279

New Art Therapy Technology – Quilling 

Zhansaya Iskakova, Roza Kassymova, Tansholpan Zhamalova, Anel 
Chalimbayeva, Kamilya Utegenova

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Republic of Kazakhstan

Submitted: 2023-04-05. Revised: 2023-11-05. Accepted: 2023-12-05

Abstract

This research work aims to study the main features of quilling technology in art therapy, as well 
as its impact on group and individual consciousness. The study’s methodological approach was 
the search and theoretical analysis of thematic literature studying the quilling technique of art 
therapy, as well as art therapy in general. In this article, the theoretical method, the method of 
comparative analysis, as well as the method of pedagogical experiment were used. As a result of 
the scientific research, the technology of art therapy as such was analysed, and its components 
and influence on children and adults were studied. Also, after performing a pedagogical experi-
ment, the influence of quilling technology on students of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University 
was studied, and the results were analysed. According to the results of the pedagogical experi-
ment, quilling art has a positive effect on individuals, as well as on the general mood of the group, 
and the use of the quilling technique as an art-therapeutic tool brings positive changes to the 
psychosomatics of an individual and a group in general. This research work is of practical impor-
tance in the study of the art of quilling as an art-therapeutic method in the development of fine 
motor skills in the hands of adults and children, as well as the improvement of the psychological 
state after psychological traumas of various kinds.

Keywords: arts and crafts; art of quilling; art pedagogy; artistic design; art therapy  

How to Cite: Iskakova, Z., Kassymova, R., Zhamalova, T., Chalimbayeva, A., & Utegenova, K. (2023). New Art Therapy 
Technology – Quilling. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education, 23(2), 279-289

Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023), 279-289
Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v23i2.43676

the education and rehabilitation of people 
of different ages. Therefore, studying the 
area of influence of quilling technology is 
an important part of research in the field of 
art therapy. Art therapy today is an integ-
ral part of the education and development 
of children in school lessons, in kindergar-
ten, and in the office of a child psycholo-
gist. Researchers G. A. Kasen and A. B. 
Aitbaeva (2019) argue that art was used to 
heal the soul and body in ancient times – 
in Ancient Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, 
China, and India. Like priests in their time, 
healers, philosophers, and today, teachers 

INTRODUCTION 

Art therapy occupies one of the 
leading places in both the psychological 
and pedagogical practice of teachers and 
therapists around the world. Quilling as 
an art has existed since the 16th century, 
and as a mass hobby, it has spread since 
the 90s of the last century. Quilling has 
been used in art therapy from the begin-
ning of its creation, like any other art. The 
importance of quilling technology in the 
key of art therapy lies in the fact that the 
quilling technique is a universal link for 

Corresponding author: 
 E-mail: zhiskakova1@gmail.com 

p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023): 279-289280

and therapists use art therapy to influence 
the human psyche; with the help of vario-
us types of art, they resolve interpersonal 
and intrapersonal conflicts, problem sta-
tes, and psychological traumas of a per-
son. As a professional activity, art therapy 
began its development in connection with 
psychotherapy after the Second World 
War in the United Kingdom. Over time, it 
began to be used in pedagogy, which gave 
rise to art pedagogy as a self-sufficient di-
rection in education.

The researchers M. Joseph and L. O. 
Bance (2019) expressed their opinion on 
the application of art therapy, which is 
that visual art therapy for sexually abused 
children can have a very real effect.        Jo-
seph and L. O. Bance (2019) created thir-
teen modular interventions that combined 
art therapy with self-compassion theory 
and shame resilience theory, as well as 
compassion-focused therapy to develop 
an intervention program for girls who 
have been sexually abused and to increase 
self-compassion and reduce shame about 
trauma. It must be agreed that such a stra-
tegy for the use of art therapy and the art 
of quilling as art therapy techniques, posi-
tive results based on art therapy practices 
say that the use of art therapy, quilling, in 
particular, is successful in this sphere of in-
fluence of therapists.

