Creating and supervising expressive arts groups for migrant families on the Mexican border

Abstract

Voces, a coalition of volunteer expressive arts therapists, created a one-year programme for Central American migrants at a large Mexican shelter on the US border during 2020–21. A team of four psychosocial professionals at the shelter were trained via an online course and weekly self-care and supervision. Two Hispanic members of Voces guided the team in using music, dance, role-play, stories and art to help address the high levels of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression shown by the evaluations of 900 migrants waiting up to a year for US entry. The Voces members guided shelter professionals to create expressive arts groups for different ages of children and for parents. With scarce materials, online resources like Pixar/Disney shorts and Pinterest posters, culturally relevant music and cartoons were used to address emotional regulation, conflict resolution, attachment and self-concept.