Creating a Graphic Narrative with an Affective Component to Treat Dissociation and Low Self-Esteem
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Author
Mongell, Johanna
Date
2018
Degree
Master of Arts in Art Therapy
Abstract
An altered version of the graphic narrative, originally developed by Gantt and Tinnin (2013),
was designed to treat dissociation and self-esteem in adults who have experienced trauma. Gantt
and Tinnin’s graphic narrative consisted of illustrating instinctual trauma phases (2013). The
altered graphic narrative in this study incorporated an Affective component of the Expressive
Therapies Continuum (ETC; Hinz, 2009) to each of those phase-directives to evoke emotions by
using watercolor paints. The goal of the study was to determine if this altered version of a
graphic narrative would help the participant lessen symptoms of dissociation and low self-esteem
that were typical from trauma and stress-related disorders (APA, 2013). Participants were clients
at a private therapy office who had experienced trauma. As a form of pre and post measure, the
participants were given the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1979) and the
Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II; Carlson, & Putnam,1986) before and after they
completed the graphic narrative with an Affective component. At the conclusion of the study,
two participants had increased scores on both the RSES and DES-II scales, recalled dissociated
memories, and achieved some closure from their traumas.