Synopses & Reviews
"...recommended for those who have wished that they could peer into the mind of an experienced art therapist and learn the secrets of how to interpret psychologically the art that we experience daily. It is even more important as a resource for any professional who is concerned about the soaring rates of child abuse and the effects of that abuse on the world's most valuable resource -- its children". -- International Journal of Arts Medicine (from a review of the first edition)
Six years have passed since the first edition of this book was published -- six years in which research has led to some profound new ideas related to posttraumatic stress disorder and to sexual abuse. Moreover, the environment of mental health practice has changed; among other things, this has meant the integration of art therapy methods into many disciplines.
For these reasons, the revision of Breaking the Silence is driven by an ever greater population of mental health practitioners interested in expanding and strengthening their therapeutic repertoire...and by the unfortunate fact of ongoing child abuse and neglect in the United States and throughout the world.
Breaking the Silence demonstrates the unique power of art therapy as a tool for intervening with children from violent homes. Emphasis is given to the short-term setting where time is at a premium and circumstances are unpredictable -- because within this setting, mental health practitioners often experience a sense of helplessness in their work with the youngest victims of abusive families.
In this new edition, Cathy Malchiodi describes the intervention process from intake to termination, carefully highlighting the complex issues involved atvarious levels of evaluation and interpretation. The text is augmented with 95 children's drawings, which serve to fill the gaps between theory and reality.
Specific topics discussed include: inherent frustrations for therapists working in battered women's shelters
-- what to include in art evaluation
-- evaluating child abuse and neglect
-- group art intervention in shelters
-- art expression as assessment and therapy with sexually abused children
-- and much more.
Synopsis
First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Synopsis
Children of violence need to be heard. Unable or unwilling to verbalize their suffering, abused children are often immobilized by fear, rage, guilt, and pain. In the second edition of Breaking the Silence: Art Therapy with Children from Violent Homes, Cathy Malchiodi demonstrates the unique power of art therapy as a tool for intervening with children from violent backgrounds. In this new edition, she describes the intervention process from intake to termination, noting the complex issues involved at various levels of evaluation and interpretation. Bringing her years of experience in working at battered women's shelters to bear on the subject, Ms. Malchiodi brings the language of art therapy to life--a language of art that gives children a voice and those who work with them, a way of listening. The emphasis here is on the short-term setting where time is at a premium and circumstances are unpredictable. It is within this setting that mental health practitioners often experience frustration and a sense of helplessness in their work with the youngest victims of abusive families. Since the first edition of this book was published, research has led to some new ideas related to sexual abuse. The author analyzes several issues concerning the treatment of sexually abused children and art expressions of sexually abused children. In addition, Ms. Malchiodi launches a discussion about the ethical issues in the use of children's art as a whole. Featured throughout the book are 95 drawings by abused children. These drawings are at once poignant and hopeful, clearly representing the extraordinary suffering that abused children experience at, at the same time, showing that they can be reached. Because the practice of art therapy methods has been integrated into many disciplines, the final chapter covers development of art therapy programs for children. The author shares information on art supplied, space, and storage ideas. For art therapists, social workers, and other practitioners who work with children in crisis, this book presents a practical methodology for intervention that fosters the compassion and insight necessary to reveal what words cannot.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-204) and index.