Case study of therapist-client co-creation for the treatment of relational trauma in children

Abstract

This article presents a relational art therapy model of therapist-client co-creation as an approach to treating relational trauma in children. It examines the case study of an 18-month art therapy process with a 7-year-old with encopresis in a community clinic. In therapy there were clear indications that the client had likely been the victim of sexual assault at home. Through therapy and parental guidance, the maltreatment stopped. During the therapeutic process, the therapist shifted bidirectionally from a self-state of being the figure of responsibility who “holds” the therapy and accepts the child, his needs and desires, to embracing her inner child state in the artistic co-creation. When working with children, the therapist engages with the client’s need to reconstruct the relational trauma. At the same time, the therapist’s subjective presence and experiences as a vulnerable being facilitate the construction of an “authentic” rehabilitation aimed at the child’s wellbeing. The discussion centers on the principles of this new dynamic therapeutic model of co-creation and its potential applications.