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The discussion highlights benefits of dollmaking for clinical practice as well as for personal awareness, positioning dolls as a meaningful medium for emotional processing and social 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McIntyre, and Margaret Sands-Goldstein, Detroit, MI  \nAbstract  \nThis article reviews the history of dollmaking that is relevant to art therapy, and the application of dolls as therapeutic media in clinical and educational settings. The authors describe their experiences using dollmaking in the resolution of grief, in professional identity construction, and in community service. The article addresses the benefits of dollmaking in clinical practice, as well as for personal awareness.  \nIntroduction  \nDespite an interest on the part ofart therapists and the fact that many art therapists use dolls in art therapy or are doll makers themselves (Chapman, n.d.; Evereth-Taylor, 1998; Makridakis, 2006), there are very few scholarly publications about dollmaking in art therapy. This article begins to fill that gap in the literature by providing an overview of the history and application of dolls in art and other therapeutic settings, and by highlighting the authors’experiences with dolls in grief work, identity construction, and community service.  \nA Selective History of Dolls  \nDolls appear in all cultures and in all areas of the world and are enjoyed today by all ages of people. Although dolls are the world’s oldest toys (Young, 1992), they were first used as sacred items in religious ceremonies, made to represent the gods that people worshipped (Fox & Landshoff, 1972; Young, 1992) . In ancient Egypt wooden dolls characterizing the wives or slaves of noblemen were buried beside them for the journey to the afterlife (Young, 1992) . Dolls used in religious ceremonies were not for children because they were too powerful or magical.  \nOver the years dolls became less important in religious ceremonies and children began to play with them (Young, 1992) . Fox and Landshoff (1972) believed that “the metamorphosis of sacred objects into dolls is a pantomime… played out by children since the world began”(p. 48). They noted, for example, that a label on a case of pre-Columbian figurines displayed at the American Museum of Natural  \nEditor’s note: Holly Feen-Calligan, PhD, ATR-BC, is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Art Therapy Program at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. Barbara McIntyre, PhD, ATR-BC, and Margaret Sands-Goldstein, M.Ed, ATR-BC, are members of the art therapy faculty of Wayne State University. Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to the first author [at hfeen@wayne.edu](at hfeen@wayne.edu)  \nHistory described the case’s contents as “household idols of no great value”(p. 48) . Fox and Landshoff surmised that if certain religious “figures” happened to be the right size as well as plentiful and available in the household, children probably picked them up naturally and played with them. Even today, children make dolls out of anything.  \nIn Western cultures the change in the concept of childhood gave rise to the creation of toys and the popularity of dolls increased (Young, 1992) . During the Industrial Age, machines reduced the number of hours children worked, giving them more time for play. Children were no longer thought of as miniature adults, and the new field of psychology confirmed that play was good for children’s development (Burton, 1997; Walker, 1989) .  \nIn addition to their role in play, dolls have performed life-sustaining functions in many cultures throughout time. Greek and Roman girls played with dolls until they were married, at which time their dolls were deposited atthe shrines of the goddess chosen to protect the girls (Young, 1992) . Young women of the Ashanti people in Africa carry dolls to dispel infertility (Markel, 2000) and in Dama, near New Guinea, doctors make palm leaf dolls to lure demons of illness out of patients’ bodies (Fraser, as cited in Fox & Landshoff, 1972) . In the United States, dolls in the form of scarecrows are made to ward off crowsand groundh","cbCaioE0jgWeHMHE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioE0jgWeHMHE","pdf",249489,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# A Selective History of Dolls\n## Sacred origins of dolls\n## Dolls in childhood and play\n## Life-sustaining rituals and protective functions\n## Dolls in cultural storytelling and modern roles","[{\"question\":\"How does the article connect dollmaking with art therapy?\",\"answer\":\"It reviews dollmaking history and explains dolls as therapeutic media used in clinical and educational settings, including in the authors’ own practice.\"},{\"question\":\"What therapeutic areas does the article describe the authors working with using dolls?\",\"answer\":\"The article describes dollmaking experiences in grief recovery, professional identity construction, and community service.\"},{\"question\":\"What historical roles did dolls have across different cultures, according to the article?\",\"answer\":\"Dolls are described as sacred ceremony items, childhood toys, and tools within rituals meant to protect, dispel issues, or transmit stories and traditions.\"}]","Art Therapy Applications of Dolls in Grief Recovery, Identity, and Community Service | PDF",1792074232,18]