The functions of art-making in CISD with children and youth

Very little has been written about the use of art materials in the debriefing process with young children apart from the familiar assumptions of increasing comfort in the situation and providing a more concrete way for young children to communicate. In this study, art-making was introduced as an integral, although optional, component of the debriefing process in order to examine more fully the functions of art-making in this context. This paper describes a research process and findings from a series of debriefings with four different groups of children and adolescents who had experienced either primary traumatic effects (i.e., were present during a traumatic event) or secondary traumatic effects (i.e., were impacted by a trauma that happened to someone else). The analysis of the artwork and of the comments of the participants are integrated within a theoretical framework combining ideas from the fields of art therapy and the treatment of trauma. From this analysis, there is a description of four functions of art-making in CISD with this population: (a) to increase comfort and emotional safety, (b) to promote expression of thoughts and feelings, (c) to enhance appropriate containment of emotion, and (d) to support ego-strengths. The primary contribution of this research is to offer a clear articulation of the rationale for the consistent use of art-making in CISD with children and youth, and to do so in a way that makes this option available for all debriefers, not just those who are trained as art therapists.