Art Is Fun, Art Is Serious Business, and Everything in between: Learning from Art Therapy Research and Practice with Children and Teens

Abstract

This paper explores the current theoretical frames of working with children and adolescents, considers the socio-political and developmental considerations for art therapy practice within settings, and systems in which children are embedded. An illustration of the use of art materials, processes, and products for children and adolescents based on an art therapist’s clinical experience in school settings, mental health hospital, adolescents’ clinic, and private practice then follows.

A Bird with No Name Was Born, Then Gone: A Child’s Processing of Early Adoption through Art Therapy

“…The effect of art therapy in this case resembles the documented accounts of art therapy for young, traumatized children and adolescents in the literature reviewed [ 4 , 6 ] and underscores the potential noted in the richness of art materials [ 17 , 27 ] and methods of interacting with them [ 11 , 13 ]. For many children who had experienced early attachment trauma, the possibility of “making messes” [ 11 , 20 , 24 ], experiencing and expressing moments of attunement and raptures of trust [ 4 , 8 , 9 ], and then surviving those with caring adults—in this case, play and art therapists [ 19 , 21 , 24 , 25 ] as well as family members [ 6 , 21 , 27 ]—support the reintegration of the fractured self into a valuable and authentic self.…”

“…Art therapy interventions offer a unique therapeutic holding space for children in foster care or who have been adopted; for examples, see [ 4 , 6 , 18 ]. In art therapy, psychological material can be at once concrete and symbolic, have both a “here-and-now” impact and lasting reminder of the felt experience [ 19 ] and an internal sense of mess and shame [ 20 ]. Gil and Rubin [ 21 ] have highlighted the importance of informing and enhancing therapists’ self-awareness through play and art making with children in general, and with children for whom attachment challenges are part of the original trauma in particular.…”

“…After a “good-enough” attachment is worked through with the therapist, who has gained an internal sense of the child’s inner life, the therapist can utilize art-making and play to support parent–child dyads [ 12 ]. In those spaces, the art therapist becomes an adult ally of the family [ 1 , 19 ], helping to express and process unconscious and pre-verbal experiences, transforming them from barriers into connecting opportunities [ 22 ]. Each child has a unique experience with adoption, depending upon his/her cultural/racial affiliation, class, family, and socio-educational communities [ 23 ], spaces in which sectioned expressions are expected and desired.…”

“…Each child has a unique experience with adoption, depending upon his/her cultural/racial affiliation, class, family, and socio-educational communities [ 23 ], spaces in which sectioned expressions are expected and desired. Art therapy can be a liberating space for children who are unsure of their place, as it offers playful and expressive opportunities to experiment with attachment and belonging outside of complicated familial settings, and with a caring adult, responding to their needs in a set, secure space [ 19 ]. Several art therapists [ 4 , 6 , 14 , 15 , 18 , 20 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] similarly suggested that children and teens who can work through attachment disruptions, identity questions, and emotional challenges related to their attachment issues through art therapy.…”

“…[ 15 , 26 ]). The use of materials and choice of materials are thus part of the metaphorical communication regarding the child’s internal world [ 17 , 19 , 27 ]. Attuned attention to the art materials used, the art-making processes, and art products thus support the therapist’s assessment of both children’s and parents’ strengths and challenges [ 15 , 17 , 19 , 27 , 28 ].…”