Alternative Modality

Art Therapy: Mural

2011-05-12T14:22:00.000-04:00

Art therapy for dementia patients: free painting with non-toxic tempera using music as a catalyst.

I rolled out a sheet of bulletin board paper on a large table and seated about ten individuals around the table. The music helped them to forget their inhibitions in order to free paint.

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (May)

2011-05-12T14:21:00.000-04:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (April)

2011-05-12T14:20:00.000-04:00

Placement Design with Playdoh

2011-03-14T20:14:00.000-04:00

Typically, I only use Play-doh on the "lowest-functioning" floor of our facility. Between the texture of the cool clay on their hands, the Play-doh's bright colors, and its smell (and taste, oops!), Play-doh makes for a wonderful sensory experience for people with late-stage dementia.
I was sitting at a table between two mid-stage residents (one male, one female) and a basket of Play-doh cans. I started by rolling small pieces of the clay into shapes and passing them to the male resident. It was fascinating to see the design he created when he placed the pieces on the table in front of him:

Next, I started handing pieces of clay to the woman on the other side of me. Instead of rolling the clay into shapes, I simply broke apart small pieces and handed them to her. She rolled each piece into a ball, strategically placed it on the table, and pushed her thumb down in the middle of each one:

This is just another example of communication through artistic expression, and how creativity seems so much more important for individuals with aphasia.

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (March)

2011-03-14T19:44:00.003-04:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (February)

2011-03-14T19:44:00.000-04:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (January)

2011-01-20T18:45:00.000-05:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (December)

2010-12-12T21:16:00.000-05:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living (November Birthday Board)

2010-12-12T21:14:00.002-05:00

Bulletin Boards in Assisted Living

2010-10-21T00:35:00.002-04:00

More Art Therapy for Dementia

2010-10-21T00:34:00.000-04:00

Art Therapy for Dementia

2010-08-03T23:51:00.001-04:00

Creativity and Medicine

2009-12-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

The New York Times recently did an article on a company called RxArt. This company works with different artists to install (mostly) large-scale and brightly colored modern artwork within hospital settings. The idea is to transform the sterile, white-washed environment of acute-care medical facilities to be more friendly and less frightening for children. One of RxArt's designs actually installs a giant painting of an inflatable monkey onto an MRI machine! Imagine a frightened child walking into an MRI room and seeing a huge, smiling monkey instead of a creepy machine.
More information is available on their website:

http://www.rxart.net

Food for Thought

2009-02-26T09:41:00.004-05:00

Throughout my experience in running these art therapy groups, I've noticed the difficulty in quantifying the results. I look back at the groups and the activities and think, So what? What are the participants getting out of these experiences? The answer is, I'm still not really sure. All I can do is to try and record my observations to the best of my ability and to make note of any patterns or tendencies I see. I don't have any statistical data to summarize these results, but I don't think it matters. Recording the participants' tendencies usually provides sufficient supporting evidence for my thesis: Older persons with communication difficulties will benefit from art therapy more readily than will "normally-aging" individuals. I think that idea has become pretty clear through all of this.

Here are my conclusive, qualitative data so far:

1. Individuals with dementia and CVA tend to participate more readily in the projects than do normally-aging people.
2. Among all three groups, participants with CVA tend to report a more positive experience most often.
3. Normally-aging people tend to think more about the product of the activity, and therefore have a harder time considering its process than individuals with dementia or CVA.
4. Art therapy groups with normally-aging individuals and CVA patients tend to facilitate conversation and commonality among the participants.
5. In all three groups, music is a strong catalyst for participation.

CLS: 2/23/09

2009-02-26T09:10:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to take the idea of collaboration a step further. I brought in a piece of bulletin board paper about seven feet long with the intention of creating a mural. Once again, I figured that if the participants worked together on one piece of work, they would find it easier to "let go" and not be worried about the end result.
Other than the size of the paper, the rest of the activity was almost the same as last week. I gave them the opportunity to choose the music they wanted to listen to and they very quickly chose jazz again. Once the music was on, they all started painting away. Some of them closed their eyes and swayed to the music as last time, and every one of them was smiling. The paintings led to some interesting conversation, "Oh your painting looks like an owl at a party!" I remember hearing.
The only remote sign of reservation came from a woman who was painting something that looked like a sunset. "I don't know what I'm doing," she said a few times. Despite her comments, she went right along painting, smiling the entire time.

