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Illustrating the family story: art therapy, a lens for viewing the family's reality
This chapter explores current trends in theoretical thinking in the practice of family therapy : social constructionism, structure determinism, and the aesthetics of therapy. The compatibility of these theories with family art therapy treatment will be questioned.
Art therapy products created by a family in treatment have proved valuable as assessment tools, fresh modes of communication, and levers for change. However, therapists most often use these products to move toward goals that fit within a particular family treatment theory. For example, structural family art therapists look for hierarchical imbalances, strategic family art therapists seek out repetitive patterns of problem solving and family of origin devotees scan the art for examples of continuing ties to the family of birth. the capacity for the images to support all these (and more) approaches has been seen as a strength and a delight for art therapists involved in family work.
However, in the past few years, the family field has been shifting toward another convincing attitude for family treatment. The constructionist framework appears to this author as a natural synthesis with art therapy expressions. The artwork has always led sensitive therapists to an awareness of the message embedded in the product. When the emphasis is on the family telling their story and how they have invented their reality, the clinician is able to find a window to this world through the visual illustration. The art therapists can move with the art first and choose the proper theoretical approach second.
The family and each member in the family can be known more intimately when therapists accept a social constructionist approach toward learning and understanding their unique world as presented in therapy.
The search for a lens in family therapy encourages the therapist to inquire how the family has constructed their knowledge of social phenomena, developed their language, created an attitude toward gender-sensitive issues and have taught each other what to believe in. Art products are the avenue to the meta-messages, an entree into second ordered views and the invented reality of the family.
Art therapy has been recognized, since its formalized inception in the 1950's, to have the ability to be receptive and reflective of a broad spectrum of theoretical approaches (Landgarten, 1987;Rubin, 1987;Wadeson,1980).
However, in this chapter I intend to limit my focus on clinical art therapy as it is integrated with family theory and treatment. I also intend to challenge the notion that the art is solely a tool that conveys the goals set by the therapist. Rather, given the proper receptivity, the visual expressions of the family can be the prime indicator for the choice of theory best suited to treatment.
I also wish to propose that it would be useful to adopt a method of thinking that introduces creativity into treatment and allows the art, the families' illustrations, to take a dominant role in the therapeutic process. The theory to which I refer is social constructionism and the created reality(Berger, 1966;Watzlawick, 1984).
Below is a brief description of constructionism presented by Duncan, Parks and Rush (1990);
The constructivist position holds that individuals do not discover "reality," rather, they invent it(Watzlawick, 1984). Experience orders and organizes the environment; it does not directly reflect it.
Reality is evident only through the constructed meanings which shape and organize experience; simply put, meaning is reality.... The construction of reality/meaning by individuals is a highly creative process which is limited somewhat by prevailing sociocultural limits and expectations. The creation of meaning frames and organizes perception and experience into rule-governed patterns through which individuals may predict, describe, and direct their lives.... The constructivist paradigm bears implications for a flexible, eclectic strategic practice. Therapists, like clients, are engaged in the struggle to create a predictable structured reality. Models of psychotherapy and individual/family development serve to assist clinicians in the struggle to order their own perceptions and experience regarding the client's presenting problem. In addition, theory functions to structure the assumptions and goals of the interactive process which is designated "psychotherapy " (Beutler, 1983). Paradoxically, the structure which the therapist selects also limits the search for solutions. From a constructivist vantage point, theoretical language and content conceptualizations may be viewed as metaphorical presentations which explain and organize the therapist's reality.(p. 166)
As I assume the role of an interpreter of social constructionism in this chapter, I am aware that the theory becomes a vision filtered through my lens: the personal 문 social experience of my person. My view reflected my interest in examining the relationship of the philosophy of constructionism to art therapy theory. As Watzlawick (1984) has written:
Each of us have invented the world in which we live. We do this by the way we use words (language) and how we interpret the events of our lives, both in the present and in the past, and how we connect these events sequentially. (p. 113)
In this world of invented realities, the motivation to change reality comes when a world view, an understanding, a conclusion, a truth, the perception of how events are sequenced has proven false or unsatisfactory. To regain Equilibrium these events must be viewed in a different way. When we accept that events themselves and their sequence does not change, the view of the situation may change, and the difficulty may be resolved.
