Lost for words: drawing as a visual product and process to give voice to silenced experiences
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2014
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Hodge, L.
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Chonody, J.M.
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Book chapter
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Source details - Title: Community Art: Creative Approaches to Practice, 2014 / Chonody, J.M. (ed./s), Ch.5, pp.60-76
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Abstract
The central purpose of using drawings as a tool in research and therapy is to facilitate movement from internal to external expression, from silence to voice,from disconnection to connection, from dis-empowerment to empowerment.Drawings can give voice to that which has been unspeakable. The use of drawing as a resource to give disadvantaged groups a voice has been well established. For example, drawing has been utilised with children who are living in situations of political violence (Lykes, 1994), have chronic illness (Sartain, Clarke, & Heyman, 2000), have been exposed to domestic violence, physical and/or sexual abuse(Lefevre, 2004), to regulate emotions (Drake & Winnder, 2013), and whose parents are divorcing (Cordell & Bergman-Meador, 1991). The philosophy of art therapy more broadly, however, views drawing, and a variety of other art forms,as methods of expression available to everyone, regardless of age or abilities as everyone has the ability to be creative (Malchiodi, 2007). As such, it has also been utilised with women who are incarcerated (Merriam, 1998), living with post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from events such as war, violence, and natural disasters (Avrahami, 2006), sexual abuse survivors (Brooke, 1995),struggling with an eating disorder (Hinz, 2006), and diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (Eastwood, 2012). A container for powerful, potentially destructive emotions, drawing is a safe and acceptable way to release feelings such as anger and aggression.
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Copyright 2014 Jill M. Chonody