Art Therapy With Orphaned Children: Dynamics of Early Relational Trauma and Repetition Compulsion

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of orphaned children's engagement with art therapy in a group of preadolescent children living in a Russian orphanage. The phenomenon of repetition compulsion (i.e., origins in past traumatic experiences, destructive consequences, and protective psychic function) is discussed with respect to the children's artwork and its impact on engagement, countertransference, and termination. The therapeutic relationship and the art-making process are two vehicles that help restore a child's capacity to feel and to engage in new relationships without the interference of repetitive defenses of traumatic origin.

Acknowledgments

Editor's Note: Ksenia Meshcheryakova, ATR, LMSW, formerly a practicing psychologist in Russia, currently works with the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in Brooklyn, NY. She is a human rights activist and the founder of several Russian nonprofit organizations servicing underprivileged populations.