Visual overview of using art therapy with grieving children and adolescents by Registered Board Certified art therapist Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC.

1. Art Therapy with Grieving
Children and Adolescents
Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC

2. Art Therapy Overview
 Individual art therapy sessions at agencies,
schools, and in home for children & teens
who experienced the death of a loved one
through illness, accident, suicide, or
violence.
 Children and teen grief support groups and
workshops through art therapy

3. Art Therapy Goals
Art interventions that address:
 Emotional expression of grief
 Normalize and validate grief reactions
 Strengthen coping
 Death education
 Memories and Memorializing

4. Adolescent Collage Death of Grandmother

5. Memory Collage Death of Father/ Illness

6. Adolescent Collage Death of Mother

7. Adolescent Collage Death of Father

8. Death of a Parent
 Shatters sense of security & stability
 Worries about financial and physical security
 Feels different, isolated, alone
 Concerns/worries about the surviving parent
 Strong reactions triggered by rites of passage,
special days and events
 If relationship was conflicted or abusive, grieving
can become very complicated

9. Grief Paper
I like to write.
Funny how “I can’t wait to get there”
occasionally turns into “I can’t wait to
get home.”
My mind sometimes feels like rocks with a I get unhappy on the sunniest days sometimes
blue sky even on the cloudiest days
Grief Collage Murder of Mother

10. My Grief is like… Murder of Mother

11. Grief Reactions Common
Among Homicide Survivors
 Feelings of vulnerability, helplessness, threat
 Feelings of being out of control
 Search for understanding
 Need to find who is to blame, seek punishment
 Intense feelings of anger, fear, powerlessness
 PTSD symptoms: sleep disturbances, anger
outbursts, hyper vigilance, startle response,
difficulty concentrating, feelings of terror
 Need to regain control and order

12. Teen Support Group
Suicide Survivor - Grief Reactions

13. Teen Support Group
Suicide Survivor- Feelings Mask

14. Inside/Outside Feelings Mask Death of Father/Suicide

15. Grief Reactions Common
Among Suicide Survivors
 Feelings of rejection & abandonment
 Feelings of shame, humiliation, dishonor
 Decrease in self-esteem, self worth due to feelings
of inadequacy and failure
 Intense anger or rage
 Need to place blame
 Intense guilt because of perceived preventability
 Fear of genetic predisposition towards suicide
 Search for understanding- Why?

16. Children’s Support Group
Promoting Feeling Expression

17. Children’s Support Group
Common Grief Reactions
Grief Monsters

18. Children’s Support Group
Coping with Feelings & Grief Reactions

19. Children’s Support Group
Funerals, Memorials, & Spirituality

20. Children’s Support Group
Candle Memorial Ceremony

21. Children’s Support Group
Art Display

22. Memory Poem & Photo Frame

23. Memory Drawing- Sunset with Dad

24. Family Art Therapy Workshop:
Stepping Stones

25. Art Therapy Workshop:
Memory Rocks

26. Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC
Registered Board Certified Art Therapist
Certified Trauma Consultant
gretchenmiller@cox.net
www.gretchen-miller.com