Abstract

This research paper investigates how visual symbolic forms in an arts-based self-inquiry can help redefine identity in a posttraumatic self, from childhood medical trauma. There is little research on childhood medical trauma's impact on identity, especially in creative arts therapies. The researcher used Moustakas (1990), six-phase model to explore her childhood medical trauma through an arts-based process. She created arts-based data for an intensive seven-day period, using imaginative dialogue, art, and body awareness to explore her medical trauma. The analysis brought surfacing imagery, such as; hands, infant, womb, and medical spaces. The themes found in the dialogue were identified as follows: imagination, transformation, connection, inner and outer dialogue. A creative synthesis was generated, highlighting the process and change through new connections. The outcome was a transformative process, changing the researcher's awareness concerning her identity and her experience of childhood medical trauma.