CLS: 2/18/09

2009-02-18T13:01:00.003-05:00

Since non-directive painting has been relatively successful in the past, I thought it would be a good activity to try with the Center for Life Skills participants. Instead of jumping right into individual painting, I came up with a collaborative activity. I gave each participant one color of tempera paint and a piece of paper. I explained to them that we would be spending ten to fifteen minutes on the activity at first, suggesting that they try to paint the feelings of the music. After that, they would switch papers with someone and continue the feelings of this new paper. The result would be a collaborative painting with two or more colors, and the idea behind it was to reduce the fear of creating something by themselves.
In groups past, the participants would be hesitant to begin this activity, telling me "I don't know what to paint, I'm not an artist." So I figured if we worked on the paintings in pairs, they wouldn't be the sole proprietors of their work. This would hopefully eliminate any inhibitions they might have had in getting started.
I'm happy to say that this was a very successful activity. They were very happy with my music selection of Miles Davis, and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Some of the participants were closing their eyes, nodding and bobbing to the music as they painted. It's unclear whether they would have had any reservations if I hadn't told them they would be painting with partners, but I couldn't be more happy with the reactions I got from this activity. Afterwards, a few of them tried explaining their paintings, and commenting on the feelings they got from the music. Three of them started talking about a local jazz festival. Overall, I think they really got a lot out of this activity, and the lack of observable reservations was really comforting for me to see.

CLS: 2/4/09

2009-02-04T13:06:00.003-05:00

Today I introduced the Center for Life Skills participants to the art group with an activity using Play-doh. In past experience at Longview, the group really seemed to enjoy this project. Because of the medium's non-permanence, I thought it was a good way to encourage the participants to begin thinking on the process level.
We were a little pressed for time and the atmosphere was just a little chaotic because the participants had just finished their lunch break. I passed out the Play-doh and let them choose which colors they wanted to use. I told them that we were going to try to communicate with each other using the Play-doh-- which definitely intrigued some of them. Next I asked them to partner up and use the Play-doh to say something about themselves (favorite food, favorite activity, etc.) without talking to each other. The participants came up with a variety of objects at the conclusion of the group. One individual made a person on skis and another in a kayak, three others made models of their pets. There were models of a pie, a flower, pot roast, children, a dancer, and a smiling face.
One of the participants seemed to have very little verbal communication, and she really seemed to enjoy this activity the most. She used her communication board to confirm that hers was a dog sleeping in his bed. Another participant was a little apprehensive about touching the clay. Her communication is also limited, and she said: "Don't like it." Once she saw the other participants enjoying themselves however, she began putting her hand in the Play-doh, and by the end had made a model of her dog. When we were cleaning up the clay at the end, she said to me: "Like it." "I knew you'd like it if you gave it a try," I said. "Cold, firm, hard to mold, like it," she said.
The overall dynamic of the group was really great. I've worked with some of these individuals before, and I've seen how well they all get along and how great the atmosphere is with them. For the most part everyone was laughing and chatty and commenting on each others' work. They really seemed to enjoy this activity.
The only examples of inhibition or apprehension I saw today were more related to frustration than anything else. I was really excited that I didn't see any real evidence of anxiety about creating something in front of the rest of the group.

Center for Life Skills

2009-02-04T12:57:00.002-05:00

I've begun to lead another art group this semester, this time I'm exploring the therapeutic benefits of art among CVA victims in Ithaca College's Center for Life Skills (CLS). The main question I'm researching continues to evolve- currently I'm focusing on how art as a means of expression is beneficial to adults with communication disorders. My main goal in CLS is to introduce the participants to a new way of expressing themselves, with the hope that many of them will appreciate this mode of communication because of any verbal communication difficulties they might have. With this, it is important to emphasize the process of expressing oneself over its product. As always, convincing adults that the results of their efforts are not the main focus is a huge challenge.

