Presentation Information
[SY-4-02]Trauma Island in a Box: Art Co-Therapy for Trauma Processing
*Naoko Miyaji1, Kanako Shimizu2 (1.Hitotsubashi University(Japan), 2.Rokubancho Mental Clinic, Japanese Depression Center(Japan))
Keywords:
trauma,grief,containment,Trauma Island,symbolic healing
Following the initial experiment with sand play co-therapy (presented in Sand Play Co-therapy: Relieving Compassion Fatigue), a second session was held a year later. What does it mean to place something in a box? And what might it signify to place "Trauma Island" (introduced in Symposium 104) into one?
Unlike the original co-therapy format, the two participants (NM and KS) worked individually but side by side, creating separate artwork. Using boxes and natural materials—clay, nuts, and branches gathered from a nearby forest on a university campus—each participant explored their own symbolic process.
For NM, placing objects into a box became an act of mourning. In Japan, the remains of the deceased are often placed in wooden boxes made of paulownia wood. During wartime, soldiers’ remains were sent home in such boxes, which were frequently empty. Despite this, their symbolic weight provided profound meaning and closure for the bereaved.
KS created a small box containing a model of Trauma Island (Kanjōtō), a ring-shaped landform encircling an inner sea. In that sea lie the submerged: the deceased and those so deeply traumatized they are unable to speak.
Placing objects in a box can symbolize containment, protection, secrecy, classification, closure, and more. It offers a secure space—one that allows for the option of sharing or withholding, while potentially initiating transformation. Classification and closure, in particular, can serve as catalysts for change.
To put Trauma Island into a box is to distance oneself from the magnetic pull of trauma. It reflects a decision to reassess, to step back from the full impact of a traumatic event—including secondary and tertiary trauma—and to create the space needed to protect oneself and move forward.
As a therapeutic modality, “putting it in a box” has the potential to foster resilience, aid in the processing of trauma and grief, and offer a tangible structure for symbolic healing.
Unlike the original co-therapy format, the two participants (NM and KS) worked individually but side by side, creating separate artwork. Using boxes and natural materials—clay, nuts, and branches gathered from a nearby forest on a university campus—each participant explored their own symbolic process.
For NM, placing objects into a box became an act of mourning. In Japan, the remains of the deceased are often placed in wooden boxes made of paulownia wood. During wartime, soldiers’ remains were sent home in such boxes, which were frequently empty. Despite this, their symbolic weight provided profound meaning and closure for the bereaved.
KS created a small box containing a model of Trauma Island (Kanjōtō), a ring-shaped landform encircling an inner sea. In that sea lie the submerged: the deceased and those so deeply traumatized they are unable to speak.
Placing objects in a box can symbolize containment, protection, secrecy, classification, closure, and more. It offers a secure space—one that allows for the option of sharing or withholding, while potentially initiating transformation. Classification and closure, in particular, can serve as catalysts for change.
To put Trauma Island into a box is to distance oneself from the magnetic pull of trauma. It reflects a decision to reassess, to step back from the full impact of a traumatic event—including secondary and tertiary trauma—and to create the space needed to protect oneself and move forward.
As a therapeutic modality, “putting it in a box” has the potential to foster resilience, aid in the processing of trauma and grief, and offer a tangible structure for symbolic healing.