Coping with Homesickness after Migration: Contact in Art Therapy

Migrating to a different country may prompt homesickness (HS), which may in turn impact mental and physical health. HS involves feelings of longing and grief for the home left behind and is influenced by the challenges of adjusting to the new environment. Contact is disrupted from familiar environments and social networks. Contact with self and the new environment may become challenging. Art therapy encourages self-expression and reflection using art materials and techniques and considers a body-mind-emotion connection. For this master’s thesis, a one-session art therapy intervention with a focus on contact was developed to support coping with HS after migration. The intervention was tested individually in a quantitative pilot study with adults who immigrated voluntarily to Germany in a pre-post-test control group design. HS was measured with the Dundee Relocation Inventory (DRI; Fisher, 2017). First, an online screening survey with the DRI pre-test and demographic data was conducted (N = 58). Then, participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 7) or the control group (n = 4; received intervention after posttest). The art therapy intervention was carried out, followed by the DRI post-test and evaluation questions. A one-way ANCOVA revealed a significant group effect (p = .041, ηp2 = .42), with the intervention group showing lower HS scores. The complete sample (n = 11) rated the intervention as highly engaging, meaningful, and having greatly helped them process their HS better. These preliminary results suggest that art therapy may be implemented to support migrants experiencing HS. Limitations and implications are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.