Case report, case study
Art Therapy Trauma Treatment through Dollmaking in the Community
Emily Goldstein Nolan
orcid.org/0009-0006-2077-7791
; Syracuse University, New York Bloom Art and Integrated Therapies, Inc.
Abstract
This article describes the use of dollmaking to address the art therapy treatment
of trauma from a community lens. The author provides literature that outlines
a framework of treating trauma in the community, that supports the use of
somatic work through dollmaking.
The methods in the article articulate ways of working with an individual
client using nesting dolls, and the community using fabric dolls, sewing, and
embroidery. Using somatic work with dollmaking provides a creative way for
clients and communities to process their experiences, and presents a unique
opportunity for clients to externalize feelings and sensations, make them
conscious, and build a new identity after trauma. The article additionally shows
how training art therapists from a community perspective, widens the notion of
community to include new therapists.
Community art therapy is an approach and a setting. It is practiced with
cultural attunement to the context of the area the community lives within, uses
creativity as a primary means of healing and transformation, and continues to
evolve. Art therapists can support trauma treatment in the community setting.
The results layed in this article anecdotally show that dollmaking in community
can support healing from trauma.
Keywords
community art therapy; trauma; somatic art therapy; training art therapists; dollmaking
Hrčak ID:
327415
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2024.
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