In the manner as described above, families build up a world of "truths." Over the generations they describe to each other how to interpret an event, how to understand it "correctly." They reference back to historical and time-honored stories and the sequence of events that have become significant.
"Reality is not discovered through objective means but is a agreed upon continually through social interaction, through conversation. Things 'are' what we agree to call them" (Real, 1990). Families operate within a matrix of agreed-upon realities. However, problems arise as each member experiences additional events outside the family and hears society's conflicting descriptions of truths. She or he then incorporates an expanded notion of reality that differs to some degree from the families' beliefs. Even the meaning of language changes (so well demonstrated by the ever-shifting adolescent vocabulary). Words have a life and meaning of their own and impact the reality of the individual within the family system. This complexity and enrichment embedded in the meaning of language, which leads to variations of the explanation of "truth," is often an overlooked and unacknowledged component of family difficulties. As a result of this enriched experience, many world truths exist secretly and in conflict within the boundaries of the generic world view, substantiated by the common complaint of families that they have "poor communication."
Taking the viewpoint of a social constructionist, I believe, provides the family art therapist with an encompassing overview of relationships and behaviors. It allows for a broad variation of individuals beliefs within the large picture while maintaining the view of the family as a system (Efran, Lukens & Lukens, 1990).
The constructionist approach relieves the therapist of the responsibility of "having the answer," knowing the "proper" treatment for the family. However, it is essential that the therapist put aside the invented realities of her own world and keep her bias from being intrusive in the therapy. The best entree into the family's world is to invite the members to relate their story in their own language. As they tell their tale, they will instruct the therapist about their dissatisfactions with certain behaviors and outcomes of sequences. The family story will shape the therapist's approach to treatment, one that will "fit." Only after the therapist grasps a glimpse of their world view and becomes sensitive to the meaning of their words and symbols will she or he be in a position to suggest alternative variations on the family script. This understanding does not come about by examining content of the first level communication, but by being receptive to messages that are contained in the second order view. According to Hoffman (1990):
Second-order view merely means taking a position that is a step removed from the operation itself so that you can perceive the operation reflexively. These view are really vies about views. They often make you more aware of how your own relationship to the operation influences it, or allows you to see that a particular interpretation is one of only many possible versions. (p. 4)
Given the freedom to not have the answer, the therapist becomes the student of the family. Learning from them opens opportunities to offer unique interpretations of events, to reframe the meaning of a sequence of behaviors, speak the language they understand and appreciate their reality. Quoting Anderson and Gooloshian (1988):
The role of the therapist is the of master conversational artist - an architect of dialogue whose expertise is in creating a space and facilitating a dialogical conversation. The therapist is a participant-observer and participant-manager of the therapeutic conversation. Just as systems are fluid, so are our ideas about them. Our theories, as well as our practice of therapy are meant as temporary lenses rather than representations that conform to a social reality. (p. 372)
As the therapist studies the world within the family, she or he must be acutely aware of the biased personal lens through which all therapists and the family look at reality. The lens is a composite of social constructions in life, in family, in dolor, in gender and in myths and beliefs that are held from childhood. With this awareness alive in the therapeutic relationship, there is little chance that the therapist will take an omnipotent stance and direct the families to fit a mold she or he has pre-selected.
For example, one family may desire structure and clarity of their hierarchical positions, the next may be greatly distressed by trying to keep old family traditions alive in a world in which they no longer fit. Each will direct the therapist to the theory - not because of theory but because of need.
