Gentle Fire: An Exploration of Art Therapy and Building Shame Resilience with Women

by Leah S. Henderson

This thesis explores the journey of an eight-week art therapy group for women on the topic of building shame resilience. The study incorporates the overarching themes of becoming, rooting, mending, living, and speaking to bring to life the art therapy group and the subjects of shame and resilience. In becoming, the intentionality is introduced. In rooting, the definitions of shame, shame resilience, and art therapy techniques are explored through a literature review. Next, mending examines the methodology and protocol used to conduct the study. First-person action research and response poetry were used to investigate this process. In the living section, the study introduces the research participants, and goes through the data of the eight art therapy sessions, including artwork, discussions, feedback, and response poetry. The concluding chapter is speaking, which is a discussion that links the intentionality, data, and reflections of the research question: What is the value of art therapy for building shame resilience?The findings show that art therapy is a salient tool for exploring the unconscious and divided parts of self. Making art takes the healing beyond the verbal, into realms of healing that aren’t always accessible through verbal means. Shame is a necessary cave to explore, and the field of art therapy is an excellent tool for this journey.