Encountering ‘Myself’ : An Autobiographical Arts-Based Research on Selective Mutism

This study is an arts-based research project that explores the process of an art educator encountering their childhood self by tracing memories after realizing their experience of selective mutism in adulthood. Specifically, Carl Jung’s concept of individuation is adopted as the theoretical framework, and a/r/tography is employed to generate and analyze memories of selective mutism through images and writing. Through this process, three themes are derived and discussed ‘Encountering an Event’, ‘Confronting the Past’, and ‘Engaging with Selective Mutism Anew’. This study aims to address the following questions First, what aspects of the self emerge when facing the realization of having had selective mutism in adulthood? Second, what emotions are generated throughout the process of encountering the self? By exploring the process of the researcher, as an adult, meeting their childhood self through embodied memories using artistic methods, this study holds significance in demonstrating the potential for personal ex periences to expand into the realm of academic discourse.