Now in its 25th year of service to the Santa Clarita Valley, the area’s premier Domestic Violence Center agency has a new tool in the recovery toolbox for kids, art! Three new “teaching tools” are actually a set of new custom murals that now adorn the walls of the center’s back office area.
The new and colorful murals will be well utilized in therapy groups that the center conducts for children ages 7 to 17.
“The expected outcome of the murals for the group is to provide a safe and welcoming place for children dealing with violence in the home, school, or community to explore their feelings and learn healthy strategies of coping,” explains Jean Albrent, Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Center of the Santa Clarita Valley.
“The use of visually representing the three stages, living with violence, deciding what to do with the anger and violence, as well as moving towards a non-violent life, is intended to create a discussion point to allow children and teens to talk about where they are in their lives,” she added.
The first panel depicts the suffering of a child who is tormented by anger and violence. The child is crying and the colors are rather dark. The murals are designed to help children first identify their feelings, which will hopefully lead to a discussion about their feelings.
The second panel portrays the child deciding whether or not to hold onto the anger and violence or to release it. The anger is represented by a child holding “hot coal” in their hands and then releasing it. Sometimes the release of anger is very hard to get to and takes some work on the part of the child and the therapist. The art is very useful in helping children visually see what they are feeling inside.
The third panel depicts the child moving away from the anger and violence by climbing a staircase that leads towards non-violence. The butterfly figure represents “chrysalis,” or the change the child goes through, like a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Each of the murals is filled with the many colors of emotions and features different types of children. Using art to reach children dealing with violence in the home is an excellent way to help them connect their feelings with someone on the outside and then to work towards effectively dealing with these issues. The Domestic Violence Center will effectively utilize this new therapy tool for many years to come.
These murals were created as a collaboration between the Domestic Violence Center of the Santa Clarita Valley and an artist named “MIG.”