Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Dr. Meg Chang

Abstract

This community engagement project highlights the psychological experience of care providers from Hong Kong in the ongoing social movement. While the largest-scale Hong Kong social movement since June 2019 has led to an unprecedented mental health crisis, little is known about the psychological narratives of its affected communities, including care providers. The literature review first introduces the historical context of Hong Kong, as well as the relationship between social movements and internal experiences using the Movement Cycle framework. It then discusses the concept of political trauma, challenges for care providers, and the importance of an embodied approach in community-based work. A one-time, virtual, arts-based workshop titled “Moving Through the Movement Cycle: A Peer Support Group” was held with a group of six expressive therapists from Hong Kong. The psychological experience of the group and the researcher is summarized and artistically reflected via movement, visual art, and poetry. This project shows success in validating shared experiences, providing emotional release, and fostering community cohesion within the helping profession. The findings reveal practical insights for being a “wounded healer” and the values of community care. This paper offers a way of facilitating community-based support spaces integrating psycho-political considerations. Lastly, the strengths and limitations of this study are discussed.

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

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