The Armored Heart: Creating Safety Through Art Therapy

This capstone project introduces the topic of safety to new and emerging art therapists. While delving into the existing research as to why safety is so important in a therapeutic setting, from a trauma-informed lens, the capstone writer reviewed the question of how safety is created from a relational perspective, allowing for a more concrete exploration of the details. This capstone project included the writers’ personal art and writing as part of the inquiry into therapeutic safety. This work found that safety is not a destination, but a practice. This practice was guided by relational, neurobiological and trauma-informed approaches for how art therapists co-create safety within the therapeutic session with their clients/artists. Applying polyvagal theory, the capstone writer developed the Tree of C’s framework. It is intended to support emerging art therapists in digesting the nebulous concepts surrounding therapeutic safety; and offers concrete examples of what, why and how to achieve safety in art therapy sessions.