School of Creative
Industries
Nuraishah Abdullah
Aishah’s prior experience in social service started from non-profit organisations, a statutory board, and a government agency before embarking on this programme. Her past work with youths, adults and families were mainly counselling and psychological-based interventions, addressing issues ranging from psycho-social challenges to substance abuse and addiction.
In LASALLE College of the Arts, the MA Art Therapy programme equipped her with experiential knowledge and skills to value-add to her toolbox. During clinical internships, she had opportunities to provide therapeutic services to different populations, namely differently-abled young adults in a community setting and children in a primary school.
Aishah uses her art practice for self-care and to have fun. While she tends to paint with acrylic, she also enjoys exploring different mediums. She loves viewing larger-than-life art installations for an immersive experience. Her curiosity and willingness to try new forms of artmaking shines through, especially when she captures her favourite objects and themes in her artwork with intent attunement.
Work
A Quiet Energy
Digital prints on acrylic (5 pieces)
14.8 x 21 cm each, 5mm thickness
2023
A Quiet Energy is a series of five digitally enhanced photographs printed on acrylic pieces, reflecting the artist's childhood love for clouds.
The work invites viewers to step forward and resonate with what the artist sees and feels – standing apart to take in a beauty that speaks of calmness and joy, as well as stepping closer to look at the work's minute and intimate details. Viewers are encouraged to ponder the qualities of clouds – their fleeting appearance and quiet whimsicality which belie the strength they carry. The silent experience of being attuned can create shifts in energy beyond one's wildest imagination.
Thesis abstract
Therapeutic attunement using the self of the therapist at a primary school in Singapore: A qualitative inquiry through multiple case vignettes
The aim of this practitioner-based thesis was to examine therapeutic attunement in working with primary school children through the lens of an art therapist trainee. It explored how the purposeful use of the self of the therapist, particularly the use of personal significant themes and self-awareness of past and current experiences, contributed to therapeutic attunement in individual and group art therapy. Additionally, it also compared how this process differed in these sessions. A qualitative approach using multiple case vignettes of selected sessions was used to illustrate the observations. Through this, it was found that the use of self of therapist enabled an empathetic and sensitive responses in both individual and group art therapy which echoed existing literature on attunement supporting therapeutic relationship with children. It was observed that in the individual art therapy, the use of the self of therapist helped to address the child’s needs whereas in the group art therapy, the use included to impact the collective needs. Hence, it acknowledged that the manner using the self of the therapist must differ given the structures of the two models. As this was a qualitative examination, the art therapist trainee was only able to support a small number of children over a limited time. Future examinations could consider reaching out to more children for a longer duration and examine other aspects of the self of the therapist which might illuminate further how therapeutic attunement can be achieved when working with children.