The Application of Art Therapy's Scribble Drawing Art Directive in Grief Counseling With Adults
Graduation Date
Fall 2011
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
John Lemmon, PhD
First Reader
Richard Carolan, EdD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Gwen Sanders, MFT, ART-BC
Abstract
This research study is about the application of art therapy’s scribble drawing art directive in grief counseling with adults. The research question: how is the scribble drawing art therapy directive useful in grief counseling with adults? Grief can be confusing, painful and complex (Kubler- Ross & Kessler, 2005). Traditionally, art therapy is used to “help people understand their emotions and recover from experiences of trauma, grief and loss” (Malchiodi, 2007, p. 135). Art therapists appreciate the Scribble Drawing because the basic scribble making draws “clients’ immediate response to the exercise” through the art making process (Betensky, 1995, p. 97). Scribble drawings is more than lines and circles for adults because many of them doodle as they scribble. The Scribble Drawing helps people to express outwardly their inner selves that they are often reluctant to share especially in a grieving state (Oster & Gould, 1987). This study analyzed the reports, notes, data, and the scribble drawings from an archival data of a hospice organization in Northern California. The results and benefits of using the scribble drawing with 15 adult cases as an entry art directive in grief counseling are presented in this study.