When the family begins telling their stories, imagining a new ending, finding new truths, they are becoming creative. Being aware of these variants should improve the chances for a good outcome to therapy. The block to success is that of language. It takes many years for newlyweds, for example, to understand what their spouse really mean. How can therapists, newly wed to the client family, learn the "foreign" language and exotic legends of their clients rapidly enough to be effective?
It is helpful to think about family legend in this manner. Byng-Hall worte:
Family legends have a particular place in family mythology. They are those colored and often colorful stories that are told time and time again-in contrast to other information about the family's past, which fades away. Although they are ostensibly told because they are interesting, the way in which they are told frequently indicates how the family should behave-a from of moral tale....
What neither narrator or audience are usually aware of, however, is that legends are continually being re-edited by altering the metacommunications or reshaping the content in order to build up a story that fits present family attitudes. The past is usually seen as creating the present, not the present molding the past. (1988, p. 169)
To amplify our understanding of the legend, to create visible illustrations of the story, we choose clinical art therapy. Pictures need few words and speak an international language. Art therapy is a bridge between the invented reality of the family and the ability of the art therapist to appreciate that reality. Not only the therapist, but other family members as well will "get the picture." Through art therapy the family is provided the opportunity to illustrate the family story and, aided by these illustrations, to discover a new, alternative ending to that legend. The introduction of the image followed by discussing the meanings of the art product encourages creativity and gives breadth, depth and excitement to the process of therapy.
When the therapist takes a social constructionist view of reality, the therapeutic art tasks are presented and utilized in a manner that is integrated with the family's concept of reality (Hoffman, 1990). No longer is there a need for a specific "school" of art therapy but a therapy more directly connected to the expressive, creative thrust of each family member. The variations that become available through the concrete expression are countless, and the images, laden with symbols, metaphors and messages, give clarity and a new visual truth to the unique tales of each person. The art task is given the same respect as that given to an illustrator of a piece of fiction who attempts to bring his or her creative and artistic vision to a literary piece. I often think of the power the illustrations by John Tenniel had for me as a child reading the original Lice in Wonderland. Alice become real to me when I entered her world via the drawings. The descriptive words illuminated by the illustrations invited me into a strange world. Now in a similar manner the clients' stories and artwork provide me with a fresh lens to "see" their world and their troubles.
Case I
A 50-year-old African-American woman (Priscilla) came to the clinic with her 11-year-old foster son (Joseph). The court had recently ordered conjoint therapy after the boy had been removed from the home of his natural father, who had been charged with being physically abusive. The father's fifth wife had punished Joseph by forcing him to kneel on dried beans for several hours at a time, sometimes more than once a day. It was a painful punishment and made him lame. In due time he ran away to the home of his now foster mother, Priscilla, who was his father's third wife. His natural mother, Sarah, had not married his father and had never taken full responsibility for her son's care; at her request, Priscilla had raised him during a large part of his youth. It was a natural transition for him to live with Priscilla permanently. The court assigned her as legal guardian and he was content with the decision.
Initial problems presented in therapy were his uncooperative behavior at school, his nightmares and his constant fear that his father would kidnap him and return him to the bean torture. Priscilla wisely realized that his acting out at school was a manifestation of his anger, anxiety and tensions around the question of the permanence of his placement and the trauma of his father's cruelty. While in therapy the negative behavior at school de-escalated rather quickly, but fears and anxiety continued to distress the boy daily. He had a hard time going to and from school because he was convinced that his dad would force him into the car and abduct him. It all revolved around the "beans." Fear equalled beans. Therefore, it seemed pressing for me to o something with the beans.
However, before we could move in this direction, I found myself confused about the various relationships in the extended family. To solve this problem "for me," Priscilla and Joseph did a family map (Figure 1). They told me that Joseph's natural mother, Sarah, was father's acknowledged mistress during the time that Priscilla was the wife. She shared the boy with her from infancy. The relationships with all the past wives and multiple mistresses were actively acknowledged and were part of the social world of the family. There were half-brothers and relatives from past associations who also were active in Joseph's life. Drugs and illegal transactions were the normal business of the father' however, Priscilla had never joined in these activities. Joseph's father's present wife was from Asia. He had married her through a contract to provide her with United States citizenship. As one might imagine, the courts were hard pressed to know which of the many members of this tribe should be responsible for Joseph, but miraculously found the right person in Priscilla. As I listened to their explanation of their spontaneously created genogram, I was able to resolve my confusion.
