An Art Therapy Protocol for the Medical Trauma Setting

Abstract

Art therapy as crisis intervention is relatively new in the field of medical trauma care, outside of the psychiatric setting. Art therapy on a trauma unit provides unique opportunities for clinical intervention and field research. This paper presents an art therapy intervention protocol developed for a burn trauma unit over a 10-year period. A research paradigm for assessing artwork and the psychosocial transition from trauma, rationales for art therapy in a medical setting, and documentation are considered. A case study illustrates the ways that art media were used to review, integrate, and express the personal experience of recovery from severe burns.