Using Children's Drawings
in Art & Play Therapy

Art and drawing help traumatized children externalize and concretize their experience in a language that can then be cognitively reframed. Sensory-based interventions are key in facilitating trauma debriefing, re-enactment, and resolution. This course provides a foundation for why drawing and art activities enhance trauma intervention and our understanding of PTSD in children. Participants will learn how to recognize the signs of PTSD in children’s art and specific interventions for use in schools, shelters, hospitals and clinics.

This course is a requirement for Level-2 Certification. You do not need to be enrolled in the Certification Program to attend this course.

Brief Description of Instructional Format:

Videotaped segments of interviews with traumatized children are used to demonstrate intervention process. Didactic presentation provides information and framework related to PTSD; break out sessions provide participants opportunities to practice strategies presented. Multiple handouts provide checklists, etc.

Goal:

To provide participants with an overview of the history of and use of art therapy with trauma victims.

Session Objectives:

To present participants with an overview of art intervention strategies for working with traumatized children during their crisis and to guide participants in evaluating the appropriateness of their interventions with current cases.

Learning Objectives:

Learner will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge in the use of art therapy in the treatment of traumatized children, adolescents and families.
• To provide current theoretical and practical knowledge of the use of art therapy with traumatized children and adolescents who have been exposed to either violent or non-violent trauma inducing incidents.