This multifaceted workshop will introduce participants to the use of art therapy, family photographs, and Person-Centered Trauma-Informed (PCTI) approach when working with individuals who experience trauma. Integration of creative process with a group of Holocaust Survivors will be explored as a tool to de-stigmatize mental health treatment and promote healing.
Trauma stems from “an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being” (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2019). Cultural trauma impacts members of a collective group when they “feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness… changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways” (Alexander et. al., 2004, p.1). Genocide, such as the Holocaust, is an example of cultural trauma that disrupts cultural homeostasis, values, identity, and sense of belonging (Wolf, 2018).
The transformative aspect of art and its use as a vehicle for resilience has been discussed for decades (Keselman, 2019). Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, an artist sent to the Terezin concentration camp during the Holocaust, found a way to introduce art to children in the camp as a way to help them express themselves, find freedom within oppressive environment, and communicate their hopes and fears (Makarova, 2001). Miriam Katin, a graphic artist, who was a toddler during the Holocaust, was able to utilize the creative process to reflect on her past, get a different perspective, reframe her experience, and “draw herself out of [the hurt]” (Oostijk, 2018, p. 84).
Art therapy has been proposed as a useful tool for targeting somatic aspects of traumatic memory integrating the left and right hemispheres of the brain (Talwar, 2007). It allows participants to tap into the primary processing of trauma in addition to the secondary processing available to them through talk therapy (Talwar, 2007). Although there are few studies on the impact of art therapy or art-making in general on resilience in Holocaust Survivors (HS), researchers studying this topic demonstrate the correlation between creativity/inclination to art, and resiliency (Diamond & Shrira, 2018). Diamond and Shira’s (2018) study with groups of older adults, including Holocaust Survivors, suggests that engagement in art increases resilience and allows for “more positive coping with long-term effect of the Holocaust” (p. 241).
This workshop will be divided into three phases which will include: 1) interactive information session (including demonstration of client artwork); 2) visual elicitation and art-making process; 3) brainstorming phase for further integration of family albums as an intervention with participants’ client populations.
In the first part of the workshop, participants will learn about a wellness program developed to address the unmet needs of Holocaust Survivors (HS) from the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Workshop participants will learn about ways in which art therapy was introduced in a community where receiving mental health services was stigmatized; they will learn about the structure of utilizing the work on family albums as an intervention; and will be introduced to case studies, and client artwork. This will be followed by participants engaging in response art based on client artwork, and engaging in their own art process, reflecting on their family story: family photographs, what they would include, and most importantly what they would leave out if they were to create their own family albums. Bringing their family photographs to elicit visual and verbal response will be optional/ suggested. Participants will then be guided to engage in the art-process to respond to their own feelings about their family story. In the third and final phase of the workshop, participants will be invited to engage in individual reflection and group processing/brainstorming session, to come up with ways they can utilize family albums in their work with their respective populations.
Objectives:
Participants will learn ways in which family albums were used to promote healing and empowerment in working with Holocaust Survivors from the Former Soviet Union
Participants will use themselves as tools to explore impacts of their own family history on their work with clients, allowing them to be more sensitive when engaging in similar work
Participants will learn ways to adapt creation of a family album as a treatment intervention for their own client populations