 Researchers H. Barrett, S. Holttum, 
T. Wright (2021), who studied the theory 
of art therapy for people suffering from 
psychosis and their response to art, ar-
gue that creativity provides clients of art 
therapists with a space to express, as well 
as store their feelings, needs, desires, and 
fears in art. work. This approach may help 
start a dialogue and allow them to chan-
ge their attitude towards their work and 
themselves. Creativity, quilling in particu-
lar, helps people who desire it to express 
in non-verbal and bodily form what an art 
therapist can later explore through a thera-
peutic dialogue.

According to researchers J. Hu et al. 
(2021), art therapy and quilling, in parti-
cular, as methods of non-verbal psychot-
herapy and art pedagogy, serve not only 

as an auxiliary means of diagnosing cer-
tain diseases but also, in turn, are useful 
therapeutic methods. Such methods help 
children and adults open up to a teacher 
or a doctor and share personal feelings, 
views, and even experiences that a child 
or an adult is experiencing. I. Orlenko and 
O. Balbuz (2022), who studied the impact 
of art therapy in developing and training 
groups on introspection and self-attitude, 
argue that art therapy is the key to self-
knowledge, which is achieved by compa-
ring oneself with other people and deep 
introspection, which creates the basis of an 
emotional-valuable self-attitude. It is im-
portant to understand that the art of quil-
ling or other art therapy techniques exists 
for self-improvement and knowledge of 
oneself and others, which a person strives 
for throughout his life.

This study aims to study the effect of 
quilling technology on the mood and ge-
neral tone of the group and individuals in 
conjunction with other art technologies.

 METHOD

The methodological basis of this re-
search work, which studied the universal 
technology of art therapy – quilling or pa-
per rolling, was the following methods: 
the method of comparative analysis and 
the method of pedagogical experiment. 
Using the comparative analysis method, it 
was possible to compare the mechanisms 
of influence of quilling techniques in diffe-
rent situations and in different areas of pe-
dagogy and therapy that require or allow 
the intervention of art therapy. Also, in 
this scientific article, the method of peda-
gogical experiment was used, as a result of 
which the influence of quilling technology, 
as a universal art-therapeutic method, on 
students of different courses of Al-Farabi 
Kazakh National University was studied. 
In the work on this scientific article, a lot 
of information sources of Kazakh, Russian, 
and American origin were used, which for-
med the basis of the theoretical part of this 
work on the study of quilling technology. 
This scientific work, in which the art of 



Zhansaya Iskakova et al., New Art Therapy Technology – Quilling 281

quilling was explored as a new technology 
of art therapy practice and a pedagogical 
tool with universal spheres of influence 
and application, was carried out in three 
successive stages.

At the first stage of this scientific re-
search article, an extensive system analysis 
of information was collected and carried 
out, which, in turn, helped in shaping the 
main research problems of the quilling 
technology of art, as well as in highlighting 
the spheres of influence and application of 
this technology of art therapy in practical 
classes art educators.

During the second stage of work on 
the article, the work of researchers who 
helped shape the future development 
of art therapy practice through quilling 
technology was considered. Also, at this 
stage of the study, a pedagogical experi-
ment was conducted on the basis of the 
Kazakh national Al-Farabi Kazakh Natio-
nal University, which showed the impact 
of the new quilling art therapy technique 
on the perception of themselves and their 
own self-esteem. The experimental group 
included 100 people aged 22 to 24 who 
were students of different courses at the 
time of the pedagogical experiment. The 
experiment was conducted on the basis 
of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. 
Classical pedagogical experiment met-
hods were used, including observation of 
the subjects. The method of analysing the 
works and answers that the participants 
entered into the Wessman-Ricks emotio-
nal state questionnaires was also used to 
assess thinking,. Also, at this stage of the 
work on the article, in addition to quilling, 
other art therapy technologies, such as mu-
sic therapy and colour therapy, were used.

