Creative Arts Therapy – exploring frameworks for working with trauma

Creative Arts Therapy – exploring
frameworks for working with trauma
Caroline Essame
Consultant Art Therapist and Occupational Therapist.
CREATE, Creative Arts, Therapy and Training
Singapore
Definition of Creative Arts Therapy.

Creative Arts Therapies are the use of the creative arts to bring about selfawareness, change and healing in the context of the therapeutic relationship.

Using the creative arts helps people to express in a visual way and physical
way rather than through words alone.

There should be no value judgment on the artistic merit of the work, it is the
process and not simply the end product that is important.

Using the creative arts can introduce a third element to a therapeutic setting
to help the client express in a less direct and confrontational way.

The arts as an alternative language, symbolic way of accessing the
unconscious.
Creative Arts that can be used in
Therapy include;

Music- opera, percussion, choir,
bands, singing, orchestras, karaoke.

Dance and Movement- ballet,
Classical dance, creative dance.

Visual Arts, craft and design.

Drama and storytelling - theatre,
mime, circus, poetry, plays, word
games. Myth, metaphor and ritual.

Domestic and celebratory artsculturally specific.
Frameworks for Creative Arts Therapy

Since the beginning of history,
mankind has used the visual and
performing arts to give expression
to the human condition, to tell
stories and to give life meaning.

For generations the arts have been
used to offer solace to those under
stress.

The arts can help both to express
and contain otherwise
overwhelming emotions.

They are also celebratory.

Winnicott objects relation
theory. The role of creativity
in ego development.

Psychotherapy frameworksworking with unconscious
processes.

Right brain development and
its dominant role in the
human stress response.
( Shore 2001)
“It is only in being creative that the individual
discovers the self”
D.W. Winnicott
The nature of the therapeutic
relationship

The arts are just one part of the key to
the healing process in Creative Arts
Therapy.

The other is the nature of the
therapeutic relationship – that is, the
relationship established between
therapist and client.

As with any clinical relationship, it is
based on trust, empathy and clear
boundaries. The client should feel
respected, safe and affirmed.

In trauma work imperative the client
feels safe, can reestablish trust.
Creative Arts Therapy work with
Trauma Survivors
Stage 1

Provide a safe boundaried space- help contain and stabilise.

Help regulate affect, facilitate techniques for containing anxiety and increased
arousal.

Encourage and promote mastery experiences- give some control through the
arts.

Compensate for specific developmental deficits- recreate the early childhood
development state.
( Play Therapy Decision Grid- Coping Track, building therapeutic relationship
and ensuring have necessary psychological strength in place to address
trauma.)
Stage 2

Help process traumatic memories and trauma related
expectations- through unconscious symbolic communication as
well as verbally.

Develop and encourage ego strength, who they are and what has
happened to them.

Encourage them to find meaning and develop perspective for
the future. Timelines, storytelling good here.
( Play Therapy Decision Grid- Invitational Track, processing and
working through trauma)
“Looking inward empowers us to create images that
teach us about unknown dimensions. Image
making expresses what seemed inexpressible. We
can depict anxiety, fear delight and sorrow. They
come alive in colour and form to be examined and
understood. We can be more objective and
perceive ourselves more clearly.”
Illuminations – The Healing Image by
Madeline McMurray
Case examples

Sally’s story, recreating self
through Art Therapy after
sexual abuse.

Suni’s story, encouraging
positive illusions through
play and creativity after early
years with an abusive and
unstable single mother.

Child’s Play
The Ragamuffin Project
“Healing Hurts” Addressing endemic trauma in Cambodia
through Creative Arts Therapy Training and Practice

In Cambodia 75% of adults
who lived through the
Khmer Rouge era suffer
from extreme stress or Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder .

At least 40% of children
born to this generation suffer
from stress disorders caused
by growing up in a tattered
social network.
(Survey by Transcultural
Psychosocial Organisation)
A deeply traumatised
generation can transfer their
trauma to their children
creating an endless chain of
conflict, fed often by feeling
of hate and revenge.
Such conflict is seen in the
high levels of poverty, child
trafficking and sexual
exploitation, domestic
violence, and violent crime.
Ragamuffin Project Overall goal
Is to address the endemic
trauma through
increasing the capacity of
Cambodians to
effectively respond to
emotional and
psychological trauma
through the process of
Creative Arts Therapy.
The Ragamuffin Project is committed to the
relief of emotional pain and psychological
damage in children and adults through the use
of the arts.
How the Art Therapies workBy translating real life
experience into self-made Art
works they enable people to
unlock and explore their
inner world.
Drama and dance,
storytelling, poetry, music
and the visual arts all serve to
provide insight and enable
the client to address their
fear, tell their story, express
deep emotion and experience
change in their lives.
- Arts Therapy, Training, Supervision & Consultancy -
The Ragamuffin Project
PO Box 2533, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
E-mail: ragamuffinproject@ hotmail.com
Phone: +855(0)12521032
Contact: Carrie Herbert
Director of Arts Therapy Services
In conclusion

The Creative Arts Therapies offer a valuable avenue for
trauma survivors to engage in constructive, meaningful
activity and relationships that can help prevent chronic
psychological and physical problems developing after
traumatic incidents.

Not only do the arts tap into right brain processing but
the reconnection with the early childhood processes of
play can also help in repairing the sense of self and
restoring hope.
“When I sang just now, I took something ugly that
happened to me and made it beautiful”
“ Through the arts, we transform not only our
joys, but also our tears and anguish, paralysis
and fears, and the unexplained and mysterious
into images of strength, clarity and control.”
Steinhardt .
Thank You
References

Carey, L. Ed “ Expressive and Creative Arts Methods for Trauma Survivors.”
JKP 2006

McCarthy, D. “ Speaking about the Unspeakable- Non-Verbal Methods and
Experiences in Therapy with Children.” JKP 2008