The free form of the genogram and use of color to indicate emotional attachment added greatly to their personal statement and gave "life" to the many persons involved. I could better enter into their world view when I saw the complicated relationships and cultural implications, and they were delighted to draw this description of their interwoven family system. They were fully aware of how unusually enmeshed they were and how much it puzzled outsiders. It was not a family, it was a clan! Priscilla was fond of saying that she was the only one not intimidated by this powerful man, who, she said, acted like a "gofather."
The next step was to address and transform the beans. Joseph decorated the outside of a shoe box with collage pictures (Figure 2) representing aspects of himself. The box had a mailbox slot cut into it. After he was finished we moved to the next task. His face turned grey when he saw me cutting large beans out of brown construction paper. With his foster mother's help, he handled the beans. They both wondered how Joseph would utilize the beans. What could be done with them? He reluctantly decided to use them as the place on which he could write "things he wanted to forget." He then put them in the box (inside himself). At each session he proceeded in this manner, first recalling the misery at his father's home and writing short sentences, such as "I'll never go back there again." In time he moved to phrases that indicated he felt secure in Priscilla's home. Much later in treatment I brought him green paper beans and told him that the hurtful brown beans were nearly used up. He could now start on the beans that would grow into his future. Joseph followed the suggestion and wrote messages about growing up, playing football and being permanently at home with his "Mum," Priscilla. During one brief time of his regression at school I gave him some dried kidney beans to carry in his pocket. When he felt the real beans he would be reminded that he was in charge of the beans (his conduct), not his father.
My perception of this task was that it would be helpful to take a sad, painful story, embrace the key metaphor (beans, with all the trauma inferred) and transform them into a vehicle for therapy. Joseph would be able to find a new ending to his frightening story, contain his fears in the box, be in command of his future by actually putting his hands and his words on the abuse and thus give himself a sense of power. He transformed his tragedy through an art task, which he learned to enjoy and even request in his sessions. It became a healing ritual.
As a therapist, I also experienced his pleasure. It is not often that a way can be found to alleviate the effects of abuse for an 11-year-old who has few emotional resources and has lived in a family system where the word "constancy" was not included in the vocabulary. As he learned to view his world in a new way I was privileged to share in his construction of a more acceptable reality.
Needless to say, there were many other issues addressed in the course of this treatment, but it was my first "bean" case, and it demonstrated how redefining an event and introducing new interpretations for a toxic sequence can enhance the course of therapy. How could that issue have been addressed within the reality of Joseph's life experience without the art task? Varela (1989) states: "First, therapists do not simply provide a commentary on meanings that are shared by everyone.... Second, they do not seek some 'intrinsic' or fundamental meaning for the actors or the family" (p. 22). The art gave the young client the freedom to deal directly with the abuse and provided a means to gain control. He invented the way to direct his fears, deal with his trauma and to find creativity in the process as well.
Discussion
Treating children who have been abused is always a delicate and difficult challenge. In spite of the abuse, a child (such as Joseph) is torn by a divided allegiance to his father and to his foster mother. As he worked with the symbolic representation of his abuse he reevaluated the messages of his primary socialization (Berger & Luckman, 1966). He questioned his early belief, "love your father under all circumstances," through the opportunity to objectify his abusive experience. He was able to make the move of transferring his loyalty from his father to his foster mother by understanding that there is more than one interpretation of an event or a relationship. When the art task provided him with the circumstance to take a reflective stance he was able to personally create alternative realities. Discovering cohesion in his story of abuse was therapeutically possible through listening, encouraging and collaborating with the boy as he searched for as understanding of the events congruent with his world view.
