Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Major
Expressive Therapies
First Advisor
Raquel Stephenson
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to explore why families are particularly impacted by negative effects of grief, why it is imperative that the arts be utilized in treatment for bereavement, and why fiber arts are a great vessel for art therapy grief work. The literature was collected and organized through visual coding and reflective tactile methods before being presented in the following review. The first section of the literature review includes definitions of grief, death-related grief, and familial grief and how these experiences cause long lasting impacts and mental health issues. The second and third sections cover the definitions of art therapy, family art therapy, and fiber arts and how these theories and materials provide therapeutic relief for grief symptoms and can be integrated within family systems. The pivotal finding that connects each of these topics from the literature was the power of finding through art causes positive impacts with the sub themes including finding meaning, finding self, and finding connection which are explored in the discussion.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Leinaweaver, Elise, "Exploring Fiber Art Materials in Art Therapy Treatment with Bereaved Families" (2025). Expressive Therapies Theses. 16.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_therapies_theses/16
