The method of serial drawings and stories in psychological counseling to resolve disputes between parents about the child's upbringing

The urgency to develop new approaches to psychological counseling families in situations of settling disputes between the parents on the upbringing of the child is determined by the increasing frequency of such requests to clinical psychologists. Such consultations suggest the need for a rapid assessment of the psychological state, characteristics and relationships of experiencing parental divorce children. The aim of the article - to provide a description of I. M. Nikolskaya method of serial drawings and stories; to demonstrate the possibilities of its use in psychological counseling for resolution of the dispute between parents about parenting and procedure of meetings with the child on a clinical example. The method of serial drawings and stories is the integrative art therapeutic technology based on the projective approach. The method simultaneously solves the problem of psychological research and counseling in the specific situation of the child and his parents appeal to the psychologist. The article presents the short description of the method procedure, its stages and aims, the order of drawings topics. The techniques of art therapeutic interview and its advantages (concrete, detachment, structured, therapeutic effect) and showed. The information obtained through the application of the method in the form of images and texts can serve as an objective material to draw conclusions about the child’s subjective family situation view and well-being in the family. To illustrate the possibilities of the method of serial drawings and stories the clinical case of 7 years girl’s psychological counseling, conducted at the request of her mother in connection with the judicial review of the order of father and daughter meetings after a divorce, is analyzed.

disputes between parents, children, psychological counseling, projective approach, method of serial drawings and stories, art therapeutic interview, well-being in the family, the attitude to family members