"When He Feels Cold, He Goes to the Seahorse"-Blending Generative AI into Multimaterial Storymaking for Family Expressive Arts Therapy

TL;DR

This work addresses how image-based generative AI can function as expressive materials in family storymaking within expressive arts therapy. It presents a five-week study with seven families guided by a therapist, analyzed through the Expressive Therapies Continuum to interpret material interactions and therapeutic meaning. The findings show that AI can empower families, bridge physical and digital storytelling, and act as a co-creative partner, with design implications for materializing AI, supporting self-symbols, and enhancing family communication. The study enriches HCI design for AI-infused therapeutic contexts and extends expressive arts therapy practices by detailing practical interaction qualities and opportunities for future systems.

Abstract

Storymaking, as an integrative form of expressive arts therapy, is an effective means to foster family communication. Yet, the integration of generative AI as expressive materials in therapeutic storymaking remains underexplored. And there is a lack of HCI implications on how to support families and therapists in this context. Addressing this, our study involved five weeks of storymaking sessions with seven families guided by a professional therapist. In these sessions, the families used both traditional art-making materials and image-based generative AI to create and evolve their family stories. Via the rich empirical data and commentaries from four expert therapists, we contextualize how families creatively melded AI and traditional expressive materials to externalize their ideas and feelings. Through the lens of Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), we characterize the therapeutic implications of AI as expressive materials. Desirable interaction qualities to support children, parents, and therapists are distilled for future HCI research.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Family expressive arts therapy activities conducted by a therapist: (a) drawing; (b) collage.
• Figure 2: Illustration of how families combined analog materials and generative AI in their creative process.
• Figure 3: Participation status of family members in 7 groups of families
• Figure 4: Study setup: (a) overview of the four activities; (b) diverse expressive materials (1-5: LEGO, colored clay, painting mediums, yarn, non-woven fabric; 6: paper cutouts of AI; 7: character tokens); (c) activity participants(mother: left, children and therapist: right).
• Figure 5: Outcomes and process of family engagement in AI-infused multimaterial storymaking in four major activities.