Empowering Children Through Art and Expression - by Bruce St Thomas & Paul Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

This book combines personal and professional perspectives, using case examples as well as the authors' own childhood experiences, to demonstrate practical strategies for use with children, from drama and storytelling to sculpting with clay. It also equips the reader with knowledge of the theory behind these intervention techniques.

Book Synopsis

Empowering Children through Art and Expression examines the successful use of arts and expressive therapies with children, and in particular those whose lives have been disrupted by forced relocation with their families to a different culture or community.

The book explores how children express and resolve unspoken feelings about traumatic experiences in play and other creative activities, based on their observations of peer support groups, outreach programs and through individuals' own accounts. The authors argue that such activities in a safe context can be both a means of expressing trauma and a coping strategy for children to overcome it. This book combines personal and professional perspectives, using case examples as well as the authors' own childhood experiences, to demonstrate practical strategies for use with children, from drama and storytelling to sculpting with clay. It also equips the reader with knowledge of the theory behind these intervention techniques.

This book will be a valuable resource for professionals working with traumatized children who have experienced loss, grief, relocation and other kinds of trauma.

Review Quotes

The writing is accessible and informed, and the authors have offered practical and valuable insights drawn from their experiences in the field. In the end, this is a useful book for professionals who work with children suffering from grief, loss and trauma.--International Journal of Children's Spirituality

This bookmprovides an invaluable contribution to the available resources on working with bereaved children'.--Bereavement Care

Ultimately this is a book about empowerment using creative approaches and is a useful addition in the field of trauma and grief work.--British Journal of Psychodrama and Sociodrama

About the Author

Bruce St Thomas has an Ed.D in Counselling Psychology from the University of Maine at Orono, along with over 30 years of clinical consultation experience with children, families, therapeutic groups, community programs and educational organizations. He has published numerous articles, programs and audiotapes on guided imagery, therapeutic work with trauma and art therapy. Paul Johnson has a DSW and is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Maine. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern Maine. He has over 20 years' experience in social work in both the UK and the US. He has published a number of articles on children, trauma and loss.