A pilot study was conducted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a PhD in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University.
The results of the pilot offer three major findings that point to using digital storytelling as a tool for people who have experienced a trauma:
(a) Connection to self and others related to sharing with others
(b) Meaning making
(c) Confidence
These outcomes may be especially helpful for people experiencing isolation, distortion or dissociation around the traumatic memory, and lack of confidence, which are common symptoms of trauma-related stress (Levine, 2015; Ogden & Fisher, 2015; Shapiro, 2018; Van Der Kolk, 2014).
The findings from the pilot provide supporting evidence for digital storytelling as a valid therapy group process and that outcomes may benefit people who suffer from trauma-related symptoms.
The results of this pilot study were presented in the Summer of 2023 at Lesley University.
References
Levine, P. (2015). Trauma and memory: Brain and body in a search for the living past. North Atlantic Books.
Ogden, P., & Fisher, J. (2015). Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for trauma and attachment. W.W. Norton & Company.
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (emdr) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (Third). Guilford Press.
Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books.
Researcher Bio