This chapter explores current trends in theoretical thinking in the practice of family therapy : social constructionism, structure determinism, and the aesthetics of therapy. The compatibility of these theories with family art therapy treatment will be questioned.
Art therapy products created by a family in treatment have proved valuable as assessment tools, fresh modes of communication, and levers for change. However, therapists most often use these products to move toward goals that fit within a particular family treatment theory. For example, structural family art therapists look for hierarchical imbalances, strategic family art therapists seek out repetitive patterns of problem solving and family of origin devotees scan the art for examples of continuing ties to the family of birth. the capacity for the images to support all these (and more) approaches has been seen as a strength and a delight for art therapists involved in family work.
However, in the past few years, the family field has been shifting toward another convincing attitude for family treatment. The constructionist framework appears to this author as a natural synthesis with art therapy expressions. The artwork has always led sensitive therapists to an awareness of the message embedded in the product. When the emphasis is on the family telling their story and how they have invented their reality, the clinician is able to find a window to this world through the visual illustration. The art therapists can move with the art first and choose the proper theoretical approach second.
The family and each member in the family can be known more intimately when therapists accept a social constructionist approach toward learning and understanding their unique world as presented in therapy.
The search for a lens in family therapy encourages the therapist to inquire how the family has constructed their knowledge of social phenomena, developed their language, created an attitude toward gender-sensitive issues and have taught each other what to believe in. Art products are the avenue to the meta-messages, an entree into second ordered views and the invented reality of the family.
Art therapy has been recognized, since its formalized inception in the 1950's, to have the ability to be receptive and reflective of a broad spectrum of theoretical approaches (Landgarten, 1987;Rubin, 1987;Wadeson,1980).
However, in this chapter I intend to limit my focus on clinical art therapy as it is integrated with family theory and treatment. I also intend to challenge the notion that the art is solely a tool that conveys the goals set by the therapist. Rather, given the proper receptivity, the visual expressions of the family can be the prime indicator for the choice of theory best suited to treatment.
I also wish to propose that it would be useful to adopt a method of thinking that introduces creativity into treatment and allows the art, the families' illustrations, to take a dominant role in the therapeutic process. The theory to which I refer is social constructionism and the created reality(Berger, 1966;Watzlawick, 1984).
Below is a brief description of constructionism presented by Duncan, Parks and Rush (1990);
The constructivist position holds that individuals do not discover "reality," rather, they invent it(Watzlawick, 1984). Experience orders and organizes the environment; it does not directly reflect it.
Reality is evident only through the constructed meanings which shape and organize experience; simply put, meaning is reality.... The construction of reality/meaning by individuals is a highly creative process which is limited somewhat by prevailing sociocultural limits and expectations. The creation of meaning frames and organizes perception and experience into rule-governed patterns through which individuals may predict, describe, and direct their lives.... The constructivist paradigm bears implications for a flexible, eclectic strategic practice. Therapists, like clients, are engaged in the struggle to create a predictable structured reality. Models of psychotherapy and individual/family development serve to assist clinicians in the struggle to order their own perceptions and experience regarding the client's presenting problem. In addition, theory functions to structure the assumptions and goals of the interactive process which is designated "psychotherapy " (Beutler, 1983). Paradoxically, the structure which the therapist selects also limits the search for solutions. From a constructivist vantage point, theoretical language and content conceptualizations may be viewed as metaphorical presentations which explain and organize the therapist's reality.(p. 166)
As I assume the role of an interpreter of social constructionism in this chapter, I am aware that the theory becomes a vision filtered through my lens: the personal 문 social experience of my person. My view reflected my interest in examining the relationship of the philosophy of constructionism to art therapy theory. As Watzlawick (1984) has written:
Each of us have invented the world in which we live. We do this by the way we use words (language) and how we interpret the events of our lives, both in the present and in the past, and how we connect these events sequentially. (p. 113)
In this world of invented realities, the motivation to change reality comes when a world view, an understanding, a conclusion, a truth, the perception of how events are sequenced has proven false or unsatisfactory. To regain Equilibrium these events must be viewed in a different way. When we accept that events themselves and their sequence does not change, the view of the situation may change, and the difficulty may be resolved.
