The Dualities Within: Creating Change and Transformation Using Right Brain Interventions in Trauma-Informed Art Therapy

by Zoe Fee

This thesis takes a trauma-informed approach to healing. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through art therapy interventions and a neuroscience lens. The intention of this thesis was to explore the value of engaging the right brain in trauma-informed art therapy with a woman diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorderThe trauma-informed approach integrates trauma research, neuroscience and art therapy to facilitate therapeutic change and support the client’s road to healing. The researcher used a single case study involving in depth narrative of the client sessions through a hermeneutic phenomenology approach. In this thesis the researcher found that while working with Judith Herman’s (1992) three stages of trauma recovery, the use of right brain art interventions facilitated the client’s healing, transformation, self-empowerment, and integration of self. The right brain art interventions that were effective include: the client’s animal ally, warm-up activities, self-reflective art directives, body-focused art making, working with dreams and nightmares, rewriting the life story and symbol of healing.