Graduation Date
Spring 2007
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Print and Electronic
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
Gregory White, PhD
First Reader
Richard Carolan, EdD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Gwen Sanders, MFT, ART-BC
Abstract
This thesis explored the personal experience of creating a stained glass window with five adolescents who had previously been identified as causing self-harm to themselves. The narratives of these five adolescents between the ages of thirteen to seventeen were collected in qualitative interviews. This study emphasized the importance of; self-object and transitional object, destructive and creative process, power and self-esteem. The literature illuminates; the history of self-mutilation, the current issues with self- mutilation, including the internet and cultures outside of the United States, the combination of narrative therapy with art therapy, the use of stained glass as an intervention, and the ethical considerations involved in the creation of a stained glass window. Furthermore, this study confirmed that creating a stained glass window had a positive effect on self-mutilating adolescents.