Inspiration course

ArtMentum’s online course consists of five modules that will give you inspiration on how to use art therapy in trauma processing. You will hear about techniques and methods based on evidence-based research and practice experiences.

About the course

People who experience trauma in the form of mental or physical harm often lose a sense of who they are and their place in life. This can manifest as a lack of meaning in life, sadness, depression, aggression, PTSD and anxiety. Conditions and symptoms that mean they may have difficulty functioning in social settings and contributing to the community. It affects not only their own quality of life, but their family and their surroundings, and can ultimately become a challenge for society in terms of sick leave, venting and vulnerable behavior. Various forms of treatment for physical and psychological violence are already available and a lot of work is being done among these practitioners. Therefore, inspirational courses on art therapy and storytelling should be seen as a supplement and help for people who work with trauma treatment or are otherwise in contact with people who have been victims of abuse. They can be professional therapists, but also teachers and educators. The approaches and methods on the platform are based on forward-looking work that can provide hope, vitality and empowerment.

Art therapy and true storytelling

It is well known that art, art therapy and storytelling have a special healing and restorative effect on people who have experienced trauma. For example, theater and storytelling are used among war veterans with post-traumatic stress in the US and artistic processes have been used in working with refugees as a path to recovery and moving forward in life. The strength of using art and storytelling in working with trauma is that it can externalize trauma and your own life story. This allows the client to work on important existential topics in a safe space. In addition, art connects to other domains such as mythology, physicality and creativity that can create new meaning when working on your own narrative. This platform consists primarily of methods inspired by Expressive Arts Therapy and the True Storytelling approach. Both approaches use art and storytelling to help the client open up new perspectives, resources and recreate a more healing and constructive life narrative. The course offers both background knowledge on the connection between trauma and art and storytelling, as well as a range of methods to inspire practitioners in the form of exercises and facilitation tools. The course can be seen as a complete course, but the individual methods can be used as a supplement to your own treatment. The training programs emphasize the therapist’s ability to live up to the ethical requirements that are part of the individual’s professionalism.

The methodological foundation and practical experience

The teaching concept consists of knowledge about art therapy and storytelling from Cæcilie Liv Greve Carlsen M.A. in Expressive Arts Therapy and Jens Larsen, co-founder of True Storytelling Institute, and about trauma therapy from Professor Melinda Meyer of The European Graduate School in Switzerland and trauma therapist Aglaia Mickelakis.

Module 3

Art and trauma processing with torture victims
(Melinda Meyer)

Benefits for practitioners:

• Can explain how Melinda’s technique is used in trauma processing
• Can perform specific exercises for clients
• Can facilitate the exercises based on their own professionalism and practice