Art mediated intra-interpersonal touch and space: Korean art therapy graduate students’ cultural perspectives on sharing attachment based cloth albums

• Art Mediated Interpersonal Touch (AMITS) facilitates the following main therapeutic factors: care, support, warmth, and respect.
• The finding that touching conveys respect seems specific for Korean culture.
• AMITS facilitated the expression of autobiographical memories and interpersonal relationships.
• Careful touching and holding of the client's art has the potential to increase attunement, and develop rapport.
• Touching the art increases acceptance of the client's art and of the client.
• Korean therapists and clients are much more likely to frequently touch therapeutic art than westernized counterparts.

This article focuses on the cultural meaning of art mediated intra and interpersonal touch and space (AMITS) phenomena amongst a group of Korean, female, graduate students (n = 22). In a workshop, each student created and shared a personalized Attachment-Based Cloth album. While sharing their albums, the participants’ cultural based AMITS behaviors included frequent reaching out to, touching, and manipulating their partner's album. Analyses of a survey suggested that AMITS themes were respect, care, and support, the degree of which was mediated by familiarity. Engaging with AMITS also facilitated the expression of autobiographical memories and interpersonal relationships, communication of respect, and could replace some of the functions of physical touch.