The Living Room: Honouring memory and meaning-making with art therapy during grief and loss

In this presentation, art therapist and LASALLE alumna Jolene Chiang will share how art therapy implemented in a community setting can provide a safe space for the bereaved to express their grief and losses. The Living Room refers to the title of a client’s artwork depicting the symbolic space where she cared for her father in his final days, and her role as a caregiver.

Through the creative process, individuals make art to externalise their inner feelings and thoughts, whilst acknowledging the paradox of love and loss embodied in their images in the face of grief. Building a compassionate community to foster grief literacy and enhance bereavement support is a collective effort. 

Attendees will also partake in an art experiential to reflect on how we can all play a part. No prior art experience is required.
 
Note: Topics covered in this presentation are sensitive and relate to professional art therapy practice, competencies and therapeutic application. The presentation aims to share best practices in ways that are respectful and ethical. Please note that the presentation will be photo-documented for archival purposes.

This event is presented as part of a collaboration between The Red Pencil Humanitarian Mission and the MA Art Therapy programme.

About the speaker

Jolene Chiang, MA AThR, is a credentialed art therapist and certified in Thanatology (CT, Death, Dying and Bereavement) with ADEC. 

She specialises in areas of grief, loss and mental health conditions. In addition, she has more than 15 years of experience in community development in Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand, and clinical practice in hospital and community settings. 

Her clinical orientation is rooted in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Adopting developmental and experiential approaches such as sensorimotor art therapy, this trauma-informed approach of bridging psyche and soma guides her therapeutic work alongside with clientele from different life-stages and diverse backgrounds.  

Jolene has been invited as a speaker at various mental health, grief and bereavement conferences to speak about clinical applications of art therapy.