CO-CREATING SAFE SPACES (CCSS) – THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ART THERAPY CLINICAL PROTOCOL FOR REFUGEE AND ASYLUM-SEEKING CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS.
Principal Investigator: Nehama Grenimann Bauch
APPROVAL HAS BEEN GRANTED FOR THIS STUDY TO BE CARRIED OUT BETWEEN 17/05/2022 AND 30/12/2024
This research seeks to explore the topic of art therapy interventions with refugee and asylum-seeking children and their parents.
Specifically, the research aims to develop evidence-based guidelines for art therapists working in this field, with a specific focus on parental engagement – looking at strategies and tools to encourage refugee/ asylum-seeking parents to be involved in their child's art therapy processes via communication with the therapist, sessions that invite the parent to create with their child or parental guidance, for example.
In doing so, this research addresses the global need to develop culturally humble and resilience-focused psychosocial support interventions for displaced populations.
The negative mental health effects of displacement-related experiences have been documented and researched by many (see the extended background for more information), leading to initiatives – primarily run by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) – to provide much-needed psychosocial support to displaced populations.
Considering the growing numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees worldwide, and the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which refugees have been especially vulnerable to the disease, the need for effective mental health and psychosocial support interventions are expected to increase.
Within this context, children, prone to experiencing distressing, traumatic, and life-threatening events before, during, and after fleeing their country of origin, are an especially vulnerable group in need of attention and support.
Research, as well as an accumulation of clinical experiences, has shown that the involvement of parents in their child’s therapeutic process is crucial to achieving positive outcomes.
Within the field of art therapy, there have been advances in research and in the development of clinical tools and guidelines focused on parent-child art psychotherapy and arts-based parental guidance.
We know, however, that the settings in which art therapists work with refugee and asylum-seeking children and their parents are unique and complex due to language, cultural, social, and economic-related barriers, to name a few.
It is therefore important to assess clinical guidelines and tools considering these unique circumstances, by listening to the multifaceted perspectives of art therapists, refugee and asylum-seeking parents and their children, as well as stakeholders in the field.
