How Can the Expressive Arts Therapy Benefit Latinx/Latine Immigrant Families? A Literature

Author

Maria TiconaFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Elizabeth Kellogg

Abstract

Although there are many years of research and practice for the fields of family therapy and expressive arts therapy, there have been few times when the two integrated. In this Literature Review, the intersection between expressive arts therapy and family therapy is explored to further envision how it could benefit families who are Latinx/Latine immigrant. These families often experience traumatic poverty and violence in their home countries which leads them to decide to migrate. The journey to migrate to the United States, acculturate to a new culture, a new language, grapple with being undocumented or having temporary legality, and discrimination are some of the experiences they face. It is possible parents sometimes leave the country by themselves and bring their children years later, and more recently there has been an increase in deportations and family separations, which can cause a rupture in the parent-child bond. It is concluded Latinx/Latine families can benefit from expressive arts therapy and expressive therapies. These forms of arts therapies can be flexible and adaptable to different ages, and provide a non-verbal space for all members to express complex and hard-to-put into words emotions and thoughts, therefore being able to process their trauma.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Ticona, Maria, "How Can the Expressive Arts Therapy Benefit Latinx/Latine Immigrant Families? A Literature" (2021). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 471.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/471