Healing traumatized children: creating illustrated storybooks in family therapy

Family Process
Lesley Hanney, Kasia Kozlowska

Abstract

In this article we describe the therapeutic practice of creating illustrated storybooks in family therapy with traumatized children. Illustrated stories offer a predictable structure to sessions and facilitate engagement and participation of children in therapy. The therapeutic emphasis of storybooks can be adjusted to take into account a child's life story, verbal capacity, level of anxiety, and traumatic hyperarousal. The creation of storybooks is an active process that embraces important aspects of trauma-specific interventions, including expression of trauma-related feelings; clarification of erroneous beliefs about the self, others, or the traumatic event; and externalization of traumatic stimuli into artwork, allowing for exposure and habituation of the arousal response. A focus on visual images together with narrative takes advantage of children's developmental capacities and spontaneous pleasure in the creation of art, thus minimizing anxiety and enhancing feelings of mastery, competence, and hope. The creation of storybooks is compatible with family interventions that foster a safe family context, strengthen attachment relationships, insure appropriate structure and boundaries, and enhance parenting capacity as well as...Continue Reading

References

Jan 1, 1978·British Heart Journal·C RobinsonD Jewitt
Dec 1, 1976·Journal of Medical Genetics·E BoisM L Briard
Nov 1, 1991·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·B L GreenS Smitson-Cohen
Dec 1, 1991·The American Journal of Psychiatry·B A van der KolkJ L Herman
Sep 1, 1990·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·E DeblingerD Henry
Sep 1, 1987·Journal of Affective Disorders·B A van der Kolk
Sep 1, 1988·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·A C McFarlane
Dec 1, 1987·Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics : JDBP·J A Lyons
Jan 1, 1988·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·L Terr
May 29, 1987·Science·R W ThatcherS Giudice
Jan 1, 1987·Child Abuse & Neglect·J R Conte, J R Schuerman
Jan 1, 1986·The Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation·J E Norris, M Burtscher
Apr 1, 1985·Psychosomatics·L S Schneider, S Eth
Feb 1, 1969·Journal of Projective Techniques & Personality Assessment·C R Shearn, K R Russell
May 1, 1970·Children·E Branham
Jun 6, 1980·Science·A J DeCasper, W P Fifer
Jan 1, 1994·The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child·T J Gaensbauer
Mar 1, 1994·Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment·H B CarlsonS Radcliff
Mar 1, 1993·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·R S McKelveyJ A Webb
Feb 1, 1993·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·O Udwin
Jan 1, 1997·Annual Review of Psychology·E B Foa, E A Meadows
Dec 1, 1996·Family Process·G Larner
Jun 17, 1998·Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry·J S MarchA Schulte
Nov 20, 1998·The Journal of Infection·L P Ormerod
Feb 17, 1999·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·L Johnson, V Thomas
Dec 1, 1951·Archives of Disease in Childhood·J A BLACK

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jun 19, 2008·Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America·Stuart L Lustig, Lakshika Tennakoon
Aug 25, 2004·The Psychiatric Clinics of North America·Harold S KoplewiczLena S Kessler
Nov 3, 2006·Qualitative Health Research·Martha Driessnack
May 14, 2011·Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry·Kasia Kozlowska, Rubina Khan
Sep 13, 2012·Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry·Kasia KozlowskaBlanche Savage
Mar 5, 2020·Anxiety, Stress, and Coping·Serene Lin-Stephens
Jun 16, 2017·Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing : Official Journal of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses·Catherine M LaingMike Lang
Mar 27, 2018·Journal of Child and Family Studies·Anne SteenbakkersHans Grietens
Jul 17, 2018·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Heather A Love, Chelsey N Torgerson

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anxiety Disorders

Discover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.