Abstract

The creation of comics, or sequential art, as a therapeutic tool offers a way for artists and clients alike to transform their personal narratives through a medium that transcends both spoken and written language. Artists and writers have frequently used comics to translate stories of hardship, mental health, trauma, healing, and grief in the form of memoirs and autobiographical graphic novels. Recently, the field of mental health and creative arts therapies have begun to incorporate reading and creation of comics with clients in the therapeutic space. This research uses an arts-based heuristic methodology to examine the process of combining narrative therapy concepts and interventions with comics creation in order to add further dimension to the re-storying process. This is achieved through the creation of the author’s own autobiographical graphic novella exploring a year of her early adolescence. Using the artmaking experience and the final product as a source for the collection of data, this research explores how combining literary and visual storytelling devices with narrative therapy interventions can facilitate therapeutic change. This research examines the possibilities of using comics creation in therapeutic spaces and illuminates the benefits of using graphic novels as an accessible tool of support and psychoeducation in populations with minimal access to mental health services.