Drawings as a tool for elaboration of psychic trauma in a care setting in Africa

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In humanitarian contexts, in particular situations of conflict, a large part of the population is exposed to traumatic events. The care of traumatized people can be arduous when patients have difficulty verbalizing their suffering, whether for reasons of cultural specificity or because of a freeze response resulting from the traumatic experience. In a group care setup for adults, implemented by the NGO Action contre la Faim in three Central African countries (Chad, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the “drawing” tool was introduced as a therapeutic mediation tool to facilitate the ability for symbolization and the elaboration of the traumatic experience. Despite some initial hesitations, psychosocial workers and patients faced with a tool not widely used in rural areas of Central Africa perceived benefits with this form of expression felt to be less painful than putting things into words. By way of drawings they were able to access bad memories, ritualize mourning processes, and share the unspeakable with the group in an individual and collective process, which proved to be fundamental for the dynamics of mourning and for the repair of traumatic breakdown.