Adierian Art Therapy With Sexual Abuse and Assault Survivors

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Most people who experience trauma deal with a change in their life. Whether this trauma is from a car accident, being shot, being abused or being assaulted. "Trauma is understood…as an experienced event in which a person is non prepared for the psychological and physical results" (Saltzman, Matic, Marsden, 2013). In order for most individuals to process and get over a traumatic feel they encounter a therapist. This is specially truthful in cases of sexual corruption and assault. There are different types of therapy and therapists that be that individuals go to. Art therapy is a form of therapy that is neither highly respected nor regarded. Notwithstanding, even though it is not usually thought of when discussing therapy, it is an constructive process.

The effect of Adlerian Art Therapy (a subgroup of art therapy) on sexual abuse and assault is thoroughly discussed in the article Adlerian Art Therapy with Sexual Abuse and Assault Survivors written by Marni Saltzman, Monique Matic and Emily Marsden in 2013 (Saltzman, 2013). This article discusses three cases of individuals who have been sexually assaulted, driveling or both and how art therapy has been both therapeutic and insightful in their recovery processes (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Before diving into dissimilar possibilities of fine art therapy treatment, the article thoroughly explains the divergence between sexual assault and abuse. It as well talks nearly how they tin affect an individual in childhood and/or machismo (Saltzman et al. 2013). The article then goes on to discuss Adlerian Art Therapy, a therapist's interpretation and the do good that it can accept on a survivor (Saltzman, et al. 2013).

This article strongly supports the benefits that be from the therapeutic standpoint of art therapy. For people who practice not understand what this form of therapy is, the article can exist educational and expresses how patients have been changed for the better. Not simply is information technology beneficial for the survivor, but as well for the therapist. Adlerian Art Therapy helps both the therapist and the patient understand more than about the patient (survivor). "Adlerian art therapy is a multimodal approach to treatment because information technology entails visual, linguistic, symbolic, sensory and kinesthetic expression" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). When processing trauma, at that place are two subgroups of handling that exist. The starting time is desensitization of biological systems, edifice coping skills and support systems, and cognitive restructuring of the trauma narrative (Saltzman, et al. 2013). The 2d deals with a victim and client centered feminist approach (Saltzman, et al. 2013). This second subgroup incorporates the following: advocacy, empowerment and relational components (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Both of these subgroupings are involved in Adlerian Fine art Therapy and this incorporation of both is what makes information technology a multimodal approach (Saltzman, et al. 2013). This multimodal approach is beneficial in more than one way. One of the largest ways is through nonverbal communication.

Adlerian Art Therapy with Sexual Corruption and Assault Survivors strongly supports how benign art therapy can be to sexual assault or abuse victims. This is especially true when "the gravity and terror of the trauma…silences the survivor, which can make therapies that rely exclusively on exact communication too demanding and challenging" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Art therapy can provide a nonthreatening entry into an individual'south traumatic memory, specially those memories that are unable to exist accessed after a person goes through a traumatic experience (Saltzman, et al. 2013). This is an interesting concept and arroyo to trauma because most individuals who feel trauma equally severe as sexual set on or abuse have a difficult time talking nigh it.

The Adlerian psychological perspective largely emphasizes feelings of inferiority (Adlerian Psychology). This article focuses and argues how Adlerian Fine art Therapy helps identify feelings of inferiority without necessarily having the private direct admit to or accost it (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Art therapy is a voice for the people who cannot verbally express themselves. This grade of therapy can exist beneficial eve if it does not seem to be doing annihilation. Patients are non always fully aware that this process is happening when they are participating in a session. Sometimes the therapist guides the session in a particular direction and in different ways is able to learn information nearly the patient without being direct (Saltzman, et al. 2013). There are three elements that exist in a therapeutic art making feel: the observer, the official process and the product (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Most people solidly think of the production because it is the most recognizable – the artwork itself. However, fine art therapists are actively involved in the making. If they are not actively participating with the survivor, they are the observer who is constantly interpreting the meaning of the work being washed (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Even when they are participating this interpreting and observing is constantly being done (Saltzman, et al. 2013). It is important that the therapist understands the dissimilar meanings behind the patient'southward artwork and knows how to straight a session yet let the survivor be in charge to a signal.

The making of the artwork can be "a holistic snapshot of the survivor for the therapist… and a … therapeutic moment for the survivor to experience" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Equally a survivor works through a session and their traumatic retention is elicited through the artwork and their body is reacting. The amygdala is activated in response to the fear associated with the sexual assault or abuse that is being remembered (Saltzman, et al. 2013). The prefrontal cortex is activated in order to regulate these feelings that are existence felt (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Engaging the memory through the artwork in this manner causes different systems in the body to be activated and desensitization of the memory begins to occur (Saltzman et al. 2013). For whatsoever trauma patient this is extremely important.

