This study evaluated the effectiveness of a social action art therapy session to address symptoms of stress and compassion fatigue in counsellors working in domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) services. Participants were adult women (N = 30) who work with client survivors of DV and SA. Participants participated in three groups based on their workplace, and were asked to create art for a group peace pole. The peace pole has currency within the DV support community as a symbol of hope and safety. After creating individual artworks, each member glued their canvas squares onto the peace pole to create a unified group piece of art. The Compassion Fatigue Self-Test was used to measure compassion fatigue, and the Psychological Stress Measure 9 provided information regarding pre- and post-measures of symptomology changes. The results supported the hypothesis that participation in a social action art therapy-based session could significantly reduce stress.

This autoethnographic study examines a personal journey of using tattooing as a creative modality to reclaim my body, affirm my gender identity, and heal from past trauma. Drawing on detailed blog entries (2017-2022) and relevant literature in trauma, art therapy, and Queer embodiment, the study weaves narrative vignettes with academic analysis. Thematic sections illustrate how tattoos became a powerful form of agency: turning “invisible injury into a visible mark” to recover ownership of my body, inscribing a living record of my gender transition, and transforming suffering into “positive narrative coping” through art. Throughout, reflexively connect these experiences to broader theory, noting that for many survivors and Queer individuals, tattoos provide “reclamation and anti-normative healing” against stigma. Implications for creative arts therapies are discussed: therapists are encouraged to honor clients’ tattoo narratives as embodied art with therapeutic value. This study contributes new insight into how tattooing, an often-overlooked art form, can function as a profound tool for empowerment and meaning-making in trauma-informed, gender-affirming therapeutic practice.

Queer and gender-diverse individuals often navigate intersecting experiences of trauma, digital harassment, and sociopolitical marginalization that profoundly shape embodied identity. Arts-based autoethnography offers a valuable methodology for examining these experiences through material, symbolic, and somatic processes. This study explored how mannequin-based artmaking served as an embodied site for engaging with Queer identity, integrating trauma, and reconstructing the self. Using an autoethnographic design, I undertook a two-year process of modifying life-sized mannequins through cutting, reconstructing, painting, and layering. Data sources included reflective journals, video documentation of somatic and emotional responses, and photographic records of sculptural progression, which were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by Queer, trauma-informed, and embodied frameworks. Four themes emerged: (1) transformation of gender presentation, (2) development of a symbolic material vocabulary, (3) movement from fragmentation toward subtle integration, and (4) resilience and post-traumatic growth expressed through somatic regulation and creative coherence. Findings suggest that mannequin-based artmaking can serve as a generative form of embodied inquiry into the complexities of Queer identity and trauma. Although this work was undertaken as a personal exploration rather than clinical practice, it highlights how three-dimensional, embodied art processes can illuminate lived experiences shaped by oppression and digital violence, with meaningful implications for future art therapy practice, particularly in work addressing identity, trauma, and body-based distress.

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This practice paper explores the integration of Jungian archetypes and collage-based tarot-style imagery in art therapy to support body image healing for queer clients. It synthesizes recent scholarship on LGBTQ+ affirmative and trauma-informed creative arts approaches, noting that minority stress elevates body dissatisfaction in sexual and gender minorities (Santoniccolo et al., 2025). We describe how symbolic archetypes can be evoked through intuitive collage to externalize inner narratives and foster embodiment. Tarot-inspired card-making is presented as a method to personalize archetypal themes. Emphasis is placed on culturally responsive, trauma-sensitive care that honors each client’s identity and lived experience (Van Den Berg & Anderson, 2023). A composite clinical vignette illustrates a collage exercise for a nonbinary client’s body image.

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