Using group art therapy to address the shame and silencing surrounding children's experiences of witnessing domestic violence

Abstract

We suggest that shame and silencing are two of the most common reactions to children's experiences of witnessing domestic violence, on the part of associated adults and the children themselves. We also draw on British object relations theories about shame and its links to visuality to examine the particular possibilities inherent in the use of art therapy as a treatment modality for experiences which are heavily shame-laden. In doing so we present a case study of an 11-year-old girl's engagement with an art therapy group for children who had witnessed domestic violence and illustrate how the group facilitated her working-through of her experience of being both shamed and silenced, along with her subsequent re-establishment of a more emotionally close relationship with her mother. Arguing that art therapy has historically been under-used among the range of support options offered to children who have witnessed domestic violence in the UK, the article constructs an argument to counter this trend and to advocate for greater involvement of art therapists and art therapy among this client population.

Keywords:

• Shame
• silencing
• domestic violence
• art therapy
• groups
• children