Natural Therapies: Story Telling (Yarning) Through Aboriginal Art Therapy

Communicating stories through drawings, images and diagrams has been a central part of Aboriginal people in Australia and today it is found to be a non - threatening method of assisting Indigenous people to tell their stories and uncover their inner - feelings.

Only by communicating the things that are causing stress and hurt can we begin to deal with the deep issues that affect us individually. Many people feel threatened in a counseling session that is reliant on verbal communications between the counselor and client.

The use of art to assist in communicating allows the client to tell their story from a third party point of view. After being able to speak to their story as presented in the picture or drawing the client becomes empowered and is strengthened to tell more of their story

This painting below, seemingly of just another kangaroo, shows how art can be used in a powerful and moving way to assist Aboriginal people communicate hidden hurt and trauma through the skillful use of paint and brush.

The painting tells the story of a young Yamatji women’s sadness at the loss of her father when she was just a child. It was too difficult to talk about her father, in words to another person, but she tells the story of a friendship that her father had with this kangaroo. The Kangaroo would meet her father at the bus stop every day when he returned from school to eat the leftovers from his lunch.

One day the kangaroo broke into a community house and raided the pantry cupboard and in the process tipped a bag of flour over it’s head and as such the painting depicts the white faced kangaroo.

A fun story for anyone else but an important healing tool for the young women who found a way to talk to others about her strong love for her father and the sadness she lives with because he went missing in her life at such a young age.

The Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Service uses Art therapy or Art story telling methods to work with clients who seek counseling and require a more culturally suitable means to tell their story or improve the yarning process.