Longview: 2/25/08

2008-02-28T00:03:00.004-05:00

Today I was expecting the entire group- all ten of them. On Friday I reminded them that we would be painting today, and that it would be non-directive with tempera paint to a selection of music types. Instead of ten, a mere four people showed up (the lowest number out of any group).
I started them all with four colors and a piece of paper 11x18", and put the music on. As they painted, I added more colors to their selection. There were a few interesting aspects about today's group session. For one, no one asked me what my purpose in creating the group was today, and it might be the first time it hasn't happened. I figure no one asked me because of one of three reasons: One, the usual individuals who question my motives didn't show up today, two, they were starting to believe what I've been trying to tell them all along (probably the least likely to be true of the three), and three, something about today's activity distracted them from their concerns. One conclusion I have come to as a result of today's group, is how well music acts as a facilitator to the positive experience that I'm trying so hard to give them. Had I decided to let the residents paint freely without music, I expect that I would have encountered far more resistance than I actually did. As soon as I switched on the music, all of them were off painting. This means that somehow, having music playing in the background eliminates the hesitation factor which has been present (at least at the beginning) of every exercise I have directed them to try. I'm not sure why, but with the music playing, no one even thought twice about what I was asking them to do.
After class, one woman came up to me and explained how important she believes music to be- which is interesting because of her background teaching hearing-impaired children. During the activity, another woman voiced her dislike of one of the songs I played for the class, and someone else refused to come because she heard me suggest jazz on Friday. The second woman said- "I think we're too old to appreciate the types of music you are playing." To which the first woman replied, "that's not true, I like all kinds of music." I made a point to play a variety of songs in a variety of genres in order to get different responses from them. Among everything else I learned from today, it was a reminder of my inability to please everyone at the same time.

Longview: 2/22/08

2008-02-27T23:41:00.003-05:00

Though I have strayed from my initial approach to the group of implementing themes with which to explore the life course, I remained curious about the reactions I would get from some of the activities from the residents. Today I decided to introduce the group to one of the original themes, just for the day. I wanted to make sure we explored a couple of the family activities that I compiled, because I wanted to hear the types of discussions that would result from them. I did not introduce a warm-up activity for today, and instead jumped right in and introduced them to the exercise. I told them that I would like them to create family portraits. I said that their family could include friends, pets, anyone they considered to be their family- and that they could focus on their current family, part of their family, or their family of origin. It was up to them, whatever seemed to be the most important to the development of their life course.
Overall, the drawings ended up looking very different from each other. One resident started out with a drawing of her family of origin. Once she realized that she had finished significantly before anyone else had, she branched off with her own family on the same page. Another resident drew his family tree more like a genealogy chart, representing each family member with either a female or male sign. One other person decided to represent her family by illustrating what each of her family members enjoy, and she covered the page with it.
I was asked twice today about what my purpose is for the class- and both times I responded that it is just serving as an exploration of communication, and that the purpose was just for the group to be a constructive and enjoyable experience. I will continue to answer with the same response every time they ask me, but I know that somehow they still aren't apt to believe me, and continue to think I'm carrying out some sort of experimentation on them (which is precisely the reason why I reconsidered the Human Subjects Review). Although this group remains to be very much an experiment, I do wish I was more successful in convincing the handful of them who still remain skeptical about my motives. It is interesting though, that the critical residents have been some of the most regular in attendance since the group first convened.
Anyway, despite the doubts, today proved to me that the group has been at least halfway successful in accomplishing its goals. Once everyone had finished their family trees, we went around the table sharing what each person came up with. Understandably, giving the residents a chance to talk through their reasonings and to talk a bit about their family life turned out some really interesting conversations. It's hard for me to understand how some of the residents still don't see the meaning in the group when these activities continue to facilitate such interesting discussions. I highly doubt that even one of the residents hasn't learned something about his/herself through at least one of these activities.

