Creative arts therapies with traumatised children including refugee children
This page features a compilation of carefully selected multimedia resources on trauma assessment and treatment in children. It presents a range of creative therapies tailored to meet the needs of traumatised children, including those from refugee backgrounds.
We are grateful to the practitioners and experts whose work is featured here. By offering their perspectives on the theoretical frameworks that underpins their practice, they share valuable insights from their use of various creative therapies with traumatised children, providing guidance for professionals in the field.
The resources are arranged into several categories to feature key topics.
Follow the links below to view the resources.
Videos
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Childhood Trauma and the Brain. McCrory, E. (2020). UK Trauma Council. UKTC is hosted & supported by the Anna Freud Centre.
How the brain adapts to adversity. McCrory, E. (2020). UK Trauma Council. UKTC is hosted & supported by the Anna Freud Centre.
Childhood Trauma, War and Conflict. UK Trauma Council. UKTC is hosted & supported by the Anna Freud Centre. (2023). Available in multiple languages.
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How childhood trauma affects the brain and body across a lifetime: The ACES study. McAdam, E. (2024). Therapy in a Nutshell.
Conducting a quick screen for trauma - Parent interview. Applying ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Questionnaire. CAMH Education (2017). Featuring Dr Watson and Dr Lawson.
Conducting a quick screen for trauma - Child interview. Applying ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Questionnaire. CAMH Education (2017). Featuring Dr Watson and Dr Lawson.
Childhood Trauma and PTSD. A playlist of animated videos on childhood trauma and PTSD, designed for children, young people, their families, and mental health professionals. The videos demonstrate how to work through key stages of cognitive therapy with children and young people. UK Trauma Council. UKTC is hosted and supported by the Anna Freud Centre (2022).
Trauma-informed expressive arts therapies with children & adolescents. Blue, N., & Pario, M. (2022). Mass General Brigham, Salem Hospital.
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A series of videos featuring Caroline Essame, an art and occupational therapist, highlights the role of the creative arts in supporting creative development in both children and adults. BananaManaTV (2010).
Creative play for kids part 1 - Art and drama therapy for children.
Creative play for kids part 2 - Art and drama therapy for children - Child's play through symbols.
Creative play for kids part 3 - Art and drama therapy for children - Coping with trauma.
Messy play - Children's creative development through mess making part 4.
Kids craft and play box - Art and drama therapy for children part 5.
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Using art therapy to support refugees. Gray, R. (2025). NSW, Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors, STARTTS, Clinical Master Class Webinar.
Art therapy and childhood trauma. The American Art Therapy Association (2018).
Art therapy with Syrian refugee children. Yaish, S. (2017). CNN interview. Kaynouna Art Therapy Centre كينونة.
Art therapy for refugee children. Kouri, M. (2017). Art therapy at Kara Tepe refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece.
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Anger management in school: A dance/movement therapy moment. Kornblum, R. (2018). American Dance Therapy Association.
Helping refugees heal through dance. Mathis, L. (2017). Great Big Story.
Embodying empathy: Dance/movement therapy after unthinkable trauma. Harris, D.A. (2014). American Dance Therapy Association.
Movement therapy helps young kids. Masterson, K. (2013). The Hancock Centre for Dance/Movement Therapy.
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How theatre helps these Syrian refugees manage the trauma of war. PBS NewsHour (2019).
What is drama therapy - Interview with Jacki Short and Natalie Mackenzie. Sydney Centre for Creative Change (2018).
Children of war: A video for educators. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, NCTSN (2017). Five adolescent refugees tell their stories of war, traumatic loss, and relocation to the United States in the play Children of War, written by playwright Ping Chong, highlighting the impact of refugee trauma and its consequences for youth in schools.
Standing tall documentary - PS3 drama therapy - February 2002. Sgibson818 (2013). This video documentary follows PS-3 teacher Rachel Croyle and her 4th & 5Th grade students, who witnessed 9/11 attacks from their classroom window. With support from Robert Landy, Professor of drama therapy and City Lights theatre professionals, the children transformed their trauma into a healing play, showing how storytelling and performance can help kids process difficult experiences.
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Music therapy with refugee girls in San Diego. Spotlight Episode 2. Worldwide Musicians United. (2018). In partnership with the Courage to Create and The Girls Academy at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in San Diego.
Trauma and music therapy: Let the healing begin. Karla Hawley. TEDx Talks (2017). Karla Hawley, a certified music therapist, shares how a nostalgic song helped her heal from childhood abuse. Through her work with the Snohomish County Music Project, she highlights the role of music to support trauma recovery for individuals, families, and groups.
Music and trauma (Part 1-3). Worlds in collision: Music and the trauma of war. Osborne, N. (2013). The Musical Brain. The Musical Brain Conference 2013. Emeritus Professor of Music, composer, and aid worker Nigel Osborne MBE shares his experience using music therapy to support traumatised children during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s. Speaking at the Musical Brain 2013 Conference, he highlights the powerful impact of music in helping children process trauma and begin healing.
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Trauma & play therapy: Holding hard stories. Goodyear-Brown, P. (2018). TEDx Talks.
The power of play. Perrin, A. (2018). TEDx Talks.
Play Therapy demonstration with Heather Thompson, PhD:
How to do play therapy: Building a growth mindset role play. Thompson, H. (2014). Russ Curtis, PhD., Professor of Counselling.
How to do play therapy: Role play therapy with explanation of techniques. Thompson, H. (2017). Russ Curtis, PhD., Professor of Counselling.
Child-Centred Play Therapy DVD Preview. Landreth, G. (2012). Routledgetherapy. Featuring Garry Landreth, an expert in Child-Centred Play Therapy (CCPT), this video illustrates the approach in action.
