In this module, learners will learn about the art therapy practice of creating memory boxes with bereaved patients.  As containers, boxes readily protect and hold memories, secrets, narratives, and emotions.  They provide a space for creating, storytelling, exploration and documentation.  Boxes come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials, and may be painted, decorated, collaged, and drawn upon.  The creator may choose to use the inside for more hidden and intimate content while the outside can encompass defenses and a more external focus.  Precious mementos may be safely stored inside.  This creative practice provides a range of therapeutic benefits, and it is rooted in art therapy based theories as well as in current bereavement and grief theories, including Continuing Bonds and Meaning Reconstruction.  Case studies of a bereaved child, adolescent, and adult will highlight the use of this modality for bereaved patients of all ages and backgrounds.  

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify three art therapy principles, used in the art therapy practice of memory box creation, that provide unique therapeutic benefits for grieving patients;

• Summarize the ways that the art therapy practice of memory box making, including both the process and the product, may promote meaning reconstruction for grieving patients; 

• Discuss the ways that memory boxes may be used to nurture and explore the formation and preservation of continuing bonds for grieving children, adolescents, and adults; and

• Describe three elements in the practice of art therapy memory boxes that facilitate grief treatment with Neimeyer’s framework of bracing, pacing and facing.

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Note:  Completion of this program (total 3-hour activity, including approximately 2-hour recorded webinar and 1-hour reflection) and return of the Responsive Journal satisfies 1 Technique Module required for Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy.

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PROGRAM CONTENT

This program contains the following video segments:

1. An Introduction: History, Materials and Clinical Extensions of Boxes (29 mins)

2. Case Illustration: Working with Sibling Losses (21 mins)

3. Case Illustration: Working with Perinatal Losses (24 mins)

4. Memory Boxes: Process and Products (20 mins)

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COURSE PACK CONTAINS...

• A PDF copy of the presentation slides​;

• List of Memory Box materials, and detailed instructions for the Memory Box Making procedures;

• Guidelines for orienting clients to Memory Box Making, and question prompts for processing the process and product after the creative experience; and

• The Responsive Journal that, upon completion and return, confers 1 credit of Technique Module leading to Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy.