Patient preferences deserve consideration as they play a role in engagement with psychosocial interventions. This study sought to understand more about preferences and expectations of the arts therapies, in order to support informed decision-making.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants in a trial of group music therapy, art therapy and dance-movement therapy. Audio recordings were transcribed. Data relating to the process of choosing their preferred arts therapies groups, expectations and experiences of the groups were analysed using framework analysis.

Three overarching themes were found relating to the experience of choosing an arts therapies group and subsequently attending it: past experiences of the art forms, social interactions in the groups and expectations of helpfulness. Familiarity and perceived capability were important factors for the therapy experiences.

Although each participant had a unique decision-making process, the themes offer understanding of common considerations when making a choice about engagement with the arts therapies. Clinicians should guide discussions around past experiences of the art forms, group dynamics and therapy aims during shared decision making for the arts therapies.

患者偏好值得考虑，因为它们在参与社会心理干预方面发挥作用。本研究旨在更多地了解艺术疗法的偏好和期望，以支持知情决策。

在集体音乐治疗、艺术治疗和舞蹈动作治疗试验中，对 17 名参与者进行了半结构化访谈。录音被转录。使用框架分析分析了与选择首选艺术疗法组的过程、这些组的期望和经验有关的数据。

发现三个总体主题与选择艺术治疗小组并随后参加该小组的经历有关：艺术形式的过去经历、小组中的社交互动以及对乐于助人的期望。熟悉度和感知能力是治疗体验的重要因素。

尽管每个参与者都有一个独特的决策过程，但这些主题提供了对参与艺术疗法的选择时的共同考虑因素的理解。临床医生应该在艺术疗法的共同决策过程中引导围绕艺术形式、群体动态和治疗目标的过去经验的讨论。