Art therapy with grieving adolescents in an inpatient setting: An exploration of media and materials

This capstone thesis explored loss and how art therapy can help the grieving process for adolescents in an inpatient setting. The literature review integrated foundational and contextual models of grief and loss, while integrating cultural considerations. This included topics such as adolescence and bereavement, how adolescents understand death, how they can react, and what factors affect an individual’s bereavement process, that is often not linear. The literature review also contextualized the plethora of treatment settings available to adolescents in need of support. Typical therapies available to adolescents included cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma informed care, and meta-verbal therapies such as expressive, dance/movement, music, and the focus of this capstone, art therapy. Examples of art therapy utilized with adolescents for their wide bereavement responses were shared to conceptualize specific media and materiality uses. This capstone researcher actively investigated how four different types of materials and directives may be used with bereaved adolescents in an inpatient setting. Specific media materials and processes explored were collage materials, postcards, memorial boxes, and old books for black out poetry. Conclusions noted how these specific media worked in both direct and indirect ways with bereavement and that all types of losses, not just death of a loved one, can trigger signs of grief for adolescents, especially those with low protective factors. Moreover, and via working in an inpatient setting, this researcher surmised that every adolescent is at a different point of their grief journey and that structured art therapy materials use and adaptation can allow for safety and autonomy, so each adolescent decides what and when they were ready and/or willing to share within a group of their peers. The capstone concluded that topics of grief and bereavement can be applied ethically and creatively in inpatient settings to encourage long-term support and enhanced self-awareness for adolescents.M.A., Art Therapy and Counseling -- Drexel University, 201