Art Therapy with Grieving Children and Adolescents

Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

Individual art therapy sessions at agencies, schools, and in home for children & teens who experienced the death of a loved one through illness, accident, suicide, or violence.

Children and teen grief support groups and workshops through art therapy

Art Therapy Overview

Art interventions that address:

Emotional expression of grief

Normalize and validate grief reactions

Strengthen coping

Death education

Memories and Memorializing

Art Therapy Goals

Adolescent Collage Death of Grandmother

Memory Collage Death of Father/ Illness

Adolescent Collage Death of Mother

Adolescent Collage Death of Father

Death of a Parent

Shatters sense of security & stability

Worries about financial and physical security

Feels different, isolated, alone

Concerns/worries about the surviving parent

Strong reactions triggered by rites of passage, special days and events

If relationship was conflicted or abusive, grieving can become very complicated

Grief Collage Murder of Mother

Grief Paper

Funny how “I can’t wait to get there” occasionally turns into “I can’t wait to get home.”

I like to write.

My mind sometimes feels like rocks with a blue sky even on the cloudiest days

I get unhappy on the sunniest days sometimes

My Grief is like… Murder of Mother

Grief Reactions Common Among Homicide Survivors

Feelings of vulnerability, helplessness, threat

Feelings of being out of control

Search for understanding

Need to find who is to blame, seek punishment

Intense feelings of anger, fear, powerlessness

PTSD symptoms: sleep disturbances, anger outbursts, hyper vigilance, startle response, difficulty concentrating, feelings of terror

Need to regain control and order

Teen Support GroupSuicide Survivor - Grief Reactions

Teen Support GroupSuicide Survivor- Feelings Mask

Inside/Outside Feelings Mask Death of Father/Suicide

Grief Reactions Common Among Suicide Survivors

Feelings of rejection & abandonment

Feelings of shame, humiliation, dishonor

Decrease in self-esteem, self worth due to feelings of inadequacy and failure

Intense anger or rage

Need to place blame

Intense guilt because of perceived preventability

Fear of genetic predisposition towards suicide

Search for understanding- Why?

Children’s Support Group Promoting Feeling Expression

Children’s Support Group Common Grief Reactions

Grief Monsters

Children’s Support Group Coping with Feelings & Grief Reactions

Children’s Support Group Funerals, Memorials, & Spirituality

Children’s Support Group Candle Memorial Ceremony

Children’s Support Group Art Display

Memory Poem & Photo Frame

Memory Drawing- Sunset with Dad

Family Art Therapy Workshop:Stepping Stones

Art Therapy Workshop:Memory Rocks

Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BCRegistered Board Certified Art Therapist

Certified Trauma Consultant

gretchenmiller@cox.netwww.gretchen-miller.com