Symbolic Transformation and Meaning-Making in Expressive Art Therapy: A Child Case Study Integrating Fairbairn’s Object Relations Model with the Expressive Therapies Continuum

Previous research has demonstrated the potential integration of Fairbairn’s structural theory of mind from Object Relations Psychotherapy with the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), whereby a client’s artistic expressions may symbolise internal object relational structures. Building on this foundation, the present study further explores this integration with a different population through an in-depth case study of an 11-year-old Malaysian child presenting with anger outbursts and emotional instability. Over the course of one year of integrated Object Relations–Expressive Psychotherapy, the client’s therapeutic progress was systematically analysed. Multiple paintings are examined to illustrate how transformations in his object relations may have been symbolised through artistic expression, shifting from violent imagery to more coherent and meaningful symbolic representations. This case serves to highlight the potential clinical value of integrating Fairbairn’s model with the ETC in facilitating symbolic transformation and meaning-making in child psychotherapy.