Upon completion of the experiment 
of this scientific study, a qualitative as-
sessment of the results was carried out, in 
particular, an analysis of the work using 
quilling technology and the assignment of 
each work of the subject to the categories 
of diversity of thinking, as well as positive 
or negative perception. During the third 
stage of this study, an analysis of the work 
was performed in the experimental group 

to calculate the degree of self-percepti-
on by students and their emotional state 
using group therapy based on the synthe-
sis of quilling technology and colour the-
rapy. During the last stage of the research 
work, the results that were formed during 
the work on the research topic were sum-
marized.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Art therapy, in its original form, is a 
form of psychotherapy which is expressed 
through artistic means. At its core, the art 
of art therapy is a very appropriate kind 
of activity for the development of children, 
which allows hearing their voices and un-
derstanding their needs (Desmond et al., 
2015), as well as an auxiliary element for 
restoring the mental health of adult mem-
bers of society. Moreover, through artistic 
expression, people gain more knowledge 
about themselves, developing their self-es-
teem as well as necessary social skills. It is 
important to remember that art therapy’s 
primary goal is to harmonize all spheres of 
life of both a child and an adult through 
the development of understanding and the 
ability to express themselves and self-kno-
wledge. There are many types of art the-
rapy, besides quilling, which are actively 
used in the practice of developing children 
and adults (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Types of art therapy
Source: (Kalka  & Kovalchuk, 2020)

Let’s consider all these types of art 
therapy separately and start from the very 
beginning – fairy tale therapy, because all 
children love fairy tales, and it is them that 



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023): 279-289282

children hear for the first time, getting ac-
quainted with the outside world with the 
help of experience gained from favourite 
fairy tales. Fairy tale therapy is of particu-
lar importance for preschool children with 
severe speech disorders. In such cases, in 
children with persistent lexico-grammati-
cal and phonetic-phonemic disorders, the 
spontaneous formation of speech skills is 
either impossible or disharmonious, and 
fairy tale therapy will help here. Despite 
the fact that the development of speech 
in a child with severe speech disorders is 
slow and peculiar, in the education sys-
tem of the 21st century, for the education 
and development of such children, much 
attention is paid to the use of a variety of 
modern technologies that contribute to 
the most effective correctional and deve-
lopmental work, that is, fairy tale therapy 
and other creative techniques, including 
quilling. In addition to fairy tales in child-
hood, parents often sing lullabies and fun-
ny songs that kids like. Using music and 
songs, parents calm their children, and in 
adulthood, music helps them experien-
ce difficult moments and enhances joyful 
moments. But music therapy itself, by and 
large, is defined as the science-based use of 
music for therapeutic purposes. It is not as 
easy and simple as it seems at first glance 
because it should be noted that music the-
rapists use in their practice the so-called 
“musical interventions” substantiated by 
science to fill the spiritual, mental, physi-
cal, and emotional needs of a person who 
turned to a music therapist (Li et al., 2021). 
With the help of music therapy, both a 
child and an adult can be both calmed and 
motivated – the main thing is to choose the 
necessary type of activity in a music thera-
py environment.

In a world where there is a huge lack 
of communication for several reasons, in-
cluding the coronavirus, drama therapy 
is one of the most requested art therapy 
technologies. This kind of therapy involves 
acting out certain plot touches, which is an 
integral part of human life (Hood, 2022). 
The direction of mask therapy in the art-
therapeutic environment is the projection 

of a person’s internal state outward with 
the help of a mask, which alleviates stress, 
clamps, and other problematic conditions 
of a person. Metaphorical associative maps 
are a popular therapeutic tool among mo-
dern practical psychologists and psychot-
herapists. This method involves using 
images and texts that affect a person’s con-
sciousness, after which he fills them with 
his own special content. First, metaphori-
cal cards help the therapist understand his 
client’s request and contribute to a deeper 
understanding of the client’s life situation, 
a look at himself and his life problems from 
a different angle (Borodulkyna, 2018).

