Abstract

This research paper aims to explore the therapeutic process with young adolescent clients in art therapy through an arts-based inquiry. One of the biggest challenges in young adolescence is the beginning stages of building identity through separation and individuation. Young adolescents within the youth protection system face challenges throughout their development, and they continue to confront challenges to their safety and stability that can compromise healthy development. Response art making can act to deepen our knowledge of our process with clients, through an imaginative and interpretative dialogue. This type of art making can create internal conversations with the client as artist. Art therapy can exist in the symbolic and unconscious realms, and using arts-based inquiry can honour that process and reflect an expansive viewpoint.
This arts-based inquiry pointed to the capacity of thematic phases to help guide the process with young adolescents, and deepen the process of understanding. Client response imagery allowed for the contemplation and imagining of the way clients interact with and explore their own inner symbols. The importance of ritual, materials, and self-care became important pieces in the art therapy context. This arts-based inquiry resulted in a visual book which was 20 pages in length and contained 26 images that reflected the themes in the therapeutic process with this client population. This paper focuses on contextualizing the client population, the arts-based research methodology, provides the author’s insights about the topic, and a deeper analysis of the arts-based exploration.
Keywords: Adolescents, Foster care, Response art, Arts-based inquiry.