Processing Trauma Through Drawing (Tony Hull)

I’ll be reviewing a recording of a workshop I ran with a group employed in a high-stress profession which I think gives a flavour of the way that drawing could help others and how the evolving research might work in practice. I’ll be analysing the feedback from my attendees, looking especially at those exercises that had the most positive and constructive responses, to think about how this could influence the final form such a drawing workshop might take. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.

Starting with an excerpt from my journal relating to the time around my partner’s paralysing accident, I begin to reflect on how something as basic as drawing could have helped me to absorb and process what was happening. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.

Drawing has an impact on the body. Thinking about the nervous system through the lens to Dr Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, I’ll consider the significance of the ‘new’ vagus in relation to healing and social engagement. I report back on a conversation with Elisabeth Reissner, a yoga therapist who works specifically with clients who have PTSD, where we discuss parallels between her approach to ‘retuning’ the autonomic nervous system and what might happen when we make drawings. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.

Reflecting on the psychological aspects potentially involved with drawing and trauma processing, I’ll be looking at Prof Chris Brewin’s Dual Representation Theory and its potential to explain aspects of my own experience. I’ll touch on his proposal for two separate memory systems, what happens when the dialogue between them breaks down, and how drawing might potentially help. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.

Drawing has the potential to diminish our tendency to name what we see. I’ll talk about how this works and why ‘not-naming’ may be positive in the context of trauma processing. Taking Relational Frame Theory as my starting point, I’ll attempt to unwrap how making drawings might break the linguistic codes that mean we can get ‘stuck’ with negative thoughts and associations. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.

Reflecting on my experience of drawing through trauma, in this concluding dialogue I look at the various ways in which the activity of drawing initiated different kinds of looking, and how and why this might have been important. My research points towards an understanding that in some respects drawing might bring about a less literal approach to how we see the world, changing our perspective and allowing us to model another way to respond to extreme stress with positive implications for our resilience and wellbeing. This podcast series was made possible by an Arts Council England Project Award.