Art therapy and childhood. A rehearsal for life

Abstract

Disscussing serious mental disorder, when we talk about very young patients, is a very complex issue. Nearly all cases arise by failure in a common space, school. Facing peers brings up conflict to the surface. Usually these problems are very complex as well as arising with added difficulties at home. That is why any intervention is performed by a multidisciplinary team that addresses not only the children themselves but also their environment. The challenge lies in how to intervene with such young children with limited use of verbal language. Art therapy is presented as a safe containment space where they can forge a stable relationship that leads us to explore and experience looking to redo part of that life experience. Plastic language will shape their emotions, difficulties and concerns and also enable the transformation to occur. All this is done through play, which allows a rehearsal for life.