This study utilized Moustakas’ heuristic methodology as the vehicle in which art creation was explored as a coping mechanism to fend off vicarious trauma when working with incarcerated juveniles with extensive trauma histories. During Moustakas’s initial engagement phase, the following questions were considered: What healthy coping mechanisms help a student deal with the harsh realities encountered in practicum? Can the art creation process fend off vicarious trauma? Can the art making process help the counter-‐transference and help as a container for residual emotions after contact with a client? The data gathered for the study included twenty pieces of art and twenty journal entries, along with a culminating art piece for the Creative Synthesis. Six major themes were found in the researcher’s art work: Figure drawing, Stream of Consciousness Narrative, Duality, Powerlessness/Trapped, Schema Shifts, and Color. The findings of this study suggest that art making acts as a container for negative emotions that result from working with more challenging clinical populations and assists in fending off vicarious trauma.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:lmu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.lmu.edu:etd-1122 |
| Date | 09 June 2014 |
| Creators | Wong, Laura M. |
| Publisher | Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School |
| Source Sets | Loyola Marymount University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations |
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