The family art session offers an opportunity for each member, individually, to create and reflect on the product, while the family mural task requires the family to share space. Thus, while interactional patterns and psychological aspects of the self are revealed in both art tasks, the request to work together in a shared space may be more difficult, as members sometimes ignore personal boundaries and trespass on another’s work.
Puppets, through their costumes, carry symbolic messages: i.e., King – power and riches; Alligator and Dragon – aggression; Doctor, Policeman – one’s occupation, etc. While the opportunity to create and reflect is also present in drama therapy, the additional inherent demand for action is hard for all, especially preschoolers. Because drama suggests “action and conflict,” players need to cooperate to create a story, but action-oriented preschoolers, with immature defenses, may tend to use puppets concretely as aggressive weapons rather than as “symbols,” enacting fantasies. And, just as at home, parents try to deal with the emotions stimulated in this situation.
This video was formerly included in the Expressive Media Arts Therapies Films Collection distributed by Expressive Media Inc.