How a traumatic experience influences a person socially is vital. This article discusses the different effects that sexual assault and abuse can have on a persons "social interest – the investment in something across oneself" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Information technology states that a survivor can reply to the world and to others later experiencing sexual attack or abuse in two unlike ways: safe guarding opinion – social isolation, numbness – or a superior stance – indiscriminate sexual behavior, interpersonal aggression (Saltzman, et al. 2013). These stances can accept a significant touch on on the survivor'southward interpersonal relationships (Saltzman, et al. 2013). A person's social interest and interaction is highly influenced throughout childhood. If a person experiences sexual assault or corruption during childhood, it is more than than probable going to have a developmental set back. There are differences in regards to what happens to an individual when they go through a traumatic experience. Many of these differences consequence in the age that the assault or abuse occurs. The mental consequence that this type of trauma has on an developed is entirely unlike than that of a childhood. A child will have the possibility of impairment to their personality development and their creative self (Saltzman, et al. 2013). An adult on the other manus already has a developed lifestyle. Because of this already developed lifestyle, the information will non influence their development; rather they will have to comprise the trauma into their already existent lifestyle (Saltzman, et al. 2013).

The article shows the benefits of Adlerian Art Therapy through three different cases. The first case is a 14-year-old boy, Darrel, who was separated from his mother from experiencing physical and emotional neglect and afterward being sexually abused by his older brother (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Darrel went through fine art therapy treatment with his foster mother every bit well equally treatments lone (Saltzman, et al. 2013). His foster mother passed away while he lived with her and he was removed (Saltzman, et al. 2013). All of these experiences took a toll on him and his life. Art therapy helped Darrel express his internal feelings, specifically in a nonverbal fashion when he could non bring himself to verbalize how he was feeling (Saltzman, et al. 2013). The fine art therapy procedure "mimicked the interpersonal dynamics of [Darrel's] everyday chat and interaction," and "independent both therapeutic benefit and psychological insight for Darrel" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). The use of fine art therapy on Darrel helped him tremendously and helped his therapist gain a deeper insight.

The second case involved a 23-twelvemonth-one-time woman named Lisa. She moved to America with her father. He struggled when he moved here, causing him to abuse her emotionally and physically (Saltzman, et al. 2013). When she moved out on her own, she had a female associate from her church sleep over one nighttime and woke upward to her sexually assaulting her (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Lisa attended both individual art therapy and group. The most benign fine art experiential for her was mask making. She felt that she was a person who wore a mask. "'[People] hibernate feeling like sadness and fear because they reveal [their] vulnerability' [and] for sexual assault survivors" these feeling can cause them to feel out of control (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Doing this detail experiential, Lisa was able to see the potential of her life without abstention and without pretense (Saltzman, et al. 2013).

The third case involved a 13-year-old girl named Maya (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Maya endured sexual abuse from ages 5-xi by her stepfather. She was also sexually assaulted at knifepoint, as well every bit kidnapped and assaulted for the period of a week (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Of all iii of these cases Maya was the most isolated and setback. She attended both individual art therapy sessions every bit well as group (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Maya had internalized that what had happened was her fault (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Art therapy helped her express her feelings nonverbally. The nearly beneficial was a center that had a jagged dissever downwardly the center (Saltzman, et al. 2013). This center symbolized injure and isolation from her by experiences (Saltzman, et al. 2013). Past attention the art therapy groups, she was able to open up and class a connexion with others. Her participation in-group helped "shift her focus from cocky to others, to change her beliefs and to encourage social involvement" (Saltzman, et al. 2013).

All three of these cases exhibit the different ways that Adlerian Fine art Therapy has helped private's process their trauma and helped them motion on with their life. At that place were no flaws in how it was done and each instance presented a different mode to use art therapy. Making the art had a positive effect on the survivors and helped to enlighten the therapist and so that they could enhance the therapeutic relationship between themselves and their patient. These cases and the entire commodity shows that, "Adlerian art therapy assists the survivor to speak volumes without words while simultaneously providing the therapeutic benefits of a cognitive, sensory, and relationally-based trauma therapy" (Saltzman, et al. 2013). This article was thorough and did not pose any real issues, controversies or questions in regards to how it works and the benefiting from it.

These three cases each used a dissimilar form of art experiential to help the survivors. The experiential that was created personally to go along with this assignment is a puzzle. However, this is not only whatever puzzle. The experiential has an overall pattern when the puzzle is pieced together. The job of the survivor would be to make a puzzle with the idea of everything happens to create them equally an individual. Each slice of the puzzle fits together nicely to form an prototype in the end, fifty-fifty though at the beginning of the puzzle you may non know the overall outcome. The survivor is to come up up with different things in their life such as the assail and different experiences and outcomes due to what they went through and write a dissimilar thing that contributes to their life as a whole and makes them who they are. The survivor should also leave some of the puzzle pieces bare and then cut them out to make individual pieces that can be put together. When the puzzle is autonomously it looks challenging, difficult and similar a mess. Without looking at specific things it does not expect like it fits together. Yet, when placing the puzzle together, all the pieces fit and come up together, showing that every slice exists for a reason. The pieces are to represent the individual'south life experiences and relations surrounding the assault or any other traumatic event. The puzzle equally a whole represents the individual's life. As the survivor pieces the puzzle together, they begin to realize that all pieces need to be for the puzzle to work. Everything has a reason and everything that has occurred in their life has made them the unique and special individual that they are. Without these experiences, simply similar a puzzle, without all the pieces, there would be no whole. The survivor would be a different person.

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