Presenter: Mallory Bouchard, The College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology, Interior Design
Authors: Mallory Bouchard
Faculty Advisor: Kristen Arnold, The College of Engineering, Applied Science & Technology, Interior Design
Institution: Weber State University
Human trafficking is a modern-day slavery forcing labor, sex, and fraud. With over 40 million victims worldwide today, eighty percent of those victims are women and children. [1] Being rescued is just the beginning of a long, hard road to recovery through extensive therapy. Before designing a facility for this type of rehabilitation; knowing the important aspects of interior design is crucial in creating a safe and comfortable place for the victims to undergo therapy and their recovery process. Evidence based design drives the project by understanding the emotional ties behind design such as the expression of lines, colors, textures, and lighting. Research shows that both color and art therapy has been a breakthrough form of healing and coping with trauma. “Color preference is an important aspect of visual experience that influences a wide spectrum of human behaviors..”[2] Insomuch that the project will be highly focused on providing adequate space for different forms of art, which gives the sense of freedom, especially to those who were once victims. Both individual and group therapy sessions are essential in helping the victims to advance with their therapy. “Art therapy is distinguished from other forms of treatment by active performing and experiencing with art materials, by the visual and concrete character of the process as well as by the result of art making. In clinical practice, art therapy is mostly applied in combination with trauma-focused psychotherapy such as EMDR, TF-CGT, Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy, and Narrative Exposure Therapy.” [3] It is imperative to have the facility feel warm, inviting, and most importantly safe; therefore, residential design will be heavily influenced in furniture selections as well as the dorm-style rooms the patients will reside in during their stay.