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Art Therapy with Grieving Children, Teens & Families Malinda
Ann Hill, M.A. As a grief counselor, I have experience working with children, teens and adults, facilitating support groups as well as art therapy groups. In my role as Children's Bereavement Coordinator for The David Bradley Children's Bereavement Program, I was given the opportunity to develop new programs for children, teens and families. In the support groups and workshops I facilitated, I offered art therapy as another way to help individuals cope with their grief. In the 5 week support group format, I offered a variety of art materials and projects to help children and teens express themselves at their own level and pace. In the groups children and teens can create art that reflect all aspects of their lives. Making a picture, painting or memory book helps keep the memory of the loved one alive and stimulates discussion about other memories. Each week, for 1 ½ hours, the group focused on a specific theme and activity. Examples of activities included: making a collage to represent the person who died, drawing a special memory, painting a feeling of grief, draw and write about how life has changed or creating a project that reflects how it feels to spend the holidays without a loved one. I chose themes and activities through a careful assessment of what will best serve the group at that specific time. After the artwork
is created, each individual had the opportunity to share their art and
feelings in the group sharing time. Children and teens are often more
willing to share their pictures than to speak directly about a painful
feeling or experience. Through the group sharing process, they see that
their feelings are common and they are not alone in their grief. The art
gives them a way to work through their grief and to help each other. In addition to the 5 week support group, I also offered "Art Therapy Workshops" for families which meet for one day for 2-3 hours. The first workshop I offered was focused on the holiday "Los Dias de los Muertos" or "Days of the Dead." This holiday, to honor and remember the dead, is a time of much celebration and reflection. Traditionally, family members join together in a festive atmosphere to decorate graves and build altars which are decorated with flowers, art, photographs, candles, mementos and food. This workshop was designed for families with children and teens who wanted to learn more about this holiday. The families worked together to create personal altars to honor their loved ones who died. I provided the altar shell and other art materials and also encouraged the families to bring personally significant items such as photographs and mementos to personalize their altars. The families who participated in this workshop told me how much they valued this opportunity to work together and explore art, ritual and tradition. The altars they created were beautiful. The family members were able to share many memories with each other as they created the altars as well as share their memories with the group when the altars were completed. Art allows children,
teens and adults the opportunity to express powerful emotions. The process
of making art and the finished artwork helps facilitate discussion about
some of the issues they are facing. In my experience, I have found that
they can often say more in pictures than they are able to verbalize. Through
art making they are able to represent a thought or feeling through an
image and therefore make it more tangible and have a permanent record
of their experiences. Creating art also offers the opportunity to memorialize
losses and connect with others.
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