Breaking the Silence: Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes

by Cathy A. Malchiodi, Eliana Gil

Children of violence need to be heard. Unable or unwilling to verbalize their suffering, abused children are often immobilized by fear, rage, guilt, and pain. In the second edition of Breaking the Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes , Cathy Malchiodi demonstrates the unique power of art therapy as a tool for intervening with children from violent backgrounds. In this new edition, she describes the intervention process from intake to termination, noting the complex issues involved at various levels of evaluation and interpretation. Bringing her years of experience in working at battered women's shelters to bear on the subject, Ms. Malchiodi brings the language of art therapy to life--a language of art that gives children a voice and those who work with them, a way of listening. The emphasis here is on the short-term setting where time is at a premium and circumstances are unpredictable. It is within this setting that mental health practitioners often experience frustration and a sense of helplessness in their work with the youngest victims of abusive families. Since the first edition of this book was published, research has led to some new ideas related to sexual abuse. The author analyzes several issues concerning the treatment of sexually abused children and art expressions of sexually abused children. In addition, Ms. Malchiodi launches a discussion about the ethical issues in the use of children's art as a whole. Featured throughout the book are 95 drawings by abused children. These drawings are at once poignant and hopeful, clearly representing the extraordinary suffering that abused children experience at, at the same time, showing that they can be reached. Because the practice of art therapy methods has been integrated into many disciplines, the final chapter covers development of art therapy programs for children. The author shares information on art supplied, space, and storage ideas. For art therapists, social workers, and other practitioners who work with children in crisis, this book presents a practical methodology for intervention that fosters the compassion and insight necessary to reveal what words cannot.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1990

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

[Erica Conklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you want to see exactly what i do, and what kinds of things i see. then take a look at this book. it breaks down art therapy, children and development, and even provide actual client artwork.