In the manner as described above, families build up a world of "truths." Over the generations they describe to each other how to interpret an event, how to understand it "correctly." They reference back to historical and time-honored stories and the sequence of events that have become significant.
"Reality is not discovered through objective means but is a agreed upon continually through social interaction, through conversation. Things 'are' what we agree to call them" (Real, 1990). Families operate within a matrix of agreed-upon realities. However, problems arise as each member experiences additional events outside the family and hears society's conflicting descriptions of truths. She or he then incorporates an expanded notion of reality that differs to some degree from the families' beliefs. Even the meaning of language changes (so well demonstrated by the ever-shifting adolescent vocabulary). Words have a life and meaning of their own and impact the reality of the individual within the family system. This complexity and enrichment embedded in the meaning of language, which leads to variations of the explanation of "truth," is often an overlooked and unacknowledged component of family difficulties. As a result of this enriched experience, many world truths exist secretly and in conflict within the boundaries of the generic world view, substantiated by the common complaint of families that they have "poor communication."
Taking the viewpoint of a social constructionist, I believe, provides the family art therapist with an encompassing overview of relationships and behaviors. It allows for a broad variation of individuals beliefs within the large picture while maintaining the view of the family as a system (Efran, Lukens & Lukens, 1990).
The constructionist approach relieves the therapist of the responsibility of "having the answer," knowing the "proper" treatment for the family. However, it is essential that the therapist put aside the invented realities of her own world and keep her bias from being intrusive in the therapy. The best entree into the family's world is to invite the members to relate their story in their own language. As they tell their tale, they will instruct the therapist about their dissatisfactions with certain behaviors and outcomes of sequences. The family story will shape the therapist's approach to treatment, one that will "fit." Only after the therapist grasps a glimpse of their world view and becomes sensitive to the meaning of their words and symbols will she or he be in a position to suggest alternative variations on the family script. This understanding does not come about by examining content of the first level communication, but by being receptive to messages that are contained in the second order view. According to Hoffman (1990):
Second-order view merely means taking a position that is a step removed from the operation itself so that you can perceive the operation reflexively. These view are really vies about views. They often make you more aware of how your own relationship to the operation influences it, or allows you to see that a particular interpretation is one of only many possible versions. (p. 4)
Given the freedom to not have the answer, the therapist becomes the student of the family. Learning from them opens opportunities to offer unique interpretations of events, to reframe the meaning of a sequence of behaviors, speak the language they understand and appreciate their reality. Quoting Anderson and Gooloshian (1988):
The role of the therapist is the of master conversational artist - an architect of dialogue whose expertise is in creating a space and facilitating a dialogical conversation. The therapist is a participant-observer and participant-manager of the therapeutic conversation. Just as systems are fluid, so are our ideas about them. Our theories, as well as our practice of therapy are meant as temporary lenses rather than representations that conform to a social reality. (p. 372)
As the therapist studies the world within the family, she or he must be acutely aware of the biased personal lens through which all therapists and the family look at reality. The lens is a composite of social constructions in life, in family, in dolor, in gender and in myths and beliefs that are held from childhood. With this awareness alive in the therapeutic relationship, there is little chance that the therapist will take an omnipotent stance and direct the families to fit a mold she or he has pre-selected.
For example, one family may desire structure and clarity of their hierarchical positions, the next may be greatly distressed by trying to keep old family traditions alive in a world in which they no longer fit. Each will direct the therapist to the theory - not because of theory but because of need.
When the family begins telling their stories, imagining a new ending, finding new truths, they are becoming creative. Being aware of these variants should improve the chances for a good outcome to therapy. The block to success is that of language. It takes many years for newlyweds, for example, to understand what their spouse really mean. How can therapists, newly wed to the client family, learn the "foreign" language and exotic legends of their clients rapidly enough to be effective?
