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Strokes of Strength: An Expressive Arts-based Intervention with Adolescents

Authors

  • Khwaish Sharma Department of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi, Delhi, 110024, India
  • Priti Dhawan Email Department of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi, Delhi, 110024, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jpr.v3i4.3585
Received: 17 August 2021 | Published Online: 2 November 2021

Abstract

In order to explore how adolescents who have been affected by traumatic
experiences would respond to an expressive arts-based intervention, a
module was designed, implemented and its effect on certain behavioral
and emotional constructs was evaluated. The sample included 10 female
adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who underwent a 2-month long
group expressive arts therapy in their institutional home, namely, Prayas
Juveline Aid Centre, New Delhi, India. The tools which were used to
assess the changes in the pre – post intervention scores in self – reported
behavioral and emotional difficulties were: The Youth Self Report Form
(YSR Form 11-18, CBCL; ASEBA, 2001) and the ‘Severity of Post –
Traumatic Stress Scale’ (NSESSS; APA, 2013). The tools used to assess
the changes in the pre – post intervention ratings of the caregiver were,
the ‘DSM – 5 Parent / Guardian Rated Level 1 Cross Cutting Symptom
Measure’ (APA, 2013) and the ‘Caregiver’s Observation Checklist:
Children at – risk’ (WCCL, 2013). The results revealed that 4-week
expressive arts -based intervention elicited a statistically significant
difference in the self – reported behavioural and emotional difficulties
by the participants. The verbatim reports, diary excerpts and paintings of
the participants were qualitatively analysed. In future, there is room to
investigate how an intervention with a longer duration and a representative
sample would explain the effectiveness of expressive – arts-based therapy
with such populations.

Keywords:

Intervention Effectiveness, Trauma, Child Sexual Abuse, Adolescents From Traumatised Backgrounds, Expressive Arts Based Therapy

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Issue

2021 Vol.3 No.4

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Article

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Copyright © 2021 Khwaish Sharma, Priti Dhawan

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.