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Below on this page you will find some information on how art therapy may help patients and their families in pediatric oncology and hemotology care, along with a few complementary art directives.
BENEFITS
Children who participate in art therapy may be better at expressing underlying emotions, develop more effective coping skills, and experience fewer adverse side effects.
Sometimes patients and their families don’t know how to explain their overwhelming feelings in words, but they may through artistic expression. This may help children communicate their needs to caregivers, which may result in an improvement in care and medical outcomes.
For patients and their families overwhelmed with uncertainty and a sense of losing control of things around them, art therapy, and the creative process, may help give back a sense of control.
It may help create a sense of accomplishment and purpose, and increase self confidence.
Art may allow room for what is possible rather than what has been lost.
During art making people often shift their mind away from the presence of illness or pain.
The following prompts may help pediatric patients and their families process emotions and regain some sense of control.
Processing big feelings
Art can be a tool to express and process feelings that are often too big for words. Imagine that your feelings were living characters or cartoons. Using playdough or clay, or simply some paper and paint or markers, create your characters any way you like. There are no rules and it doesn’t matter what they look like! When done, have a conversation with your characters and ask them what they need to feel better. If working as a family, each person can share what their characters need. Then, using the playdough/clay or other materials, create symbols or draw in what your characters needs to feel better. After each person is done, allow each family member to also draw in or create items to give to one another for support.
Coping with uncertainty
This prompt may help patients and their families who are feeling overwhelmed with uncertainty and a sense of losing control of things around them. Using any kind of coloring tools, trace your hands on paper, and fill them in with the things that are still in your control in life. Often, it can be parts of your personality, such as being a person who spreads hope and light, as depicted in the example. Then, have a discussion as a family on what things are in each of your control, and how to focus more on those during this challenging time. Once done, cut out each hand with scissors and collage them together on another paper. Hang this up in a prominent area in your home as a reminder.