Longview: 2/18/08

2008-02-27T23:21:00.003-05:00

Today I introduced the residents to a much less-conventional medium for creative expression. A couple months ago when I was first deciding on which media I would use int he group I was both hesitant and excited by one idea that I came across in my research- to use Playdoh. At first I was cautious, hoping the residents wouldn't feel belittled or that I was underestimating their functionality in handing out cups of Playdoh for them to play around with. Most of them were very curious as to how creating art with Playdoh would benefit them- or how it would even work in the first place. Nonetheless, they seemed anxious to find out how it could.
Each person chose a color and was directed to knead the brand new lump of clay just to get familiar with it. I was ecstatic to see most of their faces light up- commenting on how nice it felt and smelled and how bright the colors were. I asked them first what they might like to create with the Playdoh. One resident (who happened to be holding brown Playdoh) suggested a tree. I was skeptical, but that's what we started with. I was pleasantly surprised to look around the table and see that each person's tree was nothing like any other tree on the table. One looked like a pine tree- the woman used her fingernails to create texture on the cone-shaped pine tree she had created.
Next, I directed them to mush up their trees, and mold their favorite animal. "No!" One woman whimpered- evidence of her product-based mentality. This reusable clay facilitated a perfect opportunity for emphasizing the process of creating art, and I'm confident that today many of them may have begun to understand the process-centered goal of our art group.
Throughout the hour, we created our favorite animals, or favorite holidays, our favorite food, and a famous landmark. The landmark exercise was particularly interesting, most likely because of my choice of words when introducing it. "Create a famous monument," I said. Naturally, about sixty-percent of the group members ended up with a perfect replica of a Washington Monument in front of them- and I quickly realized that it was my word choice that had directed them to do this. An important lesson for the day: word choice is very important when introducing activities to the group. On a related note, I like to use "group" instead of "class" when referring to it.
For the final exercise of the day, I asked the residents to collaborate with a partner and to use their two colors to create something that the rest of the group might be able to guess. Two residents who had yellow and red Playdoh made a pizza, two others made a flower basket, and a group of three made a family of snakes. The three snake people were laughing hysterically at their creation- contributing to the positive group dynamics, and making the rest of the group laugh along with them.

Longview: 2/15/08

2008-02-27T23:11:00.003-05:00

I keep leaning towards collage when I'm trying to come up with an activity for the day. I love the collaboration that occurs when the residents share their ideas with each other and engage in relevant conversations as a direct result from the activity. This seems particularly noticeable during collage. Also, they respond very well to the constructive nature of this kind of activity. As usual, I tried to bridge the gap between verbal and expressive communication- today using text as a crutch. I asked them to flip through magazines and cut out an appealing picture. Then, I asked them to cut out words that they might be able to create a poem from which would ultimately pertain to their picture. They responded well at first- though I encountered more resistance and hesitation than usual. One individual in particular became rather frustrated, and in the end didn't consider her project to be successful. Again- the most difficult aspect of this group has been convincing them that the process is the important factor, and that remains true whether or not the physical results of the activity seem successful.
This idea was much easier to present to my eight year-old sister than it has been to the residents. Kenley has had a few months less than nine years of product reinforcement- compared to the lifetime of ideas that each of the Longview residents have come to place faith in. Most difficult to convince of process-importance have been those individuals who consider themselves to be artistically inclined. I expected this, but I think I have also underestimated these ame difficulties in those less familiar with artistic expression.

Residents' Intentions

2008-02-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

I think it's important when leading this group to continuously take into consideration what the residents are looking for in coming each week. The first thing I had them do last Monday was to write just a sentence or two about why they chose to come to the group in the first place. Here are their responses:

"I came for the fun of it! Trouble is I have conflicts so perhaps I will not be able to come. I accept the new idea presented."

"I came to explore what the class had to offer."

"I hope to find enjoyment in the class."

"A first time look at art. Especially how I can learn to appreciate it."

"I've never heard of a project like this- Hope to understand the meaning of color."

"I am a very visual person. I love doing any kind of art work, especially in a group setting. I am here to use the class as a catalyst to prompt me to spend more time working in my studio."

"Intention for taking this class- not sure. I guess I've always seen the therapeutic value in art (I'm not an artist, but truly appreciate it and always find a joy meddling in clay, etc.)."

"I'm looking forward to making visual art again- in any medium."

I am keeping these statements in the back of my head during each class. Attaining their intentions is probably the surest sign of the group's success in the end.

Longview: 2/11/08

2008-02-11T18:02:00.001-05:00

Today was the second meeting of the art group. We had a few less people because of another program that was going on simultaneously. Because of this I did not assign a theme for this week. We started off with people sharing their collages from last week. They went around in a circle explaining why they chose to cut out each picture, and what each aspect of their art work said about them.
The warm-up activity this week was seemingly more successful than the last one. I suggested that they draw something, anything they wanted, with their non-dominant hands. Again I was met with hesitation. However, many more of them seemed to find it more intriguing than intimidating. Across the board, I think they were surprised at how well their pictures turned out. These drawings sparked conversations about winter, and the benefits of being ambidextrous.
This particular warm-up activity is important when dealing with people who are particularly stuck on the end results of art making. By encouraging them to use the hand that they don't normally use, I found that the residents thought it more acceptable to create a less-than-perfect drawing. It also made those individuals who were more concerned about the results more comfortable when drawing in the presence of others.

