The Story of Us: Group A

The Story of Us: Group Art Therapy: Sara Crafton and Margaret Colmore
ETC Level: Cr/K/S/P/A/C/Sy
MDV Level: S, S/U, R
Materials:Pre-existing group murals, scissors, glue, a stack of construction paper, larger piece of paper for cover, markers
Procedures
1. Present group with pre-existing murals, and allow members to choose one piece of construction paper.
2. Instruct the group to create a collage through the deconstruction of the murals. Explain that members can use their own images, trade pieces or sections, or put them in the middle for everyone to share. Give the members approximately 30 minutes to create their individual collages.
3. Process the experience by considering how the members were affected by this intervention.
4. The group will then create a cover for the book, thus reuniting the images. Each person will be asked to write or draw a final message to the group on the book's cover.
Rationale
To reflect back on a previous group stage and to express the current group stage. The artwork represents how the cohesion of the group has progressed. The final task of creating a book cover provides members with the opportunity for closure by writing some last words about their experience in the group.
Adaptations
Create something 3-Dimensional, such as a box, to collage with deconstructed images.
Think of different ways to bind the final project.