Dolls have a universal and timeless appeal.  Ancient civilizations created them to ward off illness, promote fertility, and ensure abundant crops.  Dolls have been infused with the wishes, fears, and hopes of their makers, and have served as powerful talismans of transformation.  Learners will discover the clinical benefits of doll making through case studies that illustrate its effectiveness in the treatment of grief and traumatic loss.  This creative, imaginative and transformative art therapy technique explores the relationship to the self and to the deceased, either of which can be represented by dolls, through the lens of meaning reconstruction and attachment informed grief therapy. 

​

We will present handmade art therapy dolls as a valuable vehicle for the telling and reworking of one’s loss narrative, which includes event and back story, bracing, pacing and facing, and for exploring an identity impacted by grief and rooted in the existential question, “Who am I?”  Alternatively, the doll making process and product can serve as a concrete, transitional object to support the exploration of the continuing bond with the deceased.  It provides opportunities for reconnection, care giving and memorializing.

​

Our time together will include the sharing of a survivor’s intimate doll making experience.  Small breakout rooms and a larger group discussion will serve as a witnessing experience to the process of non-verbal expression, using a pliable human form to gain a sense of control and well-being.

​

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Discuss three reasons why creative and expressive interventions, such as doll making, are desirable with those suffering traumatic loss;

• Examine aspects of Meaning Reconstruction, defined by sense making, benefit finding, identity reformation and bracing, pacing and facing as important components of doll making, an imaginative process that addresses the shattered “self;” 

• Understand three tenets of Attachment-Informed Grief Therapy, where the doll making process and tangible product are in service to the continuing bond with the deceased; and

• Examine doll making and its ability to address the event story and back story which are key components in Meaning Reconstruction.

​​

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.

​

PROGRAM CONTENT

This program contains the following video segments:

1. Doll Making: History, Materials and Clinical Extensions (30 mins)

2. Case Illustrations: Working with Traumatic Losses (41 mins)

3. Doll Making for Meaning Reconstruction: Relearning the World & the Self (20 mins)

4. Process & Product: A Live Interview (44 mins)

​​

COURSE PACK CONTAINS...

• A PDF copy of the presentation slides​;

• List of Doll Making materials and detailed instructions for the Doll Making procedures;

• Guidelines for orienting clients to Doll 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 Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction or Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy.