Strengthening Attachment Through Expressive Arts in Parent-Child Therapy
Date, time, and room location:
Session overview
Session Description
This session explores how expressive arts interventions can be powerful tools for fostering secure attachment between parents and young children. Early childhood is a critical window for developing emotional regulation, trust, and connection, yet many families face stressors—such as trauma, separation, or developmental challenges—that can disrupt healthy bonding. Expressive arts therapy offers a playful, nonverbal way to engage both parent and child, supporting co-regulation and emotional attunement.
Participants will learn practical strategies for integrating movement, music, visual art, and storytelling into therapeutic work to deepen parent-child connection. Case examples will highlight how these interventions reduce relational stress, increase parental sensitivity, and empower caregivers to respond to their child’s emotional needs with greater empathy and consistency.
This workshop will provide hands-on demonstrations, discussion of developmental considerations, and guidance for adapting techniques across diverse cultural and family contexts. Attendees will leave with concrete tools to use in clinical settings to strengthen attachment, enhance emotional safety, and support resilience in the early years.
No prior art experience is required—just a willingness to explore and create.
Learning objectives
- Identify how expressive arts interventions support secure attachment and emotional attunement in the parent-child relationship.
- Demonstrate at least four practical expressive arts techniques that can be applied in early childhood therapy assessments and interventions.
- Adapt expressive arts strategies to meet diverse developmental, cultural, and family needs in order to enhance therapeutic outcomes.