The next type of art therapy is mesot-
herapy, that is, visual activity, which also 
has a large field of influence on the psycho-
logical component of therapeutic sessions. 
It should be noted that the most commonly 
used forms of fine arts are drawing, pain-
ting, and photography. In the case of fine 
art in the form of drawing, illustration, 
painting, collage, photography, and sculp-
ture, it is used not only as a tool for clinical 
intervention but also as a diagnostic tool, 
which gives fine art a universal and inno-
vative character and distinguishes it from 
other modalities of art therapy (Novo et 
al., 2021). The essence of collage as an art 
therapy technique is to create images by 
combining various photographs, news-
paper or magazine clippings, fabrics, co-
loured paper, wood, wire, and rope, which 
captivates and relaxes both a child and an 
adult. Sand therapy in art therapy involves 
the use of water, sand, stones, shells, and 
plants. The very process of this type of the-
rapy reduces anxiety in both children and 
adults (Shariat et al., 2015). Clay therapy 
also helps to fight anxiety, but it only in-
volves working with plastic materials, that 
is, with clay. Working with clay stimulates 
creative thinking and positive emotions 
(Rankanen et al., 2022).

Mandala therapy, on the other hand, 
with the help of circular round images, 
diagnoses and explores the individual’s 
inner world. This type of therapy has im-
portant properties for art therapy and is 
not as common as others. Some resear-



Zhansaya Iskakova et al., New Art Therapy Technology – Quilling 283

chers recommend modernizing this type 
of art therapy with a traditional Kazakh 
ornament, which carries the sacred va-
lues of the national cult, which will not 
only provide psychological assistance but 
will also become a lever towards under-
standing the national heritage and cultu-
re (Bukeshova, 2022). All in all, – quilling 
therapy, historical examples of which have 
never been considered a “main art form” 
but have survived to this day (Blake, 2010). 
New technology of art therapy – quilling 
is a part of art pedagogy that teachers 
should use in their lessons in schools whe-
re children with special educational needs 
study. The concept of art pedagogy began 
to be used by teachers relatively recent-
ly, but its usefulness is clear to everyone 
today. Initially, art pedagogy studies the 
laws of upbringing and development of 
a child with the help of art, and this sym-
biosis of pedagogy, art, and psychology 
provides an opportunity for a teacher to 
educate, educate, and develop individu-
ality through art, including people with 
developmental problems or people with 
disabilities (Mirzaeva et al., 2021). First of 
all, creative expression is an effective the-
rapeutic tool for traumatized children, as 
they convey their emotions and thoughts 
through non-verbal means, which is creati-
vity and art therapy (DiSunno et al., 2011).

Quilling is one of the most affordable 
and effective ways to teach art to children 
and adults because it is of great impor-
tance for the development of constructive 
thinking, as well as their creative imagina-
tion and artistic taste. Quilling, as a new art 
therapy technology, can help even when 
using the technique with children with ce-
rebral palsy (CP). In spite of everything, 
art therapy, and fine arts, in particular, 
have a wide range of properties, means, 

and technologies, which in turn contri-
bute to the development of the potential 
of children with disabilities to neutrali-
ze physiological disorders with the help 
of imaginative thinking and perception. 
Quilling technique, as art therapy, helps 
the child to understand their intellectual 
and emotional personality traits through 
work in the field of art; a child with CP is 
gradually “included” in a full-fledged so-
cial and emotional life of society. And even 
though it is generally accepted that art is 
practiced for the most part, children’s art 
therapy helps not only kids but also older 
people. Many studies of art therapy treat-
ment of depression in the elderly (Kokun 
et al., 2011) have shown that drawing and 
other types of art therapy forms help with 
depression and can reduce depression, an-
xiety, and symptoms.

