Journal 8
Material: Collage
Population: Adults
Diagnosis: PTSD
In thinking about what material to try for my free choice this week, I was drawn to a process that I personally have found extremely centering when I feel stuck in trying to make art. Collage is versatile, can be made deeply personal, and is extremely accessible. I have found a method of collage that was introduced to me by Michele Rattigan. It was something she used with a client and I was so attracted to it that I had a burst of creativity and have been making them ever since. The technique involves finding a magazine or scrap piece of imagery and gluing it down on paper. I then use some drawing media (I enjoy oil pastels) to complete the image in whatever way I see fit. Sometimes, as in this image, I added an image I drew as well and other bits of magazine images. I have personally been able to tap into a lot of symbolism using these methods.
The population I chose is adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is defined by the DSM V as “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence,” by either having a direct experience of it, witnessing it, or hearing about it as is the case for first responders (2013 p. 143). This diagnosis comes with many symptoms that vary with the developmental age of the person. For my purposes with adults, some of the symptoms I would expect to see are intrusive memories of the event, hypervigilance, dissociation, avoiding behaviors surrounding connections with the event, gaps in memory, cognitive distortions, and isolation or detachment from others. In using this collage approach with this population, I am attempting to provide something simple, accessible, and non-threatening so as not to trigger high levels of frustration. As Chilton and Scotti quote Linesch, “collage provides a safe and structured resource in the difficult self-expression process,” (1988 p.47 cited in. 2014 p.163). The authors are describing arts-based research in their article, but I believe their views on how collage can provide different layers of meaning and symbolism to be very relevant to this population (2014). Trauma is not linear and thus, I feel using a nonlinear approach such as collage, which can be both structured and unstructured and reveal more and more as the piece progresses to be highly appropriate. We also know that the trauma memory shatters into different parts of the brain and body. This process of taking pieces and transforming them into something new is a highly effective metaphor for trauma. In my specific approach, we can use an inspiration image and fill in around it. The imagery that is drawn may be very perceptual, literally completing the image. It may also become symbolic which may give the art therapist more information about the client. I believe this approach could be very appropriate to introduce a client to art therapy in general specifically if they are experiencing numbness and dissociation as it provides simple grounding through the process of cutting and gluing and then centering by completing an image.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Publisher.
Chilton, G., & Scotti, V. (2014). Snipping, Gluing, Writing: The Properties of Collage as an Arts-Based Research Practice in Art Therapy. Art Therapy, 31(4), 163-171.
