HELD: A Creative Arts Therapy project for bereaved mums of babies
Oral Presentation
October 14th 2022 at 10:00am
Institution: Hummingbird House - Queensland, Australia
The HELD pilot program was designed as a creative therapies program for bereaved mothers who had experienced the death of a baby under 12 months old, in recognition that these mothers experience a unique kind of grief. The program was designed by a hospice Art Therapist engaging the medium of sewing, which was chosen as a creative therapeutic method to support mums’ grief experiences in ways that traditional talk therapies typically cannot.
Employing a creative-therapy framework/approach, the HELD program invited participants to create (via hand sewing) a soft baby doll small enough to nestle in their hands, which honored their baby and provided a tactile symbol to help connect them with their grief experience. The program was informed by literature and research supporting the use of sewing for therapeutic benefits, stress relief and regulation. In addition, another salient purpose of the program was the opportunity for grieving mums to connect and share a safe space with peers, who understood their unique pain.