Anhui Institute of International Business, Hefei, China
- 3Department of Student Affairs, Hefei Economic and Trade Tourism School, Hefei, China
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This study was a pilot study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new counseling method "Happiness Tree" thematic art-based group counseling. We conducted an intervention study in which 36 psychologically healthy college students were instructed to create symbolic tree drawings and engage in reflective writing, helping them identify personal strengths and emotional resources.Students in the experimental group received six online group counseling sessions, while students in the control group received no intervention. Subjective well-being (SWB) and general self-efficacy (GSE) were measured before and after the intervention. The results showed that participants in the experimental group experienced preliminary improvements in both SWB and GSE compared to the control group, suggesting potential benefits of the intervention. These findings suggest that the "Happiness Tree" thematic art-based group counseling shows promise for cultivating positive psychological traits in young adults. Our research provides a useful tool for promoting mental health in educational settings.
Keywords: Art Therapy1, group counseling2, college students3, positive psychological traits4, subjective well-being4, Self-efficacy5
Received: 20 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Tang, Wu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yong Wang, Student Mental Health Education Center, Hefei Preschool Education College, Hefei, China
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