School of Creative
Industries
Polina Disilvestro
Upon graduating with an MA in Arabic and a Master's in Gender and Migration Studies, Polina worked in project management and advocacy in various grassroots organisations and NGOs. In the aftermath of the 2015 European migrant crisis, her professional interests led her to work with refugees and asylum seekers. It was in this context that Polina witnessed the healing and transformative potential of art, which rekindled her love for creativity and subsequently led to her enrolling in the MA Art Therapy programme.
During her training, Polina worked with schoolchildren, adolescents and adults, leading individual, group and dyadic art therapy sessions.
Her professional interests lie in researching complex intergenerational trauma and using art therapy to help mitigate the adverse effects of war and forced displacement. In her art, Polina draws inspiration from nature, travelling, stories of people around her, and the intersection between reality and dreams.
Work
Phantasy vs Reality
Photographs and acrylic paint on acrylic frames
590 x 435mm each
2023
Phantasy vs Reality is a series which explores the notion of phantasy in its psychoanalytical form – the imaginative fulfilment of frustrated unconscious desires. The artist’s suppressed feelings of alienation and disconnectedness find their external representation through manually modified photographs of urban landscapes, leading to a sense of acceptance. Applying acrylic paint to the photos allowed the artist to connect to each image on a more intimate level – seeing it develop, grow and metamorphose from something alien to personal and familiar.
Thesis abstract
Art therapy and post traumatic growth: A qualitative case study of individual art therapy with adolescents with a history of complex trauma in residential out-of-home care in Singapore
Complex trauma, or complex posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), is a complex form of posttraumatic stress disorder characterised by a broad range of adverse biopsychosocial effects. Adolescents with a history of complex trauma often experience low self-esteem, challenges in affect regulation, and difficulties forming and maintaining meaningful and long-lasting interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, young persons with C-PTSD in residential out-of-home care can be exposed to additional traumatisation within this setting. This thesis investigated the ways in which art therapy could assist such individuals in experiencing posttraumatic growth (PTG) – a positive qualitative shift in their perception of selves, others, and their life. Through a practitioner-based multiple case vignette methodology supported by a limited co-production approach, this thesis identified seven themes that offered the most support to the art therapees during their trauma recovery journey. Although measuring PTG within the residential out-of-home setting remains challenging, the findings suggested that art therapy is an age-appropriate therapeutic intervention that could pave the way to the subsequent experience of PTG.