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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1489813
This article is part of the Research Topic The Arts Therapies and Neuroscience View all 9 articles

MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE: TRAVERSING HEAD INJURIES WITH ART THERAPY Art Therapy and Brain Injury: Making the Invisible Visible

Provisionally accepted
Denise R. Wolf Denise R. Wolf 1,2*Michele Rattigan Michele Rattigan 1,2
  • 1 Graduate College, Drexel University, Philadelphia, United States
  • 2 College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The multiple cognitive, somatic, and behavioral changes following head injuries can result in expressive language difficulties that may not be resolved quickly. This paper explores the traumatic brain injury and post-concussive syndrome artwork created by an art therapist and the child of an art therapist, making the invisible neurological consequences of head injuries visible.between patients, health professionals, and family members. Utilizing client imagery as a form of communication may improve patient outcomes through the identification and resultant treatment of overlooked and underdiagnosed symptoms. Experiences such as confusion, fear, localized pain, and mood lability stem not only from the injury itself, but from the experience of damaged microstructures that are often undetectable in standard diagnostic testing. Additionally, symptoms such as temperature and appetite dysregulation, vestibular and proprioceptive disruptions, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders evade standard diagnostic inventories. This may prompt the patient to question the reality of their somatic and cognitive experiences.Research supports the position of the authors: these experiences can be communicated through

    Keywords: Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-concussive syndrome, Art Therapy, imagery, Expression, Interprofessional collaboration, Translation Neurosciences

    Received: 01 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wolf and Rattigan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Denise R. Wolf, Graduate College, Drexel University, Philadelphia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.