ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the introduction of art therapy into Sri Lanka, focusing on an art therapy intervention with a young man experiencing symptoms of trauma after fighting as a soldier in the ongoing, brutal civil war and his subsequent six-year captivity by the Tamil Tigers. A description of the political climate, the mental health care provision that existed in Sri Lanka at that time (1998-2000) and the initial difficulties in setting up a small art therapy ‘service’ are provided in order to place the work in some context. The chapter will end with some points for reflection on the provision of art therapy in an unusual context of war and within a specific cultural and medical paradigm so markedly different from British practice and context.