It is helpful to think about family legend in this manner. Byng-Hall worte:
Family legends have a particular place in family mythology. They are those colored and often colorful stories that are told time and time again-in contrast to other information about the family's past, which fades away. Although they are ostensibly told because they are interesting, the way in which they are told frequently indicates how the family should behave-a from of moral tale....
What neither narrator or audience are usually aware of, however, is that legends are continually being re-edited by altering the metacommunications or reshaping the content in order to build up a story that fits present family attitudes. The past is usually seen as creating the present, not the present molding the past. (1988, p. 169)
To amplify our understanding of the legend, to create visible illustrations of the story, we choose clinical art therapy. Pictures need few words and speak an international language. Art therapy is a bridge between the invented reality of the family and the ability of the art therapist to appreciate that reality. Not only the therapist, but other family members as well will "get the picture." Through art therapy the family is provided the opportunity to illustrate the family story and, aided by these illustrations, to discover a new, alternative ending to that legend. The introduction of the image followed by discussing the meanings of the art product encourages creativity and gives breadth, depth and excitement to the process of therapy.
When the therapist takes a social constructionist view of reality, the therapeutic art tasks are presented and utilized in a manner that is integrated with the family's concept of reality (Hoffman, 1990). No longer is there a need for a specific "school" of art therapy but a therapy more directly connected to the expressive, creative thrust of each family member. The variations that become available through the concrete expression are countless, and the images, laden with symbols, metaphors and messages, give clarity and a new visual truth to the unique tales of each person. The art task is given the same respect as that given to an illustrator of a piece of fiction who attempts to bring his or her creative and artistic vision to a literary piece. I often think of the power the illustrations by John Tenniel had for me as a child reading the original Lice in Wonderland. Alice become real to me when I entered her world via the drawings. The descriptive words illuminated by the illustrations invited me into a strange world. Now in a similar manner the clients' stories and artwork provide me with a fresh lens to "see" their world and their troubles.
Case I
A 50-year-old African-American woman (Priscilla) came to the clinic with her 11-year-old foster son (Joseph). The court had recently ordered conjoint therapy after the boy had been removed from the home of his natural father, who had been charged with being physically abusive. The father's fifth wife had punished Joseph by forcing him to kneel on dried beans for several hours at a time, sometimes more than once a day. It was a painful punishment and made him lame. In due time he ran away to the home of his now foster mother, Priscilla, who was his father's third wife. His natural mother, Sarah, had not married his father and had never taken full responsibility for her son's care; at her request, Priscilla had raised him during a large part of his youth. It was a natural transition for him to live with Priscilla permanently. The court assigned her as legal guardian and he was content with the decision.
Initial problems presented in therapy were his uncooperative behavior at school, his nightmares and his constant fear that his father would kidnap him and return him to the bean torture. Priscilla wisely realized that his acting out at school was a manifestation of his anger, anxiety and tensions around the question of the permanence of his placement and the trauma of his father's cruelty. While in therapy the negative behavior at school de-escalated rather quickly, but fears and anxiety continued to distress the boy daily. He had a hard time going to and from school because he was convinced that his dad would force him into the car and abduct him. It all revolved around the "beans." Fear equalled beans. Therefore, it seemed pressing for me to o something with the beans.
However, before we could move in this direction, I found myself confused about the various relationships in the extended family. To solve this problem "for me," Priscilla and Joseph did a family map (Figure 1). They told me that Joseph's natural mother, Sarah, was father's acknowledged mistress during the time that Priscilla was the wife. She shared the boy with her from infancy. The relationships with all the past wives and multiple mistresses were actively acknowledged and were part of the social world of the family. There were half-brothers and relatives from past associations who also were active in Joseph's life. Drugs and illegal transactions were the normal business of the father' however, Priscilla had never joined in these activities. Joseph's father's present wife was from Asia. He had married her through a contract to provide her with United States citizenship. As one might imagine, the courts were hard pressed to know which of the many members of this tribe should be responsible for Joseph, but miraculously found the right person in Priscilla. As I listened to their explanation of their spontaneously created genogram, I was able to resolve my confusion.