Using the new quilling technology, 
an experimental study was carried out on 
the basis of Al-Farabi Kazakh National 
University. 140 students were invited. A 
total of 100 out of 140 students gave verbal 
consent to participate in the experiment. 
The age of men and women in the study 
group ranged from 22 to 24 years. Before 
the beginning of the experiment, the par-
ticipants were given the V.A. Mozart piece 
“Little Night Serenade,” then they were gi-
ven Wessman-Ricks emotional state ques-
tionnaires (Table 1), where the subjects had 
to record changes in the emotional backg-
round from 1 to 10 at the beginning, after 
the first stage, at the end of the experiment.

Next, the participants were asked to 
choose one colour of quilling paper from 
three primary colours – red, green, and 
blue. Thus, the group was divided into 
two parts, by which the initial colour was 
chosen. The study group included subjects 
who chose red, and the control group – cal-

Table 1. Table of self-assessment of the emotional state according to the Wessman-Ricks meth-
od

Calmness-anxiety Energy-fatigue
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Rise-depression Self-confidence-helplessness
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Source: [19].



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023): 279-289284

mer green and blue. As a result, the follo-
wing situation has arisen. Red was chosen 
by 55% of the group (55 people, including 
40 women and 15 men). Green was chosen 
by 25% of the group (25 people, including 
12 women and 13 men), and blue by 20% of 
the group (4 people, including five women 
and 15 men). After each of the 100 parti-
cipants chose a colour and was assigned 
to their group, they were asked to choose 
one more colour – black or white. After 
this stage of the experiment, the following 
situation was formulated (Table 2). In the 
future, the participants in the experiment 
had the right to use any amount of paper 
for quilling, but only the colours chosen 
earlier.

Next, the participants in the peda-
gogical experiment were asked to choose 
a theme for an impromptu quilling figuri-
ne, which should reflect the author’s fee-
lings at the time of creation through two 
colours. The proposed topics could display 
love, anger, contemplation, and so on wit-
hout disclosing them. Thus, with the help 
of two colours, the studied students pro-
ceeded directly to art therapy using the 
open-form quilling technique. The open-
form quilling technique involves rolling 
paper without gluing on a sheet of paper 
– a piece of paper is twisted and simply 
bends depending on the shape of the curl – 
inward or outward. During the art therapy 
process, students actively communicated 
with each other in groups and outside the 
groups. Observing the course of the expe-
riment, the authors of this scientific article 
claim that the quilling therapy technique, 
supported by verbal and non-verbal com-
ponents, improved the tone of mood even 

in skeptical participants, and they showed 
a desire to change the initial choice of co-
lour and mood of the constructed figure, 
which was also reported in the question-
naires, received earlier.

After 10 minutes after the beginning 
of the active phase of the experiment, the 
subjects were asked to choose one colour 
from the three main ones again. The ge-
neral picture of mood and atmosphere 
among the participants changed qualita-
tively. Those participants who previously 
chose saturated and bright colours prefer-
red calm and airy ones. According to the 
results of the repeated experiment, only 
15% of the group (15 people, including 7 
women and 8 men) chose the red colour. 
Green was chosen by 45% of the group 
(45 people, including 35 women and 10 
men), blue – 40% of the group (40 peop-
le, including 15 women and 25 men). Then 
the procedure was repeated in relation to 
black and white colours and the choice of 
subjects with further work in the quilling 
technique. L. Beethoven’s 4th movement of 
Symphony No. 9 “Ode to Joy” was inclu-
ded in this research stage. At the end of the 
experiment, the participants were asked to 
demonstrate their figures and explain the 
reasons for one or another scheme’s creati-
on after the first and repeated stages of the 
experiment using the quilling technique.

According to the answers and obser-
vations over the course of the experiment, 
the following conclusion was made. The 
active red colour in the first stage of the ex-
periment was chosen by 55% of the test au-
dience, which shows a negatively minded 
part of the participants, and this percenta-
ge is 40% higher compared to the second 

Table 2. Selected colours by the participants of the pedagogical experiment and their percent-
age

Colours
Main

colours
Study group Control group

Red Green Blue
55% (55 people) 25% (25 people) 20% (20 people)

Additional colours Black White Black White Black White.
Number of people who chose a 

colour
38

38%
17

35%
4

20%
1

5%
3

15%
1

5%
Source: compiled by the authors.



