Active being : connecting the therapeutic relationship and semi-structured intervention in art therapy with traumatised children

Abstract

This thesis explores the connections between the therapeutic relationship and semi-structured intervention in art therapy with traumatised children. A semi-structured intervention, incorporating both directive and non-directive approaches, is accepted by many clinicians as a useful way of working with such children, but further research is needed in order to show how art therapists mediate between these approaches. It has been suggested that the most significant challenges to art therapists working with traumatised children lie in when, whether and how to intervene (Nissimov-Nahum, 2008; Shore, 2013). Furthermore, the therapeutic relationship needs to be at the centre of any such inquiry (Eaton, Doherty, & Widrick, 2007; Knight, 2015). Framed within Martin Heidegger's philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology, this thesis proposes that art therapists become 'active beings', whose 'active being' entails an enhanced capacity to feel, think and act in the service of their clients. Heidegger's notion of being as always 'being-in-the-world' informs this understanding across the key dimensions of time, action, care, space and the body. Building on the insights of previous researchers, this thesis conducts a systematic and in-depth inquiry into the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic interventions in semi-structured art therapy with traumatised children, with a particular focus on the moment to moment decisions art therapists make about whether, when and how to intervene. Interviews with nine art therapists who have practised in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia, alongside reflections on my own direct practice with a seven-year-old boy, were employed in this critical and in-depth inquiry. An iterative approach was used to analyse the data to find the essential meaning of the connection between the therapeutic relationship and semi-structured intervention in art therapy with traumatised children. By investigating the clinical experiences of other art therapists and myself, the 'active being' of art therapists working with traumatised children is illuminated. Implicit and often conflictual elements within the therapeutic space are analysed so that the subtle work and critical timing involved in semi-structured art therapy with traumatised children become more visible. It is hoped that this thesis will assist art therapists towards better understandings of the processes of attuning and responding to children at critical times in the therapy process, thereby opening up the possibilities for healthy transformation.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English