I chose to take a closer look at some studies of guided imagery and its effect on children. I chose this topic because I am curious to know more about this therapeutic modality, as I do not have extensive experience with it. I chose children as my population because I have experience counseling kids of all ages in a school setting and would like to learn more about how guided imagery may be an effective resource in working with them.
A 1998 12-week study published in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development looked at how the use of guided affective and cognitive imagery affected self-esteem among Hawaiian children. The article states that lowered self-esteem is a common issue among Hawaiian children, as the values of their culture are different from that of the mainstream educational system which recognizes autonomy, independence, and competition as a form of success; the Hawaiian culture places more emphasis on group effort and recognition of the group as a whole. Lowered levels of self-esteem put the kids at increased risk of feeling alienated and powerless, as well as committing crimes later in life. In this particular study, the sample group included 60 children (26 boys and 34 girls) ages 8 to 12, and all are at least 25% Hawaiian. The experimental group included 14 boys and 16 girls. Various inventories were administered at the beginning and end of the study and covered topics such as academic/school-related self-esteem, social/peer-related self-esteem, general self-esteem, and home/parent-related self-esteem. The children were administered a series of weekly 45-minute guided imagery exercises, which addressed issues such as problem solving, self-defeating behaviors, family, self-affirmation, relaxation...
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Omizo, M., Omizo, S. & Kitaoka, S. (January 1998). Guided Affective and Cognitive Imagery to Enhance Self-Esteem Among Hawaiian Children. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 26(1), 52-62. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=7&sid=f57a5e26-4b34-42dd-b776-5f5819fa60e3%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=246730
Schoettle, U.C. (April 1980). Guided Imagery - A Tool in Child Psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 34(2), 220-227. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&hid=7&sid=f57a5e26-4b34-42dd-b776-5f5819fa60e3%40sessionmgr14
For example, adolescents are often forced into therapy by their parents or school as a result of an inability to cope with stress in a socially acceptable way. Patients at this stage are too old to engage in play therapy, where therapists analyze a child’s behavior during play and when presented with toys. Also, patients acting out during adolescence are often too young to obtain the maturity to verbalize their emotions in a socially acceptable form. Art therapy is useful at this stage of development because similar impulses expressed in play therapy are expressed through drawings, meanwhile not requiring verbal communication. Art therapy introduces the mature defense mechanism of sublimation to the patient, guiding them to achieve better self control as they learn to communicate their impulses through art and talking about their art. A particular form of therapy is managed in groups, and adolescents are encouraged to engage in conversation about their drawings while they are creating them. This creates an environment of low anxiety, allowing patients communicate internal conflict and disregard their normal defense mechanisms that are used to conceal these emotions. The defense mechanism of sublimation is apparent in this process, as the use of color, composition, space and shapes to provide an
Friedberg, R. D., McClure, J. M., & Garcia, J. H. (2009). Cognitive therapy techniques for children and adolescents: Tools for enhancing practice. New York: Guilford Press.
The United States educational system faces a major challenge in addressing the disenfranchisement of youth due to poverty and racism in the schools. The U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 found that “currently about one-quarter of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans are living in poverty in the U.S. compared to less than 10% of Asian Americans or Whites.” (Hughes et al. 2010, p. 2) Hughes, Newkirk & Stenhjem (2010) identified the stressors children living in poverty faced caused young adolescents to suffer mental and physical health issues which resulted in anxiety, hypertension, fear and depression. Lack of health care, neighborhood crime levels, joblessness, prejudice, and inadequate housing are among the many reasons multi-cultural youth from high poverty backgrounds become disenfranchised from the American school system. Race, racism, and poverty combine to create a triple jeopardy which severely impacts the fulfillment of the need of young adolescents to experience a sense of belonging and cultural competence. Lack of supportive environments both in school, society, work, and family life often prevent students from developing the cultural competence minority students must develop in order to become fully successful. For the purposes of this essay key issues were identified regarding the disenfranchisement of Native American youth, such as systemic prejudice and cultural bias within the school system which resulted in loss of connectedness of Navajo youth to school, teachers, and family. Galliher, Jones, & Dahl (2010) identified cultural connectedness as being the key component necessary in order to reengage the Native American student within the educational environment.
