Illustrating the family story: Art therapy, a lens for viewing the family's reality

Journal/Book: Arts in Psychotherapy. 1993; 20: 253-264.

Abstract: Explores social constructionist thinking as it applies to the practice of family art therapy. Constructionism holds that individuals invent "reality" rather than discover it. It is argued that, when a therapist takes the constructionist view of reality, the therapeutic art tasks are presented and utilized in a manner that is integrated with the family's concept of reality. Three clinical cases are presented to illustrate the use of constructionism in art therapy. Case 1 involved an abused child (aged 11 yrs) who questioned messages of his primary socialization through symbolic representation. Case 2 involved a married couple's use of drawings to speak unsaid ethnic and social issues. Case 3 involved a White mother and her Black daughter (aged 14 yrs) who had complex social and racial difficulties. The daughter's collage showed her as oppressed and trapped, while the mother depicted her recovery from drugs and alcohol.

Note: social constructionist view of family art therapy; 11 yr old & older family members dealing with child abuse or ethnic & social marital difficulties or parent child relationships

Keyword(s): Art therapy; family members; family relations; childhood ; adulthood ; adolescence ; child abuse; school age children; spouses ; parents ; parent child relations; racial and ethnic differences; marital relations

Zurück | Weiter