ERIC Number: EJ1392716
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0742-1656
EISSN: EISSN-2159-9394
Power-from-Within: Somatic Art Therapy with an LGBTQIA+ Teenager
Hetherington, Rivkah; Luna
Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, v40 n2 p76-83 2023
The integration of somatic approaches in art therapy can counter the trauma of microaggressions. By adopting a power-from-within stance, art therapists can facilitate sessions for clients to affirm their LGBTQIA+ identities while resisting the impact of discrimination. This article, co-written by an art therapist and client, provides lived experience examples of somatic art therapy: Somatic Experiencing® integrated with body tracing, and sensorimotor art therapy (the Clay Field®). The authors concur that somatically integrated art therapy has helped replace automized behavioral patterns based on fear with behavioral choices that emerged from a place of safety. Implications for therapeutic alliance and power dynamics within art therapy sessions are explored as tenets of body-based self-reflection.
Descriptors: Adolescents, LGBTQ People, Human Body, Art Therapy, Trauma Informed Approach, Sexual Identity, Behavior Change, Fear, Empowerment, Aggression, Art Activities
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A