Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing

A Sensorimotor Art Therapy Approach to Bilateral Body Mapping

by Cornelia Elbrecht

A body-focused, trauma-informed art therapy that will appeal to art therapists, somatic experiencing practitioners, bodyworkers, artists, and mental health professionals

While art therapy traditionally focuses on therapeutic image-making and the cognitive or symbolic interpretation of these creations, Cornelia Elbrecht instructs readers how to facilitate the body-focused approach of guided drawing. Clients draw with both hands and eyes closed as they focus on their felt sense. Physical pain, tension, and emotions are expressed without words through bilateral scribbles. Clients then, with an almost massage-like approach, find movements that soothe their pain, discharge inner tension and emotions, and repair boundary breaches. Archetypal shapes allow therapists to safely structure the experience in a nonverbal way. Sensorimotor art therapy is a unique and self-empowering application of somatic experiencing—it is both body-focused and trauma-informed in approach—and assists clients who have experienced complex traumatic events to actively respond to overwhelming experiences until they feel less helpless and overwhelmed and are then able to repair their memories of the past. Elbrecht provides readers with the context of body-focused, trauma-informed art therapy and walks them through the thinking behind and process of guided drawing—including 100 images from client sessions that serve as helpful examples of the work.

Foreword: Cathy Malchiodi, PhD

Publisher: North Atlantic Books, 2018

Distributor: Penguin Random House

Widely available for sale through international book resellers.

Endorsements

“A profound journey from an intuitive, ‘felt sense’ experience, giving rise to lifelong exploration of theoretical constructs involving the integration of sensorimotor approaches and bilateral body mapping. This integrative practice transcends anecdotal findings from creative arts therapies by bringing neurobiological considerations with foundational art therapy theory and practice.”

Elizabeth Warson, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, EMDR

“Cornelia Elbrecht’s book draws the reader’s attention to an understanding of how line quality, shape, form, colour, and movement in art making can have a dynamic impact on the client who has experienced trauma. The creation of archetypal visual forms is explored for visceral and embodied effects in the art maker. Her model of art therapy is informed by key authorities in the trauma field, including the seminal work of Peter Levine. Elbrecht conveys her method of art therapy visually as well as descriptively with the generous inclusion of many illustrations. This text contributes a unique perspective to the literature on art, healing, and trauma.”

Patricia Fenner, PhD, senior lecturer and coordinator of the master of art therapy program at the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University, Melbourne

“It is revitalising to read this contemporary and provocative text that sensitively addresses the complexity of trauma and trauma healing. Sophistically articulated from her life’s work and experience, Cornelia Elbrecht provides a body=focused framework for therapists to navigate difficult terrain in ways that are meaningful, straightforward, life-changing, and applicable in context from which an arts-informed perspective is maximised. She acknowledges the inherent resilience of the body and how it can be used for transformative and healing purposes within the therapeutic encounter. This pivotal text is an essential must-have as it will most certainly progress the discipline and discourse on trauma healing in profound ways.”

Ronald P.M.H. Lay, MA, AThR, ATR-BC, registered and credentialed art therapist and supervisor and program leader of masters in art therapy program at the LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

“To read this book is to watch a master at work. As In Trauma Healing at the Clay Field, Cornelia Elbrecht charts new territory in neurobiologically informed trauma treatment. Her decades of experience as a sensorimotor art therapist are rooted in the understanding that no psychological process can be experienced separately from the body. Blending extensive knowledge of current science with years of mastery in ancient and modern body-based movement meditation and healing, the author presents guided drawing activities for application with clients. Those of us working with bilateral drawing, writing, and body mapping owe Elbrecht a special debt. She greatly deepens our intuitive understanding of how and why these whole-brain, whole-body methods are so effective while expanding our repertoire of tools. Illuminated by deeply moving case studies, this handbook is a must read for expressive therapists, trauma treatment specialists, and holistic practitioners, The author’s wisdom, experience, and inspiration shine through on every page.”

Lucia Cappacione, PhD, ATR, REAT, author of The Power of Your Other Hand and Recovery of Your Inner Child and director of the Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification Training Program

“This wonderful useful and inspiring book takes at its foundation the idea that guided drawing can be curative and that an understanding of the body, mark making, rhythm of movement, and archetypal forms can underpin this. Can it be so simple that by using repetitive shapes with eyes closed and with a concentration on movement, rhythm, and repetition one can find within themselves a way forward? This is the question that formed as I read this book. It offers a unique combination of explanatory discourse, personal experience, and practical examples concerning guided drawing."

Jean Bennett, lecturer on creative expressive therapies and art therapy at the University of Derby, UK

“In Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing, Cornelia Elbrecht manages to weave in her lifelong professional experience and trainings with emerging research evidence on trauma and the body. Neuroscience has opened a new horizon for trauma work, deepening our understanding of the relationship between body, brain, and emotions. Elbrecht’s book is a much welcome and significant contribution to this field as it introduces an art therapy-specific approach. She generously shares her wealth of experience. Theory and descriptions of practical exercises are well integrated, and case examples make this book lively and engaging. Elbrecht’s life experience underpins the richness of her work and her caring and compassionate approach toward clients who have experienced trauma.”

Val Huet, PhD, CEO of the British Association of Art Therapists BAAT