Zhansaya Iskakova et al., New Art Therapy Technology – Quilling 285

part. Many of the participants who, during 
the quilling therapy, expressed a desire to 
change their colour preference were preci-
sely from the first group of subjects who 
initially chose red. Analysing the data 
obtained from the questionnaire, which 
used the Wessman-Ricks method of self-
assessment of the emotional state, it can 
be argued that the symbiosis of art therapy 
techniques, namely quilling, music thera-
py and colour therapy, have favourable 
qualities that have a positive impact on 
the emotional component of human cons-
ciousness. Calculating the integral indica-
tor of the emotional state of the subjects, 
the following formula was used:

ES = (I1+ I2+ I3+ I4)/4,                        (1)

where: ES is an integral indicator of 
the emotional state, I1, I2, I3, and I4 are 
individual indicators according to the cor-
responding scales.

According to the results of this expe-
riment, the indicator of the emotional state 
before therapy averaged 1-3 points in the 
study group and 4-5 points in the control 
group, which is characterized as a very 
bad and worsened mood, respectively, di-
sinterest of the participants, and a depres-
sed state. After the first active stage of the 
experiment in the quilling technique, the 
emotional tone of both groups of students 
improved – the subjects began to request 
other colours, became more animated, and 
became more interested in the lesson. Ac-
cording to the questionnaire, both students 
stopped at 6-7 points, which is interpreted 
as a good emotional state of the partici-
pants. After changing the colour of mate-
rials for quilling therapy, as well as chan-
ging the atmosphere, which gave “Ode to 
Joy” by L. Beethoven, the subjects of both 
the study and the control group were on 
8-10 points of the school of emotional sta-
te, which confirms the positive impact of 
quilling as art therapy technologies in inte-
raction with other art therapy techniques.

With the help of quilling technolo-
gy, students focused their emotions on 
therapy and directed them in a positive 

direction. It was possible to achieve the 
best results against their emotional backg-
round by complementing quilling therapy 
with musical accompaniment, and colour 
preferences of the subjects, and the verbal 
component,   . Thus, at the end of the ex-
periment, it was concluded that with the 
help of art therapy, the group tone of the 
mood of the therapy participants was ad-
justed. For students of the Al-Farabi Ka-
zakh National University, visual activity 
using quilling technology in integration 
with colour therapy and music therapy is 
a form of correction of the mood and tone 
of the participants in the experiment accor-
ding to external indicators, data obtained 
from the questionnaire, as well as uniting 
the group into a single whole.

At the moment, art is not just enter-
tainment or aesthetic recharging but an 
important part of the psychological and 
pedagogical world. Not complicated exer-
cises of art therapy technology to hone the 
fine motor skills of the child’s hands help to 
activate his thinking develop speech, and, 
in addition, quilling activates all thought 
processes. Thus, art therapy technologies 
can affect children and adults who requi-
re stimulation of the body’s physiological 
functions. Scholars studying traditional art 
in art therapy A. Arslanbek et al. (2022) ar-
gue that when studying art therapy, it is 
important to understand the therapeutic 
value and significance of such practice and 
how it can be used in therapy. Some art 
practices that therapists and educators use 
as a form of art therapy have therapeutic 
qualities that can be used by a large part 
of the population, which is so influential in 
the popularity of this type of therapy.