The free form of the genogram and use of color to indicate emotional attachment added greatly to their personal statement and gave "life" to the many persons involved. I could better enter into their world view when I saw the complicated relationships and cultural implications, and they were delighted to draw this description of their interwoven family system. They were fully aware of how unusually enmeshed they were and how much it puzzled outsiders. It was not a family, it was a clan! Priscilla was fond of saying that she was the only one not intimidated by this powerful man, who, she said, acted like a "gofather."
The next step was to address and transform the beans. Joseph decorated the outside of a shoe box with collage pictures (Figure 2) representing aspects of himself. The box had a mailbox slot cut into it. After he was finished we moved to the next task. His face turned grey when he saw me cutting large beans out of brown construction paper. With his foster mother's help, he handled the beans. They both wondered how Joseph would utilize the beans. What could be done with them? He reluctantly decided to use them as the place on which he could write "things he wanted to forget." He then put them in the box (inside himself). At each session he proceeded in this manner, first recalling the misery at his father's home and writing short sentences, such as "I'll never go back there again." In time he moved to phrases that indicated he felt secure in Priscilla's home. Much later in treatment I brought him green paper beans and told him that the hurtful brown beans were nearly used up. He could now start on the beans that would grow into his future. Joseph followed the suggestion and wrote messages about growing up, playing football and being permanently at home with his "Mum," Priscilla. During one brief time of his regression at school I gave him some dried kidney beans to carry in his pocket. When he felt the real beans he would be reminded that he was in charge of the beans (his conduct), not his father.
My perception of this task was that it would be helpful to take a sad, painful story, embrace the key metaphor (beans, with all the trauma inferred) and transform them into a vehicle for therapy. Joseph would be able to find a new ending to his frightening story, contain his fears in the box, be in command of his future by actually putting his hands and his words on the abuse and thus give himself a sense of power. He transformed his tragedy through an art task, which he learned to enjoy and even request in his sessions. It became a healing ritual.
As a therapist, I also experienced his pleasure. It is not often that a way can be found to alleviate the effects of abuse for an 11-year-old who has few emotional resources and has lived in a family system where the word "constancy" was not included in the vocabulary. As he learned to view his world in a new way I was privileged to share in his construction of a more acceptable reality.
Needless to say, there were many other issues addressed in the course of this treatment, but it was my first "bean" case, and it demonstrated how redefining an event and introducing new interpretations for a toxic sequence can enhance the course of therapy. How could that issue have been addressed within the reality of Joseph's life experience without the art task? Varela (1989) states: "First, therapists do not simply provide a commentary on meanings that are shared by everyone.... Second, they do not seek some 'intrinsic' or fundamental meaning for the actors or the family" (p. 22). The art gave the young client the freedom to deal directly with the abuse and provided a means to gain control. He invented the way to direct his fears, deal with his trauma and to find creativity in the process as well.
Discussion
Treating children who have been abused is always a delicate and difficult challenge. In spite of the abuse, a child (such as Joseph) is torn by a divided allegiance to his father and to his foster mother. As he worked with the symbolic representation of his abuse he reevaluated the messages of his primary socialization (Berger & Luckman, 1966). He questioned his early belief, "love your father under all circumstances," through the opportunity to objectify his abusive experience. He was able to make the move of transferring his loyalty from his father to his foster mother by understanding that there is more than one interpretation of an event or a relationship. When the art task provided him with the circumstance to take a reflective stance he was able to personally create alternative realities. Discovering cohesion in his story of abuse was therapeutically possible through listening, encouraging and collaborating with the boy as he searched for as understanding of the events congruent with his world view.
