Features of the use of art therapy in working with members of military families
Authors: Perepeliuk Tetiana , Dzhulai Anastasiia , Olkhovetskyi Serhii 
Published: July 2024

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of the use of art therapy in working with members of military families. The concepts of art therapy, social adaptation, and coping resources are characterized. The concept of grief and its course during war, in particular when a loved one is lost in war, is defined. The results of an empirical study on the severity of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic growth of women who lost relatives in the war are presented. The art therapy technique "Painting grief" is characterized.
The purpose of this article is to determine the possibilities of using art therapy in working with military family members. The tasks of the article are to define the concept of grief and its course during war, in particular when a loved one is lost in war; analysis of the results of an empirical study on the severity of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic growth of women who lost relatives in the war, an outline of the possibilities of implementing the art therapy technique "Painting grief".
To achieve the goals of the study, we used the following methods: Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) Post-traumatic growth questionnaire (PGI). The hospital scale of anxiety and depression is designed to assess the severity of depression and anxiety in the conditions of general medical practice, contains 14 items, each of which corresponds to 4 options of answers that reflect the degree of increase in the corresponding symptomatology: normal, borderline state, moderately expressed anxiety/depression, severe form of anxiety /depression. Questionnaire of post-traumatic growth (R. Tadeshi and L. Calhoun) contains 21 statements with six possible answer options that form five scales: attitude to others, new opportunities, personal strength, spiritual changes, increased value life, as well as the general index of post-traumatic growth.
According to the HADS method, subclinically expressed depression, the so-called borderline state, was detected, however, in the case of the death of a loved one in the war, relatives feel moderately expressed anxiety, while after death from diseases or simply death in civilian life, relatives note the absence of reliably expressed symptoms. Personal growth means the feeling that after a loss a person has become more merciful, tolerant towards himself and others, learned to forgive himself and the people around him, and look optimistically at the future.
Although the loss of a loved one is a natural life event experienced by all people, it is also one of the most difficult experiences in a person's life. For many people, the loss of a loved one is accompanied by an intense emotional and devastating period. Experiencing the death of a loved one causes great stress both because of the loss and because of the encounter with mortality. Numerous stressors also occur when a bereaved person attends various events and services that are not normally included in the routine of daily life, including memorial services in a church. Many bereaved people find a path that leads to the restoration of a relatively normal life. However, some people do not cope effectively with loss. They experience grief very emotionally, often denying the fact of loss, trying to avoid reminders of death and helplessly focusing on the nagging waves of painful emotions. One of the effective methods of dealing with grief is art therapy.