Researchers S. Khedekar et al. (2018) 
studied the issue of quilling therapy for 
children. According to researchers, in 
introductory quilling classes, children be-
gin by twisting pieces of paper to make 
flat objects, and only after some time do 
they move on to making three-dimensio-
nal figures. It is important to note that the 
principle of repeatability of actions in this 
case is cumulative, which will speed up 
work in the future. Hand activity in a child 



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023): 279-289286

with special educational needs improves 
joint range of motion, increasing muscle 
strength while reducing functional disa-
bility. Manual actions with the hands and 
fingers have already proven their effecti-
veness, and the very involvement of the 
child in the creative process can not only 
help improve hand motor skills but also 
increase the child’s self-esteem, prevent 
painful suffering, and keep the baby inte-
rested in the therapeutic regimen in order 
to have a long-term perspective in the fight 
against the disease. The effectiveness of 
art, in particular art therapy technique, as 
a therapy for poorly developed fine motor 
skills in a child can be explained by the fact 
that quilling includes fine bimanual fin-
ger dexterity, gross motor skills, strength, 
trunk stability, hand-eye coordination and 
creative abilities (Ciasca et al., 2018). Thus, 
working with this technique is a big plus 
for both children and the elderly since, in 
connection with the creative process, at-
tention and the ability to concentrate are 
trained.

According to the researcher of cor-
rectional and pedagogical work of a der-
matologist using art therapy, V. A. Bilan 
(2018), creativity is an important method 
of healing a child, harmonizing it, and, 
not least, it causes positive emotions in 
both children and adults, which in turn 
enriches the cognitive consciousness of a 
person. Using art therapy in raising a child 
or as one of the methods of correction, a 
person learns to create a more confident 
image of himself as a person, strengthens 
his self-esteem, becomes confident, and 
learns empathy. With the help of quilling 
or other creative therapeutic technique, a 
person’s emotional and cognitive spheres 
are corrected, which is very important for 
the development and knowledge of one-
self and the world. From this, the conclusi-
on emerges that the child in the process of 
art therapy in quilling technology, where 
fine motor skills are involved, begins to ac-
cumulate experience in the movement of 
hands already in the very process of twis-
ting the paper, that is, the subject of exami-
nation while playing with it.

In the study, Regev and L. Cohen-
Yatziv (2018), where they studied the ef-
fectiveness of art therapy with adults, the 
authors’ results should be noted in this re-
gard. According to the study, the art thera-
py effect on people improves the ability to 
cope with difficulties, and this is a known 
fact. But, the fact that it reduces depression 
and fatigue in cancer patients undergoing 
chemotherapy also improves the quality 
of life of women undergoing breast cancer 
treatment should be noted. According to 
a study by D. Regev and L. Cohen-Yatziv 
(2018) individual non-long-term art the-
rapy is beneficial for women with breast 
cancer. art therapy is used for children and 
adults with numerous requests for emo-
tional, physical and mental self-balance. 
When using art therapy under the supervi-
sion of a specialist, a wide range of impro-
vements can be achieved and the expected 
effect or result in therapy can be obtained 
as a result of this form of treatment.

According to C. A. Malchiodi (2015), 
in his study of creative intervention with 
traumatized children, traumatized children 
very often feel helpless in situations, con-
fused or ashamed, and, as a result, afraid 
to trust others or their own environment. 
In such cases, art therapists must develop a 
productive and positive relationship with 
these children to enable them to revisit the 
painful experience, overcome their memo-
ries, give them meaning, and find hope for 
the best. Art therapy is effective not only 
for children and adults but also for the el-
derly, as well as J. DeLucia and B. Kennedy 
(2021) and for veterans. Researchers have 
studied the use of art therapy for veterans 
who are experiencing the transition from 
military service to civilian life. Such a tran-
sition is associated with social, emotional, 
and physical changes, which art therapy 
and quilling successfully cope with.

