Table Of ContentArt Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth
Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth highlights the paradigm shift to treating
children and adolescents as “at- promise” rather than “at- risk.” By utilizing a strength-
based model that moves in opposition to pathology, this volume presents a client- allied
modality wherein youth are given the opportunity to express emotions that can be
difficult to convey using words. Working internationally with diverse groups of young
people grappling with various forms of trauma, 30 contributing therapists share their
processes, informed by current understandings of neurobiology, attachment theory,
and developmental psychology. In addition to guiding principles and real- world
examples, also included are practical directives, strategies, and applications. Together,
this compilation highlights the promise of healing through the creative arts in the face
of oppression.
Marygrace Berberian is a clinical assistant professor at New York University.
Ms. Berberian has invested her 25 year career establishing community-based art therapy
initiatives for children and families at-promise.
Benjamin Davis is a psychotherapist, educator, and consultant in New York City,
focusing on non-pathologizing treatment models for LGBTQ individuals across the
lifespan.
Art Therapy Practices
for Resilient Youth
A Strengths- Based Approach
to At- Promise Children and
Adolescents
Edited by Marygrace Berberian and
Benjamin Davis
First published 2020
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Taylor & Francis
The right of Marygrace Berberian and Benjamin Davis to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Berberian, Marygrace, editor. | Davis, Benjamin, editor.
Title: Art therapy practices for resilient youth : a strengths-based
approach to at-promise children and adolescents / Marygrace
Berberian and Benjamin Davis.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019051070 (print) | LCCN 2019051071 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138293502 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138293519 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781315229379 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Art therapy for children. | Art therapy for youth.
Classification: LCC RJ505.A7 A788 2020 (print) | LCC RJ505.A7 (ebook) |
DDC 618.92/891656—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051070
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051071
ISBN: 978-1-13829-350-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-13829-351-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-31522-937-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Minion
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the eResource: www.routledge.com/9781138293519
Dedicated to Madeline and Ella. Your love, creativity, and courage have inspired
my continued cultivation of community support in this ever-changing world. Your
bright, passionate spirits lift me. I love you always.
–Mommy
Immense gratitude to my parents, grandparents and great grandparents whose
survival and lives modeled unswerving resiliency amidst life’s most adverse blows.
Special thanks to my husband, Ken Hutchinson who has tirelessly supported my
work.
–Marygrace
Contents
List of Contributors x
Acknowledgments xiii
Foreword xiv
IKUKO ACOSTA
1 Introduction 1
MARYGRACE BERBERIAN AND BENJAMIN DAVIS
2 Creative Problem Solving in Art Therapy: An Overview of
Benefits to Promote Resilience 13
MARYGRACE BERBERIAN
3 Art as Communication for Young People 33
ASHLEY CLAIRE WOOD
Part I Disruptions in Early Individual Development 51
4 “My Passed!!!”: A Case Study in the Efficacy of Art Therapy
With Adolescents With Complex Trauma and Attachment
Disruptions 53
MARIA K. WALKER
5 Promoting Resilience Through Attachment in Early Childhood
Art Therapy Intervention 79
KIMBERLY BUSH
6 The Mind, the Body, and the Creative Process: Embodied
Representations in Art Therapy 95
ELSA PELIER
7 Building a Therapeutic Relationship With Children Who
Have Severe and Multiple Disabilities 119
TAMI HERZOG-R ODRIGUEZ
8 On Becoming Whole: Paul’s Journey Through Heart
Transplant 131
SARAH YAZDIAN RUBIN AND LAUREN DANA SMITH
9 Strength- Based Art Therapy With Adolescent
Psychiatric Patients 159
CHRISTOPHER MAJOR
vii
viii • Contents
10 DASH©—Draw a Superhero: The Role and Significance
of the Superhero in the Art of Children With Trauma 175
CHRISTINA A. GROSSO
11 Finding Safe Spaces in “Jars”: Stamping Containers in Substance
Use Treatment 189
RAWAN BAJSAIR
12 From Black and White to Color: Staying in the Metaphor Alongside
Male Adolescents With Problematic Sexual Behaviors 207
LUCÍA CRISTINA HERNÁNDEZ
Part II Disruptions in Family Systems 225
13 Cultivating Resilience Through Creative Altruism With
Institutionalized Youth in Foster Care 227
MIA DE BETHUNE AND KELLEY LINHARDT
14 Effects of Art Therapy on Identity and Self- Esteem in Adolescents
in the Foster Care System 253
CHELSEY GUTIERREZ
15 ARTogether: Putting Community at the Center of Family Visits 267
SARAH POUSTY
16 Drawing to Disclose: Empowering Child Victims and Witnesses in
Investigative Interviews 285
MARCIA SUE COHEN- LIEBMAN
17 Resilience of Youth Overcoming Divorce- Related Stressors 313
ROBYN SPODEK- SCHINDLER
Part III Consequences of Global and Systemic Stress and Inequalities 335
18 Conflict and Displacement: Finding the Space for Creativity 337
ANNIE G. BONZ, SOFIA DEL CARMEN CASAS,
AND ASLI ARSLANBEK
19 Neither Here nor There: Art Therapy With Unaccompanied
Adolescents Seeking Asylum in the United States 359
PATRICIA LANDÍNEZ GONZÁLEZ
20 Making Artistic Noise: Amplifying the Voices of Court- Involved Youth 381
YASMINE AWAIS AND LAUREN ADELMAN
21 Fighting Isolation and Celebrating Gender Diversity: Art Therapy
With Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth 403
BENJAMIN DAVIS
Contents • ix
22 School- Based Art Therapy: Filling the Void 425
MARYGRACE BERBERIAN
23 A Journey of Hope: Art Therapy With an Unaccompanied Minor 447
EILEEN P. MCGANN
24 Art Therapy With Bereaved Youth 471
MARIA KONDRATIEV SOSSI
25 Learning From Mistakes in Adolescent Art Therapy 491
NICOLE BRANDSTRUP, GRETCHEN M. MILLER,
AND JORDAN S. POTASH
Index 507
