The creation of a clay vessel is a metaphor for the therapeutic journey of a family affected by a rare disease

Main Article Content

Claire Woollatt https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4138-3849

Keywords

Family art therapy, rare diseases, clay processes, kintsugi

Abstract

This article is located within the South African rare disease community. The article draws from a master’s thesis and focuses on a case vignette of a family affected by a rare disease diagnosis. There is limited research in South Africa focused on family art therapy. This study established that art therapy processes can uncover resilience factors in families affected by trauma associated with a rare disease diagnosis. The original study consisted of four art therapy sessions focused on identifying resilience factors through family collaborative art using clay, a medium previously unexplored by the family. This article focuses on a single clay object created collaboratively by the family during the sessions. Literature draws from international studies on family art therapy, clay as material, kintsugi, and concepts of holding, containing, and transitional objects. The making and holding of the vessel and the vulnerability of brokenness and repair parallelled the family’s story. The distinct phases that emerged in the art therapy process included the malleability of clay in its raw form, the brittleness of the unfired form, the tentative strength of the piece as bisque, the stronger form as a glazed item, and kintsugi reparation. Findings conclude that an awareness of the family’s strength and resilience was symbolised through the object’s creation and repair. This awareness showed the importance of acknowledging struggles faced both medically and mentally by the family and protective factors they witnessed among each other during the study. Initial findings were positive, and further studies are recommended.

