Disabled and confined: using art therapy as a coping strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The contemporary universal challenge of COVID-19 pandemic put more restrictions to disabled people’s social interaction. This paper reports qualitative findings from a short-term art therapy intervention for a person with West Syndrome to examine how art therapy can be used as a coping strategy with the psychological impact of confinement. The data were analysed using Cathy Malchiodi’s theory of ‘art in therapy’ and Edith Kramer’s theory of ‘art as therapy’. Findings from this study show that the use of art therapy as a coping strategy during the confinement period has clear benefits as it promotes emotional well-being and helps to reduce the mobility limitations caused by disability. The article concludes that art therapy can be used as an alternative way to cope with disability. It aims to positively impact parents and caregivers through highlighting new spots of action.

Points of interest

• The article looks in detail at the real-life experiences of a disabled person during the period of home-confinement.

• Disabled people experience isolation from society and the home-confinement policies put more restrictions to their social interaction.

• Disabled people need to be involved in activities such as painting, drawing, colouring, singing and story-telling to better cope with confinement.

• This type of research is important because it can help caregivers improve the quality of personal assistance during the period of confinement.

Keywords:

• Art therapy
• COVID-19
• disability
• West Syndrome
• coping strategies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.