Art-Making and its Interface With Dissociative Identity Disorder: No Words That Didn’t fit

ABSTRACT

Studies point to promising developments in expressive arts therapy work with clients who experience dissociation as one of a constellation of symptoms of trauma. Individuals diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, however, may be hesitant to engage with long-term therapy and its relationship. This article presents the case of one such individual, a participant in a narrative phenomenological study who was able to develop her own visual art-making practice. Reflections on this practice revealed that it offered a safe place for her to explore the voice of her “parts” hitherto silenced. Her narrative has implications for professionals working in the expressive and talking therapies.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental wellbeing
• phenomenology
• dissociative identity disorder
• art making
• creativity in counseling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This article encourages researchers to differentiate between

1) Expressive arts therapies (including drama and music therapy; visual art therapy; creative writing)

2) Visual art therapy (painting/drawing/sculpting and a range of other activities where a visual object is created, which may include, for example, quilt-making)

3) Non-clinical visual art making that does not encompass a therapist / psychotherapeutic interpretation by a clinician (the focus of this paper).

2. See Murray (2000), for a useful and concise overview.