Abstract 62 | PDF Downloads 44

References

Arrington, D. B. (2001). Home is where the art is: An art therapy approach to family therapy. Charles C Thomas.
Bion, W. (1984). Elements of psychoanalysis. Karnac Books.
Blatner, A. (1991). Theoretical principles underlying creative arts therapies. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 18(5), 405–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-4556(91)90052-C
Borg, L. (2013). Holding, attaching and relating: A theoretical perspective on good enough therapy through analysis of Winnicott’s good enough mother, using Bowlby’s attachment theory and relational theory. Smith College (master’s thesis).
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.
Case, C., & Dalley, T. (2014). The handbook of art therapy (3rd edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315779799
Crowe, S., Cresswell, K., Robertson, A., Huby, G., Avery, A. J., & Sheikh, A. (2011). The case study approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11(1), 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-11-100
Douglas, E., & Dykeman, C. (2022). The impact of adding art therapy to a mindfulness enhancement training with a medical student. OSF. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/z82cv
Elbrecht, C., & Antcliff, L. R. (2014). Being touched through touch. Trauma treatment through haptic perception at the Clay Field: A sensorimotor art therapy. International Journal of Art Therapy, 19(1), 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2014.880932
Ferro, A., & Foresti, G. (2013). Bion and thinking. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 82(2), 361–391. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2167-4086.2013.00033.x
Fulkerson, M. (2011). The unity of haptic touch. Philosophical Psychology, 24(4), 493–516. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2011.556610
Goren-Bar, A. (2019). Clinical expressive arts therapy in theory and practice: Psychodynamic snapshots. Cambridge Scholars.
Green, D., Karafa, K., & Wilson, S. (2021). Art therapy with grieving children: Effect on affect in the dual-process model. Art Therapy, 38(4), 211–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2020.1823197
Hass-Cohen, N., Bokoch, R., Findlay, J., & Witting, A. (2018). A four-drawing art therapy trauma and resiliency protocol study. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 61, 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.02.003
Henley, D. (2002). Clayworks in art therapy: Plying the sacred circle. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Hinz, L. D. (2019). Expressive Therapies Continuum: A framework for using art in therapy (2nd edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429299339
Keulemans, G. (2016). The geo-cultural conditions of kintsugi. Journal of Modern Craft, 9(1), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/17496772.2016.1183946
King, J. L. (Ed.). (2016). Art therapy, trauma, and neuroscience: Theoretical and practical perspectives. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Lusebrink, V. B. (2004). Art therapy and the brain: An attempt to understand the underlying processes of art expression in therapy. Art Therapy, 21(3), 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2004.10129496
Lusebrink, V. B. (2010). Assessment and therapeutic application of the Expressive Therapies Continuum: Implications for brain structures and functions. Art Therapy, 27(4), 168–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2010.10129380
Lyddon, W. J., & McLaughlin, J. T. (1994). Constructivist psychology: A heuristic framework. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 13(1), 89–108.
Malchiodi, C. A. (2012). Developmental art therapy. In C. A. Malchiodi (Ed.), Handbook of art therapy (2nd edition). Guilford Publications. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.1996.10759182
Martin, G. N., Carlson, N. R., & Buskist, W. (2010). Psychology (4th ed). Allyn and Bacon.
Moon, C. H. (Ed.). (2010). Materials & media in art therapy: Critical understandings of diverse artistic vocabularies. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203858073
Moustakas, C. (1990). Heuristic research: Design, methodology, and applications. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995641
Pasanen, K. C. (2021). Kintsugi for forensic psychiatric patients, a literature study on its background, ideology, and important themes. University of Groningen (master’s thesis).
Perry, B. (2006). The neurosequential model of therapeutics: Applying principles of neuroscience to clinical work with traumatised and maltreated children. In N. B. Webb (Ed.), Working with traumatised youth in child welfare. Guilford Press.
Ponterotto, J. G. (2005). Qualitative research in counselling psychology: A primer on research paradigms and philosophy of science. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 52(2), 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.126
Price, A. (2021). Commentary: My pandemic grief and the Japanese art of kintsugi. British Medical Journal, 374, n1906. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1906
Rumi, J. (2019). What is heuristic enquiry, anyway? (pp. 1–22). SAGE Publication. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802632.n4
Sabados, D. (2024). A path toward healing: Integrating internal family systems and art therapy. Art Therapy, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2023.2292902
Santini, C. (2019). Kintsugi: Finding strength in imperfection. Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Scharff, J. S., & Scharff, D. E. (1997). Object relations couple therapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 51(2), 141–173. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1997.51.2.141
Schieppati, A., Henter, J., Daina, E., & Aperia, A. (2008). Why rare diseases are an important medical and social issue. The Lancet, 371(9629), 2039–2041. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60872-7
Schröder, T., Wiseman, H., & Orlinsky, D. (2009). “You were always on my mind”: Therapists’ intersession experiences in relation to their therapeutic practice, professional characteristics, and quality of life. Psychotherapy Research, 19(1), 42–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503300802326053
Shepard, A. O. (1985). Ceramics for the archaeologist. Carnegie Institute.
Sholt, M., & Gavron, T. (2006). Therapeutic qualities of clay-work in art therapy and psychotherapy: A review. Art Therapy, 23(2), 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2006.10129647
Silton, N. R. (Ed.). (2017). Exploring the benefits of creativity in education, media, and the arts. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0504-4
Tankersley, K., & Meinhart, J. (1982). Physical and structural properties of ceramic materials utilised by a fort ancient group. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 7(2), 225–243.
Wardi-Zonna, K. (2020). Finding Buddha in the clay studio: Lessons for art therapy. Art Therapy, 37(1), 42–45. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1656459
Winnicott, D. W. (1951). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena. In Collected papers: Through paediatrics to psycho-analysis (1958a) (Vol. 34, part 2, pp. 1–18). Tavistock.
Winnicott, D. W. (1975). Introduction by M. Masud R. Khan. In Collected papers: Through paediatrics to psycho-analysis. Basic Books.
Winnicott, D. W., Winnicott, C., Shepherd, R., & Davis, M. (2010). Psycho-analytic explorations. Karnac Books.
Wong, A. N. T., & Au, W. T. (2019). Effects of tactile experience during clay work creation in improving psychological well-being. Art Therapy, 36(4), 192–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2019.1645501

Similar Articles

1-10 of 31

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.