Stitching Together: Narrative Textiles as a Creative Tool for Post Traumatic Growth

This session is not available for CE credit.

Abstract
While traumatic memory is typically held as a fixed and rigid experience, working creatively with narrative textiles can provide an important sensory and healing response for effective trauma recovery. Across cultures, there is a long-standing tradition of creating story cloth to convey important social, personal, and collective narratives. Through simple layering of fabric, incorporating basic stitching and embroidery, the narrative textile or story cloth can help a survivor express, respond to, and manage significant experiences.

The history of narrative textiles encapsulates many diverse cultures and traditions. Incorporating a diverse range of artistic styles, materials and techniques, the common denominator in these creations is that trauma narratives are no longer dissociated; they can be expressed, seen, heard, and remembered. Typically, the story cloth is created in a group setting that lends an affirming experience to the artist’s handiwork.

This workshop provides participants a safe space where we can sit with the personal and collective group experiences from the conference, while we further explore the theme of “shifting the dissociative experience.” Through our directed mindful practice, we will create small storycloths that help us express and integrate our shared experiences. The creative practice will focus on our collective strength and insight, facilitating unique creative narratives that transforms pain, transcend trauma, and pave the way for post traumatic growth.

This is an experiential workshop, and beyond the brief introduction of the power of the storycloth, there will be ample time for focused, engaged, creative expression. Participants will be offered a range of colorful fabric scraps, varied threads, and embellishments (beads, buttons, etc) to use in their artmaking.

Art therapy values process over product, so our experience will be a way to learn through practice. No previous art or sewing experience is necessary to participate. Participants will learn to a basic meditative stitching technique (the slow stitch) that is designed to facilitate a mindful and regulated response to evocative material. Then, using several prepared fabric swatches, we will experiment with story cloth design and create miniature personal tableaus that express our experiences. There will be time for questions throughout the workshop and an opportunity for sharing the personal and/or collective stories that may arise.