Art Through Grief An Art Therapy Curriculum for Incarcerated Women Experiencing Grief Kelsey Thomas PennWest: Edinboro COUN 7550 Introduction to Research in Art Therapy Dr. Sheila Lorenzo de la Peña August 9, 2024 Purpose Statement The purpose of this research is to create an art therapy curriculum for women who are incarcerated and experiencing grief. This curriculum is to be used with women going through different avenues of grief and at different places in their healing journey. Justification A study done in 2019 found that “the U.S. incarcerates 30% of the world’s population of female inmates” (Paynter et al. 2019). These rates of women being incarcerated are continuously increasing. Yet, most of the mental health research within the incarcerated population focuses on male inmates. There is an abhorrent lack of research focused on incarcerated women and the need for sufficient grief support. Terms Art Therapy Grief Inmate A creative process to help/encourage emotional processing An emotional response to loss A person confined to an institution such as a jail or prison Women Physical Loss Psychological Loss Cis gender/assigned at birth female adult No longer having something/someone tangible No longer having a sense of control, safety, or something intangible Literature Review Prison Culture Criminal behavior and life incarcerated has become a fast growing topic on TV, Podcasts, and in today’s culture. A major difficulty of what inmates experience is their loss of identity. Upon a deeper look, this prison culture is pressurized by high external Locus of Control. With a lack of space, lack of empathy, or lack of trained specialists, inmates are not able to properly process their grief. They lose their freedom, their identity, and some loose loved ones. For women specifically, they have the potential for loss of motherhood. Grief in Prison Literature Review Art Therapy in Prison Inmates that show their creativity are treated with high regard from other inmates. Making art or participating in art therapy while incarcerated requires an additional level of creativity. They are able to take back their individuality and recreate their identity. The 5 Stages of Grief, by Elizabeth KüblerRoss, created a foundational understanding of the components of grief where art can play an integral role. Art making provides an externalization of these feelings and provide distance that allows for difficult conversations. Art creates an attachment to the loss and a tangible connection. Art Therapy with Grief Literature Review Art Therapy with Grieving Inmates Female inmates experience losses such as their freedom, identity, contact to those “outside”, loved ones, children/motherhood, Using art as their way etc. of communicating allows them to have a sense of security that they won’t be scrutinized for by other inmates or punished by guards. Unprocessed grief, an external LOC, and various traumas lead to female inmates being more prone to mental illnesses Bonnie Erickson found that female inmates found art therapy to be nonthreatening and allowed them a new form of selfexpression. David Gussak has done extensive research on the effects of art therapy with inmates and found that women had a significant decrease in depression Methodology The curriculum is designed for adult female inmates, with a group size of 1012 participants. Inmates must meet all of the qualifications. Groups should be led by an ATR or LPC with Art Therapy training. There will be 14 sessions total that will be structured around the 5 stages of grief. Each session will be 90 minutes and broken up into 3 parts: check-in and grounding/ the intervention / closing and clean-up. If inmates miss any session, there will be no penalty besides missing that session’s work. e l i m n i e T Session 2 Containment Session 1 Identity Session 4 Denial Session 3 Denial Session 8 Session 6 Bargaining Anger Session 5 Anger Session 10 Depression Session 9 Session 7 Depression Bargaining Session 12 Acceptance Session 11 Acceptance Session 14 Closure Session 13 Reflection There are strict guidelines for materials that are allowed. Focus is on a specific part of the whole incarcerated population, adult females. Limitations Accessibility to this population can be difficult. Co-morbid or dueling diagnoses can hinder participation in the group. This population may not be accepting of the art therapy process. Future Considerations 1 2 3 Does the information, skills, and interventions stay with the group members once released? As this curriculum is only focused on adult females, how would juveniles or male inmates respond? This curriculum is only 14 sessions and expanding it into a program can allow it to reach more inmates. Could the program lead to opportunities that allow for more inmate led/initiated activities? Final Thoughts The world of incarceration is intense and filled with emotionally charged inmates. When these inmates experience grief, there is a lack of mental health services offered to help process and cope. Female inmates are often overlooked, when in reality they are more likely to develop mental health illnesses. They experience physical and psychological losses, that when not properly grieved can lead to further mental health struggles. This curriculum allows for an externalization of harbored grief and creates an indissoluble connection with what or who they lost. 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