Niemyer (2011) studied the creative writing of many clients about their dreams. Common themes/meanings (archetypes) were identified. What I found interesting was that the dreams featured were from a variety of differing individuals, and yet the process was therapeutic for all of the themes (and archetypal themes were found to be common across cultures).

Creative expression of traumatic experience is something that can be used with people from many different backgrounds. Art, music, creative writing, or even creative movement can be analyzed differently and specifically to the patient/client who created it. Often, artistic creations are ambiguous enough to use in a group setting for analysis and interpretation. Allowing clients to project their own thoughts, reactions, and ideas about the meaning of the creative product (or element of the creative product) allows for limitless angles for therapeutic interpretation.

In my work as a music therapist, I have often used songwriting or lyric analysis with women and teen girls in an inpatient eating disorder facility. One of the common symbols that we saw in songwriting was mirrors. In nearly every group-created song, a mirror(s) was the subject of a verse or phrase in the song. Population-specific data from the virtual dream study would be interesting to see, as well as cultural-specific data.

When working with people who are recovering from traumatic experience and/or losses, creative experiences seem widely applicable to a variety of cultures. While Neimeyer et. al (2011) identified more common symbols, there was still a small amount of variation of meaning across participants. Allowing clients space to interpret creative products as applies to them and their unique experience could provide opportunity to honor individuality and promote client-specific healing.

Reference

Neimeyer, R., Torres, C., & Smith, D. (2011). The Virtual Dream: Rewriting Stories of Loss and Grief. Death Studies, 35(7), 646–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2011.570596