Art Therapy with Families
If a child is suffering in any way then it almost inevitably follows that the whole family is suffering too. The reverse is equally true. For this reason family therapy is very often the treatment of choice for treating children with difficulties. Family art therapy is a particularly effective form of therapy because:
- Art-making is usually enjoyable and can be carried out by every family member at their own level.
- Children and young people tend to feel particularly comfortable within a family art therapy session where they are often more articulate with creative projects than their parents.
- Helping families to work together on joint family art projects helps to reveal family dynamics to the therapist and to individual members and can also serve to strengthen the family’s own resources and capacity to work together to solve problems.
Within family art therapy there is increasing interest in working with the parent-child dyad, particularly where there have been problems with bonding between the parent and child. Studies in Great Britain and the United States indicate the benefits of early intervention with parents (particularly mothers) and young children between the ages of 1 and 3 to help promote emotional attunement and non-verbal interaction through art therapy.