The Impact of Creative Arts on Meaning Reconstruction and Loss Adaptation in Widowed Adults

Authors

Dani Baker-Cole, Antioch University SeattleFollow

Images

Dani Baker-Cole, PhD, is a 2022 graduate of the Doctoral Program in Counselor Education & Supervision at Antioch University, Seattle.

Dissertation Committee

Ned Farley, PhD, Committee Chair

Stephanie Thorson-Olesen, PhD, Committee Member

Katherine Fort, PhD, Committee Member

Beth Donohue, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

adaptation, art therapy, bereavement, continuing bonds, death, expressive writing, grief, loss, meaning making

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

In counseling, helping grieving clients find meaning after significant loss is a unique, multidimensional, and lengthy process. This is particularly true in Western societies, where antithetical linear grief models, supported by hegemonic expectations to move on after loss, add exhausting pressure to speed up an individual’s natural grieving process. For that reason, this study examined how creative arts interventions such as using traditional art media and expressive writing, combined with postmodern, nonlinear, culturally sensitive bereavement models, help individuals explore their loss narrative to make meaning and adapt to loss. Specifically, this study examined the impact of a switch from traditional art media to expressive writing via a grief meaning reconstruction dependent variable. A quantitative, single subject multiple baseline model was used. Results suggested that such a switch had an impact. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Comments

Dani Baker-Cole, PhD, 2022

ORCID# 0000-0002-8482-4343

Recommended Citation

Baker-Cole, D. (2022). The Impact of Creative Arts on Meaning Reconstruction and Loss Adaptation in Widowed Adults. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/888