Expressive Arts Therapy Case Sharing: Academic Stress and Family Dynamics
Expressive Arts Therapist: Liz Tong
Service User: Moo
Moo's mother said that her son has been under a lot of academic pressure lately, he needs stress reduction. I noticed that Moo is a cautious and prudent child, his pressure could be relating to family dynamics.
Express Family Dynamics with Soft Toys
I asked Moo to select a plush toy that resonated with him and to talk about its personality. I then invited him to choose toys representing other family members and to demonstrate the interactions between them.
When selecting his family, Moo immediately picked up a penguin puppet to represent his father. He described his father as very large, with his head often turned toward the sky, noting that it required a great deal of effort for him to look forward, which left him unaware of the people and events around him. The toy representing Moo was named "Little Brother." When the toy family was arranged together, Little Brother was placed furthest away from his father.
Expressing Feelings and Resolving Inner Conflict
Moo shared that the father had unrealistic expectations for Little Brother. Even if Little Brother worked incredibly hard to get an A- to please him, the father would simply ask why he couldn't get an A+. Consequently, Little Brother went back to his room and cried. Then, his elder brother came to protect him, using a Kamehameha attack against the father, which knocked the father over onto the floor.
Liz: "Well, Daddy seems to have some feelings this time. But it created an even greater distance between Little Brother and Daddy."
Moo then brought Little Brother right in front of his father so that his father could see him. Then, he had Little Brother lie down on his father's belly.
Liz: "How does Little Brother feel when he sees Daddy lying on the floor?"
Moo: "So lazy."
Liz: "Yeah, but even so, he doesn't want to give up on Daddy. He still wants Daddy to notice him. His action feels like: 'I want you to feel my importance, I want you to feel my weight...'"
Moo then helped Daddy and Little Brother stand up and hug each other.
Speaking for Little Brother, I said, "In fact, I want to hold you in my arms."
Moo then had Daddy and Little Brother kiss.
Inner Reconciliation
Afterwards, Moo expressed his feelings using musical instruments and then drew a comic strip to narrate the story. The story concluded with Daddy apologizing to Little Brother. Daddy finally realized that his lack of understanding and his unrealistic demands had caused his son stress and sadness. Following this, I suggested that Moo rehearse this final scene with the toys to reinforce the feeling of inner reconciliation.
Cultivating Inner Strength Through Drama
During this process, I felt that the elder brother served as an important companion and protector for Little Brother, consistently offering him support. To anchor this, I invited Moo to deliver a gift to Little Brother on behalf of the elder brother as a token of encouragement. He drew a card depicting the entire family enjoying a party and wrote a few encouraging words inside. I then asked Moo to hug the Little Brother plush toy while speaking those supportive words aloud. Afterward, Moo captured that moment by drawing the hugging scene directly onto the card.
Change
Moo's mother: "How do you feel?"
Moo: “More relaxed.”
I noticed that the pause before Moo spoke had shortened.
***Client has given consent to share photos of artwork and the therapy process.
