Arts and Trauma Healing

Arts and Trauma Healing

Meaningful art activities to support Bible-based trauma healing using Healing the Wounds of Trauma

By Mary Elizabeth Saurman
Creative Arts Therapist and Senior Ethnomusicology and EthnoArts Consultant for SIL International

©2016 Mary E. Saurman. Used by permission

Traumahealinginstitute.org

Introduction 2

Developing meaningful art activities 2

Familiar art forms 2

Designing arts activities 3

Using the model arts activities 3

Notes for “Sharing in pairs” 4

Lesson 1: If God loves us, why do we suffer? 5

Visual art and/or writing activity 5

Lesson 2: How can the wounds of our hearts be healed? 5

Visually representing your body 5

Movement 6

Lesson 3: What happens when someone is grieving? 6

Lament exercise 6

Lesson 4: Helping children who have experienced bad things 7

Finger puppets exercise 7

Lesson 5: Helping someone who has been raped 8

Introduction (optional) 9

Drum circle activity 9

Lesson 6A: Domestic abuse 10

Introduction 11

Art activity 11

Lesson 7: Caring for the caregiver 12

Introduction 12

Burden exercise 12

Lesson 8: Taking your pain to the cross 13

Expressing pain and forgiveness 13

Lesson 10: Living as Christians in the midst of conflict 14

Conflict trees 14

Alternate activity: Peace Trees 15

Lesson 11: Preparing for trouble 15

Scripture expression 15

Introduction

Those of us working in the area of trauma healing desire to walk alongside those who are suffering mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically from the wounding they’ve experienced. For someone who has faced a severe trauma, verbally expressing the pain may be difficult. They cannot always find the words. For some who can articulate their pain, words may not be enough to help them move towards healing. Inviting creative processing through meaningful art activities can help those traumatized to access the event from a safe place and help make more solid connections to their pain and their future hope.

After explaining the approach used here and offering guidelines for developing meaningful art activities, this document offers suggested activities to accompany the lessons in the book Healing the Wounds of Trauma.

Developing meaningful art activities

In the context of trauma healing, the artistic activities we offer must be more than just an activity that has arts connected to it. Each should be contextualized and made relevant to the participants. Language, of course, should always be in an understandable dialect. And the arts experience should not just be an exercise; it should also be meaningful. Two factors assist us in creating more meaningful art activities.

1. The art forms used should be familiar, allowing for solid connections between a person’s artistic expression and their own traumatic experience.
2. The trauma healing arts sessions should be designed so that the experience has parallels in the contexts, values, and needs of the participants.

Familiar art forms

Artistic forms within a cultural context are communication tools. They can communicate effectively if the artistic expressions are meaningful to the recipient. Colors, visual patterns, song styles, body movement, poetic styles, and more all have cultural and experiential foundations that carry meaning for those within a cultural group. Thus the art forms we use in arts sessions should be meaningful and communicate clearly to and for the participants.

Thus we first must learn what familiar art forms communicate meaningfully to the participants. We must know our target audience well so we can design activities that carry meaning for them. Facilitators must learn from the participants who are insiders and understand the meaning and use of their own artistic forms.

Case study

I worked with an ethnic group in Mainland Southeast Asia struggled with drawing activities. A consulting artist from outside the group said repeatedly, “They just cannot draw. I’ll need to teach them.” In exploring their community and looking at the artistic forms that were meaningful for them, I did not see any drawings or carvings, but I discovered bundles of leaves, twigs, and flowers strategically placed around their villages. As I asked about these, the people told me that these careful combinations of natural items from their local area have specific expression for them. Those within the community could read and understand the different messages communicated through these visual art forms.

The artistic exercise for this group now involves using bundles of natural items that they assemble for their expression of their community and individual pain. We do not need to have them draw or learn a new artistic method because the participants already have their own meaningful, familiar artistic expression that works effectively for them in expressing their experiences.

Designing arts activities

Secondly, we want to design art activities for our trauma healing sessions that will feel appropriate to the participants. This can be done by making connections with participants’ cultural values, contexts, and daily needs. Because these vary widely, design also requires research and a sensitivity to the audience. Culturally focused design will help the participants feel safe in their artistic expression and more clear in sharing about it. This approach also increases the potential for the emotional connection and “bridging” needed in the brain for processing a trauma.

As you design an arts activity session, keep in mind that every session should have a clear purpose (why do this particular activity; how it is culturally meaningful for the participants) and a clear process (how you will lead the participants through the activities).

Case studies

I often use body-image exploration in my trauma healing arts sessions (see Lesson 2). The lesson outline asks participants to trace each other’s bodies on large sheets of butcher paper. But each time, I adjust the activity design to the participants. The overall purpose—body image—stays the same. But the process (how I lead them through the activities) changes based on what would help create a more meaningful and safer experience for the participants.

For example, with women who have been raped, I often invite them to trace only the upper portion of their body. Because of their personal experience, lower-body tracing can be threatening. This is a need for them—to have safety in regard to their bodies. So we show respect for their needs by inviting safe approaches for them. I may also have them represent emotional pain on their bodies using a protective and empowering symbol that they each choose. This gives them more control of their expression as well.

If I am doing full-body-tracing with young children, I might use Band-Aids to help them show on their traced bodies the parallels between their physical and emotional pain. Band-Aids represent a “boo-boo” or a painful wound to children. This personal and, sometimes, group value with children, can help them articulate an abstract concept. Using a symbol that they clearly understand (and often feel they need to help them feel better) helps them share their pain with more clarity.

