Reflective Writing #6: Found Objects
Population: Child
Disorder: Reactive Attachment Disorder (Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders)
When creating my found objects piece, I looked for items that I could put into a collage. I found some items that have meaning to me and some that were just lying around that would have been thrown away. This was a symbolic, perceptual, and cognitive experience for me. As we came together as a class, I was amazed at the possibilities of what could be considered a “found object.” I had only thought of things such as trash and small items you might not keep but the variety of what my classmates used was very eye opening.
The population that I chose for found objects are children with reactive attachment disorder. Children struggling with this disorder most likely do not have secure attachments in their life.
They might be able to use found objects as a transitional object from different locations. Camic and Neal state “Belk’s synthesis of research from multiple disciplines led him to conclude, “The idea that we make things a part of self by creating or altering them appears to be a universal human belief “(p. 144); objects can act as tools to extend the self to allow us to do something we would otherwise be incapable of; as mechanisms to aid the enhancement of personal power; to help us know who we are by observing what we have; and by enlarging our sense of self (pp. 145–146). Material objects also play a prominent role in the creation and maintenance of subjective wellbeing and ultimately life satisfaction” (2011, p. 152).
Found objects also open up the opportunity for children to be creative with what they are surrounded by. Bat Or and Megides also add to the benefit of using found objects saying, “to summarize, we identified four central aspects of found objects/readymade art that might be enacted in the process of creating: (a) the freedom from aesthetic conventions, (b) the approximation of reality in the space of art through re-location of real objects, (c) the integration of objects (some unrelated; some by accident), and (d) playfulness and humor (2016, p. 9).
References:
Camic, P. M., Brooker, J., & Neal, A. (2011). Found objects in clinical practice: Preliminary evidence. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38(3), 151-159.
Bat Or, M., & Megides, O. (2016). Found object/readymade art in the treatment of trauma and loss. Journal of Clinical Art Therapy, 3(1), 3.
