This autoethnographic study explores my lived experience of processing my husband’s sudden ischemic stroke at age 29 through visual art and music. The event was deeply traumatic, evoking shock, fear, helplessness, and loss of control. Drawing on my prior work in anxiety research, I recognized the risks of avoidance and instead chose to engage creatively with my emotions. Through this process, art became both a container for grief and a pathway toward healing. Grounded in a constructionist epistemology and an interpretivist lens, the study employed arts-based autoethnography to examine how creating visual art and music can facilitate emotional expression and meaning making after trauma. My process unfolded in five stages in my emotional journey: shock, bargaining, surrender, grounding, and hope, each expressed through a different medium: printmaking, songwriting, ceramics, watercolor, and metalsmithing. These artistic explorations symbolized transformation from fear to resilience. Sharing and reflecting on the artworks with peers deepened integration and reduced fear, revealing that creative expression can externalize trauma while fostering connection and insight. This study contributes to arts-based trauma research by illustrating how personal artistic practice can model therapeutic exploration. It highlights how creative modalities allow individuals to face emotions safely, transform them symbolically, and reconstruct narratives of suffering into stories of survival and renewal. Ultimately, this work underscores the potential of art and music as conduits for healing, empathy, and the re-authoring of one’s life after trauma.

Authors:
Lorena Surducan, University of Kansas, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Originally from Romania, Lorena Surducan, MM, MT-BC is a PhD student in music therapy at the University of Kansas where she teaches undergraduate courses and supervises students in their clinical practicum.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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