McCubbin, L.D. (2002). Resilience among Native Hawaiian adolescents: Ethnic identity, psychological distress and well-being. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI.
The clients will be asked as a group to recall any other times they have had these feelings, with the therapist validating and normalizing clients’ feelings, explaining interactions between childhood trauma and self-image, expectations of others (including difficulty trusting), and any feelings related to power (Slotoroff, 1994). The therapist will ensure that a thorough follow-up of intense emotional provocations is provided for each client for the rest of the sessions. A recorded musical listening exercise while painting or drawing will close this session, taking pieces that evolve from this potentially angry emotional place to a more contemplative, and then a more joyous
Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks Cole.
Dates of publication were not used as selection criteria given the limited research available and the early inception of art therapy as an intervention (Dunn-Snow & D’Amelio, 2000). Only three of the nine studies selected for this literature review occurred within the past ten years (see Figure 1).
“Art therapy is a form of therapy in making of visual images (paintings, drawings, models etc.) in the presences of a qualified art therapist contributes towards externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed”(Walter & Gilory, 1992).
Friedberg, R. D., McClure, J. M. & Garcia, J. H. (2009). Cognitive therapy techniques for children and adolescents: Tools for enhancing practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press
Since EMDR shows significant results when working with cases of adults who suffer trauma and children with self-esteem and behavioral problems, EMDR has the potential to be a beneficial treatment for children who experience emotional child abuse. EMDR is helpful to children because it does not require the child to disclose specific details of the trauma. While the child talks about the trauma broadly, the clinician requests him to make a visual image in his mind. In addition, EMDR does not require homework, specific insight, or intelligence (Luber & Shapiro, 2009). Applying EMDR to emotional child abuse potentially allows children to reach a lasting, stable resolution to the trauma faster.
Fonagy, P. (1999). Relation of theory and practice in psychodynamic therapy. Journal Of Clinical Child Psychology, 28(4), 513--520.
#*Visualization allows a dissociating person to use his or her mind to draw up a safe and peaceful place. When upsetting thoughts, feelings, or images arise, he can imagine that he is in a safe place which helps with coping.
One of the disadvantages of art therapy is that the therapist is more vulnerable to misinterpretation in terms of the objective understanding of content. Care must be taken not to make rapid interpretations on the specific piece of art which might prevent or even deny the client the satisfaction of discovering and finding out for herself (Case and Dalley, p. 65). This is because art therapy involves a lot of interpretation, it is understandable that critics about this technique are similar to that of psychotherapy. The client’s images can come across as many things with contrasting ideas, but only the individual themself can explain it. The therapist is urged not to point out obvious red signals, instead they should allow the client to come up with their own interpretations. Their own interpretations alone are something to make note of as it may shed some light on the client's thought process about the
Unlike the usual talk therapy where the person has to talk to a therapist, a child could be overwhelmed by fear and have difficulties expressing themselves in that uptight environment, answering questions directly. Art Therapy comes into play to help those children express their issues since they are naturally more creative and it is, overall, easier for them to do compared to counseling. Art Therapy can help children relieve stress, increase awareness of self, and develop healthy and effective coping skills (Art Therapy Journal 1). Art Therapy can help children with all sorts of problems they could be dealing with including: Childhood trauma, a death of a loved one, learning disabilities, mental disorders, and much more. Children of all ages, nationalities, races and cultures can benefit from art therapy. Programs are developed around a child’s strengths and abilities, so the kid can use the medium even if he or she has never picked up a crayon before (Art Therapy Journal 1). Even though every child is different, Art Therapy is proven to be very effective for the majority of the time. Some children may pour their hearts and mind into an art piece while others could be more timid about it and would need space. How Art Therapy works according to the Art Therapy Journal is that Art therapists provide kids with age-appropriate art supplies and set them free to express themselves. More often than not, the therapist will give the child a prompt to get them started. For example, he may ask the child to draw a house or favorite food. After the pictures have been completed, the therapist will begin to question the child about various aspects of the artwork in an effort to understand what the thoughts or feelings it represents. The therapist will then use that feedback to develop an effective treatment program that will help the child move forward