Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process

by Cathy A. Malchiodi

From pioneering therapist Cathy A. Malchiodi, this book synthesizes the breadth of research on trauma and the brain and presents an innovative framework for treating trauma through the expressive arts. The volume describes powerful ways to tap into deeply felt bodily and sensory experiences as a foundation for safely exploring emotions, memories, and personal narratives. Rich clinical examples illustrate the use of movement, sound, play, art, and drama with children and adults. Malchiodi's approach not only enables survivors to express experiences that defy verbalization, but also helps them to transform and integrate the trauma, regain a sense of aliveness, and imagine a new future. Purchasers get access to a companion website where they can download and print reproducible tools from the book in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size, as well as full-color versions of 26 figures.

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Counselling, Nonfiction

406 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2020

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

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and written with deep compassion, this book has solidified my interest and belief in expressive art therapy. Although many of the clinical examples can be hard to read due to the traumatic events that brought the individuals to therapy, each case was handled with sensitivity as well as strategic and holistic approaches to the practice of expressive art therapy.

[Suzan Lemont · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every trauma informed therapist, or those aspiring to be. One of the very few resources on the use of the arts as therapy in the trauma field, and certainly the most thorough.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just about does it all

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good, I'm reading it again!

[Yasmin Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constantly referring back to this. It covers so much!