Painting of pictures as a way of expressing oneself and communicating in critical situations — a way of creating space for dialogue in family crisis

Abstract

This article presents a work in development within child-and adolescent psychiatry. The work is based on and integrates two main parts of clinical practice: i) talking in reflective processes in a systemic framework and ii) art-therapy. This is shown to be a helpful way of being together with families when ordinary talks with words seem too blunt or even dangerous to engage in, and also when spoken words are not sufficient to express chaotic experiences, as might happen when the family members are caught in strong feelings as anger, fear, sadness or shame. A short presentation of the daily, clinical work which constitutes the ground and the frame for this article is presented. Then the world of expressions, principally painting and talking, is entered. Finally, short summaries of systemic work with reflecting processes and art-therapy are provided as an introduction to how these two fields have been integrated. Introduction Everyday Practice BUP Gällivare -Kiruna is a psychiatric outpatient clinic for children and adolescents situated in