L’utilisation de l’art-thérapie dans le cadre d’une fugue dissociative

Abstract

IntroductionStudies on post-traumatic stress disorder with dissociative subtype (PTSD+DS) have proved successful and there is now a need to develop treatments that focus on dissociation. We were interested in a post-traumatic symptom: the dissociative fugue. In the acting-out clinic, art therapy offers creative process methods that focus on emotions. ObjectiveWhile following a dissociative runaway the “mental level” of the person remains frozen, art therapy should allow the awareness for its reactivation and gradually the self-management of these runaways. MethodWe have detained two people disturbed by dissociative runaways. One of them has been sexually abused since childhood and we support her on an art therapy blog. The other is a migrant person housed in an emergency centre of the Aurore association where we provide art therapy workshops. ResultsThe major contributions of this care process are at the conceptual, physical and motor levels. Dissociative fugues were recognized by both subjects. The manipulation of shapes and colours has allowed them to undergo a beneficial transformation and recomposition, after crumbling towards a return and maintenance in the present time. ConclusionThe contribution of these workshops allowed the updating of the different identity structures of the participants. The art therapeutic framework containing and well-treating supports the process of formalizing the unspeakable. Working in mirror with the art therapist therefore opens up access to self-management and the reduction of dissociative fugues.