Winner of Hester Katz Award 2020 – Christy Thompson
Hester Katz Award
2020
HONOURING LOSS: USING MEMENTOS AS TRANSITIONAL OBJECTS TO EXPLORE AMBIGUOUS LOSS
A HEURISTIC ART-BASED INQUIRY
Winner’s presentation :
Christy Thompson, Concordia art therapy graduate 2020, is developing an ecological art therapy practice, to companion grieving clients through a strength based, client lead approach. Investigating the question,
“What is the experience of using mementos as transitional objects to explore ambiguous loss in art
therapy?”, I undertook Moustakas’ Six Phases of Heuristic Inquiry. Exploring my own ambiguous loss, I wove with
personally significant objects I kept as a reminder of my brother who disappeared in a landslide in 1995. Through creative process, I discovered both personal insights and a professional understanding of the potential
benefits of using mementos as transitional objects to support grieving clients and integrated current bereavement paradigms which underline the importance of meaning reconstruction from loss and continuous bonds
with the deceased for healthy coping and loss integration.
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