Building Parent-Child Connectedness through Arts, Storytelling, and Multi-Sensory Experiences: An Asset for Preventing Family Violence

The COVID-19 pandemic created a climate of instability that has weakened the most vulnerable populations, including immigrant families living in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood of Montréal. Exacerbated by other risks facing immigrant families, such as single parenthood, social isolation, economic insecurity, and limited access to support services, the stress caused by this unusual situation may have contributed to an increase in family violence. To address the risk of deteriorating mental health among parents and foster healthy relationships within families in the neighbourhood, Parc-Extension Youth Organization (PEYO) developed a home-based community art therapy program, Art et Contes en famille, as part of a research-intervention. This preventive program is based on the power of expressive therapies to ease anxiety, strengthen family connectedness and foster coping skills and resilience as protective factors for family violence. This article aims to present a multiple-case study focusing on two families from different ethnic backgrounds who participated in Art et Contes en famille . More specifically, drawing on creative arts therapists’ observation notes and the creations produced by family members, it will illustrate how their participation enabled them to strengthen parent-child connectedness through better connection, autonomy, and regulation.