Three dimensional parts of self tool (3-D PoST): An art therapy-based modality in preparation of clients for EMDR phase 4 reprocessing

The aim of our chapter is to introduce a Three-Dimensional Parts of Self-Tool (3-D PoST), and how we have incorporated it into our work with traumatized clients. The 3-D PoST comprises a number of clay sculptures to aid clients to become aware and understand their internal parts of self and to project them onto the sculptures. In our work with clients, we have observed that inviting them to hold a clay sculpture and speaking to what they notice in the moment appears to facilitate their ability to ground as well as provide internal emotional parts voice. Through the careful work of bringing awareness of these emotional parts with clients, therapists are able to introduce interventions that foster the skills of dual awareness, communication, and eventually collaboration among these internal parts of self. We believe our tool, when utilized with Kathleen Martin’s Readiness Checklist for Complex Trauma, invites clients to explore the impact of dissociation on a deeper level. Martin’s checklist is a helpful guide to supporting clients in the preparatory work of increasing safety and stabilization prior to the memory reprocessing phase of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. In this chapter, we will review the negative, physical, and emotional impacts of complex trauma, briefly review the theory of Structural Dissociation, and describe how we use the 3-D PoST hand in hand with Martin’s checklist with a case vignette.

Book Section

English

Hannah Rothschild
Barbara Collins
Isabel Beland

Rothschild, H., Collins, B., & Beland, I. (2022). Three dimensional parts of self tool (3-D PoST): An art therapy-based modality in preparation of clients for EMDR phase 4 reprocessing. In E. Davis, J. Fitzgerald, S. Jacobs, & J. Marchand, J. (2022). EMDR and creative arts therapies (pp. 258-280). New York, NY: Routledge