Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children

by Cathy A. Malchiodi (Editor), Bruce D. Perry (Foreword)

Rare book

Genres: Psychology, Counselling, Social Work, Parenting, Nonfiction

332 pages, Hardcover

Published January 8, 2008

About the author

Cathy Malchiodi is an art therapist, visual artist, research psychologist, and author in the fields of art therapy, trauma-informed practice, and art in healthcare.

Cathy is a leading international expert in the "healing arts" fields of art therapy, art in healthcare, and expressive therapies, and has 25 years experience in trauma intervention and trauma-informed practice. She has published numerous books, including, The Art Therapy Sourcebook, Handbook or Art Therapy, Expressive Therapies, Understanding Children's Drawings, and Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children, all of which have become standard texts; she has also published more than 50 invited book chapters and refereed articles and reviews various mental health journals. A popular speaker, Cathy has given over 300 invited keynotes, workshops, and courses throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Lesley University's Expressive Therapies Department for over 20 years and has been a visiting professor and lecturer at numerous universities throughout the US.

She is a research psychologist, a Board Certified and Licensed Professional Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Certified Trauma and Loss Educator with expertise in trauma-informed care, interpersonal violence intervention and disaster relief with children, adults, and families. She is the originator of the practice of "trauma-informed art therapy," an approach based on resilience-enhancement, mindfulness, sensory-based intervention, and body/mind principles.

Cathy has provided consultation, service, and expertise to a wide variety of community, national, and international agencies, including the International Child Art Foundation, Department of Defense, Issues Deliberation America/Australia, American Art Therapy Association, International Medical Corp, and Save the Children Foundation. Cathy has also served on the boards of American Counseling Association (ACA), distinguished as the first Representative from the Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC); President of the Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development (C-AHEAD); American Art Therapy Association (AATA); Delegate to 20/20 National Future of Counseling Task Force with ACA; Research and Ethics Committees of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare; International Advisory Board, International Child Art Foundation; Advisory Board for Alzheimer's Association of America; and on numerous national and international boards in mental health, education, counseling, arts, and public service. In honor of her clinical and academic contributions, Cathy is the first and only person to have received all three of the American Art Therapy Association’s highest honors: Distinguished Service Award, Clinician Award, and Honorary Life Member Award. She is the recipient of Kennedy Center Honors and a Very Special Arts (VSA) Award for her art therapy work in Hong Kong and Beijing and is the recipient of the Willam Steele Award for her outstanding contributions to the field of trauma intervention with children.

Cathy's current passion includes bringing together the art therapy community worldwide; to this end, she founded the International Art Therapy Organization in May 2009, a network of approximately 3000 professionals and students across the globe. In April 2010, she co-founded the non-profit group Art Therapy Without Borders (ATWB), an organization dedicated to using art therapy to wake up the world through service, education, research, and global networking.

Cathy currently resides in the decidedly weird city of Louisville, Kentucky with husband David and furry feline supervisors and task masters, Zoolee and Chaplin. And even though she worked hard for her psychology doctorate and has penned more stuff than she can remember, she often finds humor in her peers' overuse of the prefix "Dr." on their websites and memos [particularly when they use PhD at the other

Reviews

[Theresa Leone Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that details different therapies, all creative, to deal with children who have been traumatized. The original reason I had the library get me this was because one of the chapters, 'Grieving in the Public Eye,' was written by a friend and former roommate, Laura Loumeau-May. Laura is an artist and art therapist, and her chapter details how she treated specific clients, those who were the children of victims of the World Trade Center attacks. She used many creative ideas, including heart shaped collages and memorial projects, to help these kids deal with their grief and overwhelming sense of loss. Although I am a teacher, not someone in this field, I found it very interesting. Other chapters I particularly liked included one by P. Gussie Klorer, that dealt with treating children with attachment issues. One of the ideas is to have her clients create life sized dolls; one of her clients, a foster child who for a long time felt that it would be a betrayal of her biological mother to love her foster parents, used the doll to say and do the things she could not. Very interesting. Also, the chapter by Russell E. Hilliard about using music therapy with traumatized children in group therapy was fascinating, as was another chapter, by Craig Haen, about using drama therapy, something that is apparently somewhat uncommon, to treat children who have been the victims of abuse or trauma. Besides Loumeau-May's chapter, the two I enjoyed the most both dealt with literacy as a form of treatment (no doubt because I am a Language Arts teacher), one by Ann Cattanach entitled 'Working Creatively with Children and Their Families after Trauma: The Storied Life,' and another by the editor of the book, Cathy Malchiodi, and Deanne Ginns-Gruenberg, entitled 'Trauma, Loss, and Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Stories.' Very cool how they write about using literature as a form of intervention, including having their clients read specific stories, and by identifying with the characters, they gain increased understanding and insight into their own problems, and integrating ideas or themes from existing stories into their own stories, they come to better understand the issues they face. Lots of case stories and how these ideas work for their clients. If there is any criticism I have of the book, and I acknowledge I am NOT in this field so this is purely an opinion, it is with the chapter by Diane S. Safran and Elysa R. Safran, entitled 'Creative Approaches to Minimize the Traumatic Impact of Bullying Behavior.' I had issues with some of what they wrote, which seemed too pat and unrealistic, including the case study of a student who categorizes his victimization at school by bullies as being 'terrorized.' Yet after three months of drawing pictures he's all better and can handle the bullying by walking away. Either details were missing from this account or the results were skewed because if one is being truly 'terrorized' at school, which far too many students are, walking away is not usually an option. Nevertheless, an illuminating book that I would highly recommend.

[Elise Reding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a million post its protruding from the book as it was filled with such great, practical, hands on activities I want to use with the kiddos I work with in day treatment. I highly recommend this to providers working with children who have experienced trauma.

[Nicholas Poveda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my “Trauma Focused Play Therapy” class. Really great book with different interventions to use with children who have gone through traumatic events. Though I don’t see myself using some of the interventions explored, this book has ideas that I’m adding to my repertoire.

[Chava · Rating 3 out of 5]

an okay book. I don't use it much, but it has some interesting ideas