Helping Anorexia’s Treatment through Design: an interview with Guylaine Sauvaget-Lasserre, clinician psychologist

We mentioned the notion of the “object” and its ability to mediate the relationship between a patient and therapist. Do you think there exist more knowledge-sharing opportunities between designers and psychologists?

Guylaine Sauvaget-Lasserre: Why not? Interesting collaborations could come from this considering that by focusing on an individual’s mental process with regard to a specific field can only benefit the designer and the needs analysis performed, which, in turn, will provide a clearer idea of the project design process. In psychology, like in design, there are many schools of thought. Some psychologists are labeled cognitivists or behavioralists, whereas others, like myself, rely more on psychoanalysis, which explains why I tend to always focus on the “subject.” Since these tendencies lay the foundations for different types of philosophies, designers should choose their partners carefully based on their respective credo.

Jean-Patrick Péché: You seem to have hit the nail on the head. Designers often go above and beyond the demands outlined in the specifications.

You have a good overview of creative professions. Would you say that your interest in art and visual expression as well as for your work as a therapist have impacted your relationship to art and creation?

Guylaine Sauvaget-Lasserre: Taking in art in all its forms, whether it be going to the museum, exhibitions, reading, listening to and playing music, etc. is food for thought, and means to a greater awareness of feelings. The self-improvement is something on which I like to rely in my creative workshops where the object targets a finished product. It is only then when we can “produce art in the style of” a renowned artist, mimic his/her techniques, adopt but a part of what he/she has developed, which, in turn, transforms and enhances our own creations.

That said, as in the therapy-oriented workshops I lead, the aim is not to produce art, but to have the participants yield to their emotions, feelings, and whatever else affects them along the way during the production process.

Aurore Donnat – Le réseau d’Arthur (Arthur’s Network) by Jocelyne Le Bœuf, Head of Studies

Helping young adults – especially those suffering from anorexia – adopt healthy eating habits in teen treatment centers.

Inside a department specializing in adolescent pathology

Aurore Donnat spent several days immersed in “l’espace Arthur”, housed in the  department headed by Professor Rufo (1) at the Sainte-Marguerite Hospital in Marseilles, observing the day-to-day and conducting workshops. This enabled her to think in depth about the role design could play in teaching teenagers with eating disorders on how to feed themselves. Her research had her step into an innovation-friendly field. “L’espace d’Arthur” is a place where new care systems are undergoing experimentation (2), and where young patients are brought together “…not because of their disease nor the type of suffering they’re experiencing, but simply because they are teenagers, and therefore, going through major changes in their lives.”

In her food-oriented workshops, Aurore Donnat focused on sensory issues with a view to deciphering the link between teenagers, food and eating rituals. She noticed to what extent single-tray meals served by institutional food services were abhorred by her target audience – the steam on pre-cooked dishes’ packaging, reminiscent of sweat, repulsed them. She noted which new and original recipes appealed to and repelled her participants. She also conducted applied arts workshops during which she assessed the impact of packaging by addressing the notions of materials and graphic codes.

In addition to her fieldwork, she conducted documentary research about taste and how it is shaped, about child and adolescent development and about the diverse approaches to mental anorexia.

Le réseau d’Arthur (Arthur’s Network)

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