Con?icted Identities and Art Therapy: Practices and Case Studies in Kolozsvar/Cluj-Napoca, Romania

INTRODUCTION: . Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania, has a historically multiethnic population who maintain their language-based cultural identities. In order to harmonize interethnic relations in our multicultural society, art-therapeutical methods depend on the need to establish a sensitive relationship between the cultural horizon of individuals, thus increasing self-confidence, tolerance, resilience. OBJECTIVES: The objectives are : to develop social skills, which facilitate the social and professional integration of children and adolescents belonging to ethnic groups living together, including those with disabilities. METHODS: Clinical art therapy have unfolded within interdisciplinary teams: a neuropsychiatry doctor, a psychologist, a pedagogue, a social worker, an art therapist– each one having a specialized role. A medical project was transformed into an artistic project: E xperimenting with complex relationships: shape of the human body – shape of man-made objects and the creation of personal shapes conduct to harmonize interethnic relations in a multicultural place. RESULTS: Focus on several objectives: - practicing the abilities to express one’s feelings - the consolidation of self-respect and of confidence - the training of empathy - the development of personal problem and conflict solving strategies -the breaking through the emotional blockages - the improvement of cognitive abilities -the release of tension, frustrations, anxieties, stress -the development of social skills CONCLUSIONS: Benefits arise from experiences based in artistic creativity: materializing ideas and coping with unexpected outcomes. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.