Utilizing Arts Based Therapy to Enhance Body image, Self-esteem, Communication skills and Emotions in Mothers with Special Needs Children

The end to a new beginning brings tears of joy to my eyes. This journey had its ups and downs, but there wasn’t a single day I wanted to halt and say that’s it, ‘I’m done’ however overwhelmed I was. Thanks to the people around me who made this possible for me. I would sincerely like to thank and express my deepest gratitude to my son and husband who felt like a single father, for being extremely supportive in my learning endeavour and bearing with my late-night shenanigans. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Aditya Tiwari who introduced me to the ABT course and mentored me during the pilot phase of my research project. I would like to express my heart felt gratitude to Ms. Zill Botadkar and the entire ABT faculty who guided us through these 2 difficult years and patiently addressed my queries as I was the one always with a question mark on my forehead and hand raised in the air. A special note of thanks to my supervisor Ms. Kashmira Vazifdar who held my hand through the ARP and never hesitated in clearing my doubts. She was extremely kind and overtly obliging all the time and reciprocated very fast to all the messages. It was a pleasure learning from her and will always cherish her. I thank a friend and colleague Dr. Khyati Kapoor, who volunteered to be the neutral observer for my study. She was very prompt in responding and sending her observations timely. Her observations were very beneficial to me to get an outsider’s unbiased point of view. My clients Robin, Swan, Eagle, Dove and Parrot without whom I wouldn’t have been able to complete my ARP. I want to sincerely applaud these clients, these mothers who go through a turmoil everyday but still manage to smile and move on. They inspire me to be a better version of me. Thank them for removing time from their busy schedules to see me and letting me in their loving homes. Also, would like to shout out a huge thank you to their children for being so cooperative during the sessions. Last but not the least, my peers like Shreya Haran, Aditi Ade, Yuti Doshi, Aathira Warrier and all the others, who have been with me supporting, jesting and all ears during the entire course. I would like to genuinely thank each friend from my ABT 2020-21-22 batch. A special mention for Anusha Neelkant who has stood by me and patiently fed my curiosity. She was my go-to girl who was kind and loving all the time and of-course we shared the same client population. So, we helped each other sail through this till the very last day. I would like to express my gratitude to Aditi Potkar, my travel buddy who always inspired me to finish work on time and pushed me to be more resourceful. Kajal Rambhia for helping me clear confusions and just having a light chat and motivating me all the time. A huge thank you to everybody’s secret Santa, Nirali Gogri. I haven’t seen a more compassionate person than her who is ever ready like a battery to be of help to people. I would like to thank Kavita Joshi for sharing wise cracks with me making me laugh and inspiring me to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I would like to thank myself, my body and mind to support me even though I thought I had lost it. I would like to thank my parents for giving me a platform to grow and flourish.

The author(s) declared no conflict of interest.