Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
In this phenomenological study, art therapy is explored and described for its mediating effect on the grieving process of parents who have been traumatically bereaved by the loss of a child. The focus is on the ‘inner world’ of the bereaved parents and their subjective experience of being part of a psychotherapy group that uses artworks, as well as language, to explore and express feelings and to clarify existential meaning systems.
Traumatic bereavement can result in detrimental long-term psychological consequences. The therapeutic value of existing grief therapies is currently under debate in the literature. To evaluate art therapy as an alternative therapeutic approach, art therapy sessions were held and a ‘text’, consisting of the participants’ artworks and reflections, established. From this text themes were drawn, which facilitated an in-depth understanding of the participants’ lived experience of traumatic bereavement and elucidated their perceptions of the usefulness of art therapy.
Art therapy appears to offer a viable alternative to mainstream, language-based therapies. It provides a context in which creative play can facilitate healing and angry feelings sublimated. It assists the participants to rebuild their fragmented sense of ‘self’ through an exploration of their ‘inner world’ via the symbolic function of the artwork. It facilitates the revisiting of the traumatic event and encourages the reconstruction of new meaning. It promotes adaptive grieving through the expression of emotions and cognitions too painful and/or threatening to be verbalised.