Abbey Cyester
Art Therapy as a Means of Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) for Survivors
This senior capstone project examines the short- and long-term psychological impacts of trauma, including denial, shock, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and C-PTSD. It divides trauma into acute, chronic, and complex categories, highlighting the challenges in diagnosing due to the variety of symptoms and comorbidities. The importance of thorough assessments and customized treatment plans is underlined, focusing on art therapy in particular, to achieve PTG. The application of art therapy as a therapeutic approach that incorporates sensory understandings is examined. The steps of safeguarding, memory, despair, reconnection, and integration are highlighted by analyzing trauma-informed treatment.
Accompanying this presentation is a substantial research paper that examines trauma and its typologies and predictors, the stages of PTG and its studies, and theoretical and therapeutic frameworks and methodologies. Paper access will be distributed upon request.
Additionally, the following art exhibition visually presents a sample of Abbey’s art therapy-based paintings about trauma, her experiences, and her healing process.
Major: Trauma Recovery through Psychology and the Visual Arts
Academic Advisors: Michael Casselli
Co-op Advisor: Luisa Bieri
Co-ops: Counseling Services Assistant, Antioch College (Winter 2022), Field Work Experience for Transfer (Winter 2023), Teaching Assistant, We Care Arts (Spring 2023)
Additional Campus Involvement: Coordinator at The Coretta Scott King Center, Creator/Organizer/Host of the Emotion Art Workshops at the Counseling Services Center
Languages: English, Spanish, ASL
Home City: Kettering, Ohio - Yellow Springs, Ohio - Dana Point, California - Los Angeles, California - Joshua Tree, California
Email: acyester@antiochcollege.edu