The Impact of Art Therapy on Traumatized and Grieving Children

Abstract

Abstract In this study, I conducted library research on the ways in which art therapy affected children who had experienced traumatizing life events and who were coping with grief. Research shows that children experience trauma and grief just as frequently as adults do, but they do not possess the same cognitive tools that adults use to cope with these catastrophic events. So, how do we help these children if they cannot tell us how they need to be helped? Art therapy has existed for nearly 70 years, but it had not been applied to the aid of children for the first 20 to 30 years. After becoming a more frequently used approach, researchers found that art therapy could provide tremendous benefits for children who had faced extreme adversity. It allows children a safe space to express themselves gradually, creatively, and perhaps most valuably, non-verbally. One must take into account the complexities of the developing human psyche, and also grasp the power of employing art as much more than a creative outlet.