When studying how quilling and 
art therapy affect people diagnosed with 
psychosis or schizophrenia, one should 
pay attention to the work of S. Holttum et 
al. (2021), who explored the path of beco-
ming art therapists who provided therapy 
to people diagnosed with psychosis. As 



Zhansaya Iskakova et al., New Art Therapy Technology – Quilling 287

a result of the work of S. Holttum et al. 
(2021), through constant interaction with 
art, in this case, the art of quilling, and an 
art therapist who supports the path of reco-
very, they can both get stuck, detach, and 
develop. In most cases, people prescribed 
art therapy develop and open up to their 
therapist and the world through creativity 
and communication with the art therapist. 
But what is important in this case is that 
the training of art therapists makes the the-
rapists themselves quite stable and flexible 
in their professional skills. The process of 
art therapy helps not only patients but also 
the therapist himself, and this is a big plus 
for both art therapy and quilling in gene-
ral. It must be remembered that building 
a good relationship between the art thera-
pist using quilling and not only with pa-
tients is essential for the results of various 
types of therapy.

Today, art therapy is moving onli-
ne and becoming digital, which increases 
the percentage of people interested in this 
practice. Researchers S. Haywood and B. 
Grant (2022) studied the dynamics of “vir-
tual” influence on image and art in art the-
rapy practice and argue that the practicali-
ty of promoting art therapy on the Internet 
is a great success factor for art therapists. 
Researchers propose a new role for digital 
technologies in art therapy, a new trend 
in digital art therapy. Quilling, as a new 
technology of art therapy, is an important 
part of two areas of science at once – it is 
pedagogy and psychology, not counting 
the usual art, which interests researchers 
in a thorough study of quilling and its abi-
lity to influence psychological as well as 
psychosomatic processes.

CONCLUSIONS 

Today, art therapy has gained par-
ticular importance in the world of peda-
gogy and psychology since modern met-
hods and approaches to traditional issues 
of psychosomatic origin require modern 
and creative solutions. Studying quilling 
as one of the new techniques in the art the-
rapy practice of therapists and teachers in 

an inclusive educational environment, this 
study seeks to understand both pedagogi-
cal and psychological knowledge of this 
issue thoroughly. This article analyses the 
main types of art therapy, as well as the in-
tegration of the experience of art therapists 
through the development of quilling art in 
the modern psychological segment of the 
development of rehabilitation of children 
who have received traumatic experiences 
and adults who require the necessary the-
rapy, and also studied ways to use quilling 
therapy, as art therapy technologies. A pe-
dagogical experiment was also carried out 
on the basis of Al-Farabi Kazakh National 
University, as a result of which the influen-
ce of quilling therapy on the general mood 
of a group of 20 people was studied. Based 
on the results of this art-pedagogical ex-
periment, a positive effect of the quilling 
technique on individual individuals and 
the general mood of the group and its co-
hesion was established. Thus, the article’s 
authors claim that the use of art therapy 
and quilling techniques, in particular, has 
a positive value for the creative release 
of students of Al-Farabi Kazakh National 
University. The quilling technology and 
its characteristics, which are positively ex-
pressed when used in the pedagogical and 
psychological aspects, are successful based 
on the results of the experiment.

Summing up this scientific work, 
paying attention to the importance of the 
obtained results for art therapy in gene-
ral is necessary since quilling, as a new 
art therapy technique, has an important 
role in an inclusive environment for both 
children and adults. According to the re-
sults of the performed scientific research, 
it should be noted that the studied areas 
of application of the new technology of art 
therapy – quilling, have great prospects for 
expanding the area of influence since the 
creative restoration of both the psycholo-
gical and physiological components of a 
person is being actively studied and has a 
large area of influence, which increases the 
importance further research on this topic. 
Studying the problems of using quilling 
as a new technology of art therapy, that 



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 23 (2) (2023): 279-289288

is, the main components of human creati-
ve activity, which are continuously asso-
ciated with the psychosomatic dimension, 
it is important to note the need to continue 
further research in connection with the ra-
pid development and introduction of art 
therapy in the psychological and pedago-
gical environment. Future researchers are 
encouraged to delve into the issue of ex-
panding the use of this industry in the art 
therapy direction, as well as analyse the 
development of quilling technology in art 
therapy in the future.

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