I’m reading Sarah Deaver’s article on Children’s Drawings. I appreciate her working toward a better understanding of children’s drawings. As someone who runs a non-profit for children who are victims of violence and who are exposed to violence, we assess all clients coming into our center for trauma related diagnosis, mental health diagnosis, and stressors. Since we see trauma victims, this does not predispose that they are mentally-ill, rather that they may be normal children who have undergone an incredibly stressful event that may bring on mental health issues. Having a current and greater resource for the evaluation of children’s drawings will be a wonderful tool for clinicians in the diganosis of true mental health issues within trauma. We hope that she will include the collection and evaluation of artwork by traumatized children in her sample. Perhaps that is something we can contribute to in teh near future or as she expands this project.
Her article is published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, vol 26, #1, 2009
Carol Olson 