Expression in the Service of Humanity: Trauma and Temporality

Abstract

This article presents the spontaneously co-led workshop by a counseling psychologist and expressive therapist on their professional work with traumatized populations for the Imagine Conference in April 2006 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Integrating theories of healing from traumatic grief with clinical and personal experiences, participants were invited to connect to each other through the use of bubble wrap to contain and represent what brought them to the topic. This article describes the process of presenting theory and modeling the group safety, meaning-making, and reconnecting tasks of trauma work within a time-limited workshop for clinicians and trainers. Verbal and nonverbal techniques are used to demonstrate action-oriented approaches to traumatic grief.