Highlights• Collaboration, central to arts projects, took different forms and fostered community resilience.• The arts process offered a space for migrant participants to have a critical look at the host society.• Commitment was fluctuating, which could be explained by participants' vulnerable position.• Sharing personal stories was a way for participants to build bridges across social divides.

Background: Considering the growing number of asylum-seeking children worldwide, research on interventions which may buffer the effects of early resettlement conditions on asylum-seeking children’s adjustment is warranted. In Canada, creative expressive workshops for asylum-seeking children and adolescents were implemented as a Psychological First Aid (PFA) intervention in temporary shelters. The present exploratory study aims to describe the implementation of these workshops to assess whether the intervention met core elements of PFA and explore its potential in supporting the diverse needs of asylum-seeking youth in temporary shelters, adopting a process-evaluation research approach. Method: The intervention was evaluated via a qualitative thematic analysis of extensive field and supervision notes and focus groups with facilitators. Results: Preliminary results suggest that the intervention contributed to fostering emotional safety and a sense of normalcy in children and supported the creation of connections among both children and parents. Children’s expression of past and present experiences during the workshops was seen as a way to promote self-efficacy in children and was reported as a potential way to provide some comfort and hope in a time of high instability. However, the high needs of children and the lack of resources in the temporary shelters represented significant challenges and barriers. Conclusions: PFA using creative expression may be a promising youth mental health prevention intervention in temporary shelters.

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À plusieurs égards, la danse peut exprimer et transformer des liens interpersonnels et sociaux. Le présent article explore cette idée en s’appuyant sur un projet de danse mené à Montréal en 2017 dans un quartier pluriethnique faisant face à des enjeux de pauvreté. Ce projet s’appuyait sur l’hypothèse que les liens intergénérationnels et intercommunautaires se font écho et se métamorphosent mutuellement. Le cadre dans lequel le projet a pris forme sera d’abord posé et les défis qu’il a soulevés, notamment sur le plan de l’animation et du processus artistique, seront discutés. Finalement, l’article éclairera la façon dont certaines dynamiques entre centralité et marginalité s’y sont révélées