ABSTRACT

Background

In light of recent research and a growing understanding of the destructive repercussions of secrecy and concealment, unique interventions are required.

Aims

This article, part of an art-based qualitative-phenomenological study, explores the subjective experiences of adults who grew up under secrecy.

Methods

The research utilised art therapy, readymade art, the creation of stories and interviews. These allowed access to primal, non-verbal and unconscious aspects of the experience and to implicit and explicit memories and their impact.

Results

The study revealed themes of connection, disconnection and integration, reflecting recurring aspects of participants’ artworks, and prominent narratives in their stories and interviews. The intermodal transfer between art forms valuable while enriching and expanding the content of the art-based session.

Conclusions

Participants’ experiences revealed an inability to connect between information kept secret during childhood and information that was not. They experienced ambiguity and a sense of something missing in relation to information that was sensed but could not be conceived.

Implications for practice

This article offers clinical implications relating to art-based psychotherapeutic work with clients who grew up under secrecy. The process uses metaphors emerged from visual and narrative expressions. A possible application is related to the intermodal transfer between art forms enriching core themes in a way that enables clinical work using metaphors produced by the participants. A possible implication is the clinical use of arts-based intervention inviting clients to create a variety of metaphors from the ready-made artwork and from their stories, which in turn expand the outlook upon the experience, enabling access to its implicit components.

Plain-language summary

Research has shown that growing up in an environment of secrecy and concealment can be harmful. New knowledge in this field can contribute to the development of unique interventions designed to assist clients who are coping with psychological damage of this kind. This study explored the experiences of 11 adults who grew up in the shadow of a secret. During an individual, 90-minute session with the researcher, each participant was invited to engage in readymade art, i.e. create a visual artwork from everyday objects provided to them. Following this task, each participant observed his or her work together with the researcher and was then asked to compose a story or dramatic monologue based on the artwork. In the last phase of this 90-minute session, the participants were interviewed.

Findings of the study reveal that themes of connection, disconnection and integration repeatedly appear across the artworks, narratives and interviews. The transition between the various modes – artwork, dramatic monologue and interview – enabled the emergence of rich content and images. The discussion explores the experience of participants who grew up in the shadow of a secret, and especially their feelings of ambiguity and sense of something missing, as well as their inability to connect the fragments of information they encountered and build an integrative narrative of their lives.

中文翻译：

---

成人对童年秘密经历的描述中的剪切和粘贴

摘要

背景

鉴于最近的研究以及对保密和隐瞒的破坏性影响的日益了解，需要采取独特的干预措施。

目标

本文是基于艺术的定性现象学研究的一部分，探讨了在秘密下成长的成年人的主观经历。

方法

该研究利用了艺术疗法、现成艺术、故事创作和访谈。这些可以让我们了解体验的原始、非语言和无意识的方面，以及内隐和外显的记忆及其影响。

结果

该研究揭示了联系、脱节和融合的主题，反映了参与者艺术作品中反复出现的方面，以及他们的故事和采访中的突出叙述。艺术形式之间的多式联运很有价值，同时丰富和扩展了艺术会议的内容。

结论

参与者的经历表明，他们无法将童年时期保密的信息与非保密信息联系起来。他们感受到了与感知到但无法想象的信息相关的模糊性和缺失感。

对实践的影响

本文提供了与秘密成长的客户进行基于艺术的心理治疗工作相关的临床意义。该过程使用从视觉和叙事表达中出现的隐喻。一种可能的应用涉及艺术形式之间的多式联运，从而丰富核心主题，从而使临床工作能够使用参与者产生的隐喻。一个可能的含义是基于艺术的干预的临床使用，邀请客户从现成的艺术品和他们的故事中创造出各种隐喻，这反过来又扩展了对体验的看法，从而能够访问其隐含的组成部分。

通俗易懂的语言总结

研究表明，在秘密和隐瞒的环境中成长可能是有害的。该领域的新知识有助于开发独特的干预措施，旨在帮助应对此类心理损伤的客户。这项研究探讨了 11 名在秘密阴影下长大的成年人的经历。在与研究人员进行的 90 分钟的单独会议中，每位参与者都被邀请参与现成艺术，即利用提供给他们的日常物品创作视觉艺术品。完成这项任务后，每个参与者都会与研究人员一起观察他或她的工作，然后被要求根据艺术品创作一个故事或戏剧独白。在 90 分钟会议的最后阶段，参与者接受了采访。

研究结果表明，联系、脱节和融合的主题反复出现在艺术作品、叙事和访谈中。艺术作品、戏剧独白和访谈等多种模式之间的转换使得丰富的内容和图像得以出现。讨论探讨了在秘密阴影下成长的参与者的经历，尤其是他们的模糊感和缺失感，以及他们无法将所遇到的信息片段连接起来并构建一个完整的生活叙事。