A ventriloquist is helping children and adults in Thailand process trauma after devastating events.
(Photos courtesy of The FAA-Emili Sagol Creative Arts Research and Innovation Centre for Well-being)
'I am feeling lonely because friends don't play with me. Does it happen to you?" Chico asked a boy.
"Sometimes, because I am living alone in the city," he replied.
"I can be your friend," said Chico, before touching his hand.
It was just a conversation between two puppets -- Chico, a boy-dog with wounds on his body in hospital pyjamas, and his new friend -- in a hypothetical scenario, but it can bring out the truth.
"I am sure what you said is correct. You are alone here. Without a family. You don't have many friends," said Daniela Hadasy, a drama therapist and ventriloquist from Israel, who has been helping victims who have experienced a wide range of traumatic events from tsunamis in Japan to the tragic school bus fire in Thailand.
At a young age, Hadasy discovered her unique gift of ventriloquism. With a background in theatre, she went on to pursue her second master's degree in drama therapy. Since then, she has been working in a hospital. Her transition from a stage to a patient's room is grounded in a car accident at 20, which crippled her for a year and left scar on her hand.
Daniela Hadasy with Chico, a boydog with injuries.
"I encourage patients through puppets. That is treatment. It makes them feel as if it is their story," she said.
Hadasy has a cast of characters. While Chico is designed for use in the paediatric ward, Dudu, a bear-like puppet with IV's, scars, bandages and applicable medical devices, is intended for transplant patients.
Jero is an elf-boy with attention disorder and Gaia is an anorexic girl. Also, made at the request of an Ethiopian teenager, Lakia is a puppet with dark skin and big eyes.
Through these characters, Hadasy uses ventriloquism as a means to establish trust with children. Unlike conversation with parents and medical staff, "chat" and "play" encourages patients to open up about their feelings because it does not look like treatment. This method involves externalising trauma and finding new ways of coping with it.
"That is what I did with Thais. Chico told children that he went through a car accident. He was very afraid and didn't know what to do. Some of his friends and teachers won't come again. You know what. They said he is like us. Is that our story? They don't know that I know their stories," she said.
Children take part in art therapy.
Last Oct 1, a bus carrying students from Uthai Thani on a field trip caught fire in Pathum Thani. The tragedy killed 20 students and three teachers and injured many others. A police investigation found that the 54-year-old bus had been converted to use compressed natural gas, but conversion was not up to legal standards.
Since then, survivors have received support from the FAA-Emili Sagol Creative Arts Research and Innovation Centre for Well-being, a collaboration between Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts and the University of Haifa in Israel. A small team volunteered to follow up with those affected, including students, teachers and parents.
In early February, Hadasy jumped on board when Prof Rachel Lev-Wiesel, her former teacher, invited her to give a lecture in Bangkok and organise therapeutic sessions in Uthai Thani. She flew from Israel with 100 puppets made by the whole village.
Hadasy said survivors are exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, like nightmares and anxiety. Once she shared a story through Chico, they began to face the truth.
"For example, a girl, who had remained silent after the tragedy, hugged Chico because he could tell things she couldn't tell. This is a therapy when someone is telling your feeling."
Children affected by a tragic school bus fire in Uthai Thani.
Prof Bussakorn Binson, former dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, said the FAA-Emili Sagol Creative Arts Research and Innovation Centre for Well-being, founded in 2019, uses art as a treatment for those with a traumatic past. Growing out of volunteer work, it needs more support to expand its outreach.
"During sessions, survivors of the school bus fire burst out in tears. A teacher, who jumped off the bus, couldn't forget the image of burnt students. Witnesses shook uncontrollably as they felt guilty about not being able to help other victims," she said.
The team has also provided art therapy for survivors of other traumatic events as well. During the mass shooting in Korat, a group of people, hiding in a dark room, survived but were later found to suffer from PTSD. Following the nursery attack in Nong Bua Lam Phu, locals mourned the passing of students and teachers and the sight of any white truck triggered it.
Prof Rachel, founder of the Emili Sagol Research Centre for Creative Arts Therapies at the University of Haifa, said art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art as its mode of communication, including drawing, drama and movement.
"In art therapy, we are creating an understanding [of something] and projecting it onto art. You introspect yourself and find other means [of expression]," she said.
Prof Rachel said art therapy can be useful for those who have experienced a traumatic past. Since brain mapping shows that trauma is registered in the brain, traumatised individuals can experience reduced blood flow and therefore stutter to articulate their experience.
"People say it is awful but there are no words for it," she concluded. "You need to start with the body. Then it is much easier to verbalise it."
Serving on the programme committee Expressive Art Therapy at Chulalongkorn University, Prof Rachel explained that art therapy has grown from a relatively small field to an academic discipline and profession. Her research focuses on child abuse, sexual abuse, trauma and growth and the development and validation of creative tools for assessment and therapeutic purposes.
"Now we know which part of the brain is responsible for this or that function and what it means when you are holding [an object] like this," she said.