In another instance, I once did the body-tracing activity with Muslim women. Their burka outlines all looked the same, but each one took great delight in marking her body outline with colorful designs. The lovely patterns were clearly culturally and nationally defined, and some designs were also religiously meaningful. It was important for this group to build this opportunity for personal, cultural, and faith expression into this arts activity.

Using the model arts activities

Following are outlines for artistic sessions that I have used in trauma healing sessions. Each time I have used them, I have adjusted them for the participants and their cultural contexts. These sessions are templates and should be adapted based on the participants you are working with. Each exercise needs to be contextualized with meaningful and familiar art forms and with attention to their appropriate purpose and process for the participants.

It takes time to develop skills in adapting sessions. Insiders in the culture can often learn to prepare effective activities more quickly and effectively than outsiders, so consider asking insider experts to assist you. Facilitators new to the contextualization process may find it helpful to begin with some background reading (see below).

Besides listening well and learning from the participants, I also encourage you not to neglect listening well and learning from the Holy Spirit. Draw on God’s power as you walk alongside others by using meaningful arts in the trauma healing process.

Further reading

Schrag, Brian. 2013. Creating Local Arts Together: A Manual to Help Communities Reach their Kingdom Goals. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Spradley, James P. 1980. Participant Observation. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Spradley, James P. 1979. The Ethnographic Interview. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Notes for “Sharing in pairs”

Most of the exercises that follow include an opportunity for sharing in pairs. During the sharing time, each pair takes a turn in two roles—Sharer and Listener—which have different expected actions and attitudes.

When you are the Sharer:

·  Share as much as you feel safe sharing with the other person

·  Express: What did you create?

·  Explain: What does this mean to you?

When you are the Listener:

·  Learn as much as you can about the person’s experiences and expression

·  Listen, Show Interest (ask questions to clarify, not to challenge), and Reflect Back

·  Do not give advice in response to what you hear from the Sharer

Lesson 1: If God loves us, why do we suffer?

Media / Emotion exploration
Visual art and/or writing / Abandonment (betrayed, rejected, alone, or no one to support you)

Visual art and/or writing activity

Sit quietly. Take a deep breath. Pray. Reflect on a time in your own life when you felt abandoned. What images come to mind?

Step 1: On one side of your paper write or draw something representing when you felt abandoned.

Step 2: On one side of your paper write or draw how you feel about that experience now [feeling less alone, more connected with others, nothing’s changed, etc.]

Step 3: Where is God in this experience? Is he there? Is he absent? How would you represent God’s presence or lack of presence in this artistic expression?

Processing individually (personal reflection)

·  What happened in your process of creating this artistic expression?

·  What does this artistic expression mean to you?

·  What feeling does this art express for you?

·  What surprised you or what was new for you?

·  How could this activity benefit you?

Sharing in pairs

Take turns being Sharer or Listener. Practice the actions and attitudes within your role during that time as Sharer or Listener.

Pray for each other.

individual reflection for facilitators in training

·  What did you experience in this process of creating this expressive art?

·  What did you experience in expressing and explaining it to someone else?

·  What did you experience in exploring someone else’s expression?

·  What did you learn new about yourself through this experience?

Lesson 2: How can the wounds of our hearts be healed?

Media / Emotion exploration
Visual art and dancing/movement / Anger

Visually representing your body

Step 1: Work in pairs. On a large piece of paper, trace the outline of each others’ bodies. Then place the body outline of yourself on a wall. Mark or decorate your outline to represent you.

Step 2: Reflect on a time when you were angry. Look at your body outline and get in touch with what you feel in your body right now, or a time you felt anger. Where does that feeling show up in your body? What are the physical symptoms you feel, and where do you feel them in your body? Mark those on your body outline in the appropriate places in a way that is meaningful for you.

Movement

Step 3: Body movements representing anger: Facing the outline of yourself, find a movement that represents this physical feeling in your body.

Step 4: What would your movement look like if you were free of the physical feeling or if there was a resolve? Move from the angry movement to a freer movement.

Step 5: In pairs: Share your movement progression with another person near you. Talk together about the meaning of these movements for you personally. What do the movements express?

Small group work (optional)

·  What are physical ways that anger is expressed by you? by others in your life?

·  What kinds of movements might express anger to others?

·  Share your movements with another group without telling them the feeling connected to that for you. Invite them to guess the feeling/expressions demonstrated through your group’s movements.

Processing individually (personal reflection)

·  What happened in your process of creating this artistic expression?

·  What does this artistic expression mean to you?

·  What feeling does this art express for you?

·  What surprised you or what was new for you?

·  How could this activity benefit you?

Sharing in pairs

Take turns being Sharer or Listener. Practice the actions and attitudes within your role during that time as Sharer or Listener.

Pray for each other.

Individual Reflection for Facilitators in Training

·  What did you experience in this process of creating this expressive art?

·  What did you experience in expressing and explaining it to someone else?

·  What did you experience in exploring someone else’s expression?

·  What did you learn new about yourself through this experience?

Lesson 3: What happens when someone is grieving?

Media / Emotion exploration
Poem, song and/or dance (movement) forms / Lament

Lament exercise

What kind of a lament would you write to express your pain?

This is your opportunity to explore that.

Ask God to show you what pain is in your heart. Don’t worry … just wait. Dance, sing, write a poem, create a melody, etc.

If it’s helpful, begin with this: “Dear God, I am hurting …”

In the end you want to create an expression that shares honestly the pain in your heart. Use a structure for this expression that is natural for the language and/or expressive form that you choose for this artistic expression.

Small group sharing

·  Share as much or as little as you feel comfortable sharing.