Play therapy works! Association for Play Therapy. (2011).
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Sandplay therapy with traumatised refugee children. Ridolfi, C., & Stefanovic, S. (2021). The Sandplay Therapy Association of New Zealand and Australia (STANZA).
What is sandplay therapy? Sandplay Therapists of America. Dori Pelz-Sherman, PhD. (2015).
Sandplay: A method of psychotherapy with Dora Kalff. Psychosmart (2013). Pioneer in sandplay, psychologist Dora Kalff, talks about the sand box and demonstrates and analyses some of her patients' sand box pictures.
Podcasts
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Dramatherapy interventions to alleviate emotional distress and support wellbeing. Keiller, E. (2023). Association for Child & Adolescent Mental health, ACAMH, Podcast.
In this Papers Podcast, Eleanor Keiller discusses her Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Advances Special Issue paper ‘A systematic review of dramatherapy interventions used to alleviate emotional distress and support the well-being of children and young people aged 8–18 years old’.
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Exploring the Drawing Together Project (Episodes 75 &76: Part 1 & 2). Phipps, A. (Host), Kohli, R., McGregor, S., & Uwase, C. (Guests). (2024). The Sounds of Integration Podcast. UNESCO Refugee Integration through Education, Languages and the Arts, RIELA & University of Glasgow.
These episodes delve into the ‘Drawing Together’ initiative, that focused on relational wellbeing among young refugees in Scotland, Finland, and Norway highlighting how art can help refugee children express and process their experiences.
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The Nip in the Bud Podcast is an initiative of Nip in the Bud, a UK-based children’s mental health charity dedicated to raising awareness about children’s mental health and promoting early intervention strategies.
Hosted by Alis Rocca, an experienced education consultant and coach, the podcast covers a wide range of topics, such as trauma, refugees, autism, ADHD, conduct disorders, PTSD, self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. By providing evidence-based insights and practical advice, the podcast seeks to help parents, teachers, and professionals recognise potential mental health conditions in children and take proactive steps to address them.
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Petrit Halilaj, the Kosovan artist who as a child refugee in Albania, used drawing to communicate trauma. BBC News, BBC World Service, Outlook Podcast Archive. (2022). (You need a BBC account to listen to the podcast, creating an account is free to set up).
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The Play Therapy Podcast is a comprehensive guide to child-centred, non-directive play therapy. Hosted by Dr. Brenna Hicks, renowned for her expertise in child-centred play therapy, the podcast offers practical guidance, techniques, and tools for working with children. It is dedicated to helping therapists, counsellors, and other mental health professionals enhance their understanding and skills in play therapy.
While not every episode of the podcast specifically focuses on trauma or refugee children, many of the techniques and principles discussed are highly relevant for therapists who treat various forms of childhood trauma. Nevertheless, there are episodes that focus on treating trauma in children using child-centred play therapy, including Child-Centred Healing: Trauma Processing in the Playroom.
Other online resources
A systematic review of dramatherapy interventions used to alleviate emotional distress and support the well-being of children and young people aged 8–18 years old. Keiller, E., Tjasink, M., Bourne, J., Ougrin, D., Carr, C. E., & Lau, J. Y. F. (2023). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Advances, 3,3, e12145.
Art therapy: Refugees in Ugandan camp using drawing and drama to heal trauma. Global Press Journal (2018).
Culturally responsive play therapy with Somali refugees. Killian, T., Cardona, B., & Hudspeth, E. F. (2017). International Journal of Play Therapy, 26,1, 23-32.
The healing journey of forcibly displaced children through art. Garriba, F. (2024). UNHCR.
Music therapy in mental health and well-being. Krüger, V., & Murphy, K.M. (2025). In Child-Centred Music Therapy (pp. 113-136). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is a program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The NCTSN website has dedicated pages to:
The NCTSN also offers creative and expressive arts therapies for treating childhood trauma. One such approach is Real Life Heroes (RLH), a manualised trauma treatment programme designed for children aged 6-12 and adolescents/youth aged 12-18.
RLH provides therapists with a variety of tools, including a life storybook, treatment manual, and assessment instruments. It also incorporates multisensory creative arts activities, such as movement, improvisation, and mindfulness, along with psychoeducational resources.
In addition, NCTSN offers resources that explicitly cover play therapy, including the case study Triggered Distress in a Young Child During Play Therapy. This case describes a 9-year-old girl who, after experiencing various traumas, begins to exhibit trauma-related play during therapy. The resource illustrates how children may use play to process traumatic experiences and how therapists can support children in managing distress while facilitating trauma processing.
Queensland schools' art therapy program changing the lives of refugee children. Rangiah, L. (2022). ABC News Australia.
Rangiah reports that Healing Through Expressive Arts and Learning (HEAL), an art therapy programme implemented in Queensland schools, has had a positive impact on the emotional wellbeing of refugee children by helping them process trauma and build resilience through creative expression.
The Trojans project: Therapeutic drama from Syria to Scotland. Eagar, C., Stirling, W., Alwadi, H., Rabie, E., & Al Froukh, S. (2024). In Barclay, F., & Ivey, B. (eds) Contemporary Representations of Forced Migration in Europe. Palgrave Studies in Literature, Culture and Human Rights (pp 31-52). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
UNICEF Ambassador Zade Dirani launches world’s first music therapy programme for children in refugee camps. UNICEF (2018).
The programme was designed to help Syrian refugee children cope with trauma and loss through music, while enhancing their communication and self-expression skills. An evaluation of the pilot indicated that 65% of child participants displayed significant progress in terms of participation, ability to wait and take turns, decision-making, working with others, and ability to express themselves confidently.