Date of Award

Spring 5-5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Raquel Stephenson, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LCAT

Abstract

Traumatic stress can disrupt systemic rhythms in the brain and body that enable a person to feel safe in the world. Therefore, the initial phase of trauma treatment must focus on establishing an embodied sense of safety. This literature review examined cross-disciplinary data to assess whether art therapy can help trauma survivors access an embodied sense of safety, and if so, what therapeutic mechanisms contribute to its effectiveness. The data indicated that trauma-informed art therapy can support an embodied sense of safety through activating key therapeutic factors that downregulate instinctual defense mechanisms which can occur as a result of traumatic stress. Results revealed seven therapeutic factors that contributed to feelings of safety: therapeutic alliance; group belonging; synchrony with the natural world; affect regulation; sensory integration; a positive emotional state; and a sense of agency. Additionally, the paper outlines specific art therapy interventions that exemplify each therapeutic factor, and mechanisms that can illuminate how these therapeutic factors support an embodied sense of safety. The Thai version is available via a link under “Additional Files” at the bottom of this web page.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Thai version pdf(7).pdf (711 kB)
Thai language version

Previous Versions

Dec 6 2023

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