Some examples of the non-dominant hand warm-up activity:

We noticed a large prevalence of nature in these pictures, which was funny when we stopped and shared. None of the residents had been looking at what anyone else came up with, yet each person had such a similar subject. "Nature is more forgiving, I guess," someone said. Another woman commented- "Perhaps we should practice using our other hands more often, in case we don't have use of our favored hands in the future." Once again, the residents were laughing and chatting amongst themselves in response to an activity. Between the warm-up and the sharing of thoughts on the warm-up, it has twice taken about a half hour. Initially I had expected to treat the warm-up more like an introductory exercise and have the residents spend more time on the activity to follow. The time limit is frustrating, but I have had to remind myself that the goals of this experience are to facilitate positive group dynamics and to make sure everyone enjoys themselves. Though the chatter takes time from the project in itself, giving the residents time to sort out their feelings and thoughts on each activity is important in achieving these goals.

I had a handful of ideas for the main activity today, but I finally settled on the Dream Imagery exercise that I had previously tried out with Kenley. When a few of the residents couldn't seem to think of a recurring or noteworthy dream, I suggested they opt to illustrate a memory. Here are the results:

-The first is a depiction of a little girl standing at the edge of a cliff. The woman said she had this dream often until she found out that when she was very young, she fell off an embankment into the water. After she learned that, she stopped having this dream.
-The second drawing is a woman walking up to a lighthouse at the beach. She said when she walked up to it, it began to crumble like it was made of sand. She interpreted this dream to have something to do with her father's death.
-For the third drawing, this woman said she couldn't think of a dream, so she just drew what appealed to her. It shows some mountains, and a boat in the water below.
-The fourth drawing is a continuation of the warm-up activity. This woman decided that she wanted to draw her memory with her non-dominant hand. She illustrated a beach party. Her choice to continue the second exercise with her other hand was interesting to me because she was having the most trouble getting over her unfamiliarity with art. By drawing with her non-dominant hand I think she was able to give herself an excuse for what she thought was a "bad" drawing.
-The woman to create the last drawing said that she went on a dream retreat and had a dream that she walked into an office but there was nobody there. On the desk in the office was a picture frame, and when she went to see what the picture was of, it was her.

One thing I noticed from today was that everyone really enjoys sharing their work. I'm pretty sure that they enjoy telling each other about themselves more than they like creating the work in the first place. It doesn't matter though, because the creation and analysis of the work both play a role in the overall goal of a positive experience.

Longview: 2/4/08

2008-02-11T17:18:00.001-05:00

These are pictures of some of the collages made by the residents:

Longview: 2/4/08

2008-02-10T10:05:00.001-05:00

I think the first group was really successful. I was met with much less resistance than I had originally anticipated for. I started the class off with a warm-up activity, something I plan to continue to do before the main activity every time we meet. The warm up activity was a way for them to loosen up a little- especially important for the first time we met. I chose to use the "Conversation in Pairs" exercise, which I adapted from the book, Art Therapy for Groups by Marian Liebmann. In this activity, the residents were paired up with the person next to them, and each pair was given a piece of 11x18 drawing paper. Next, each person picked a crayon (any visible color as long as it was different from their partner's color), and I told them to have a conversation with their partner, without speaking and without writing any words on the paper. The only way they were allowed to communicate with each other was by drawing. I could tell there were a few skeptics in the room, a couple of them had trouble starting off. I encouraged them to pose a question to their partner through a drawing. After about ten minutes, I asked people to share what they had been conversing about with each other. Many times there were responses like: "Well, I thought he was trying to draw a duck," and their partner would chime in- "I was trying to ask her where she lived!" Then everyone would laugh. After everyone had shared, and everyone had finished laughing, I asked them if they knew what the point of the exercise was. "Basically, the reason I started out with this activity is to show you that art is another means of communication- and that there can be miscommunication with art the same as with talking, or any other way of communicating." Everyone smiled at this, and a few commented- confirming that I didn't think many of them had thought of art as communication before.
Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome of this warm-up activity. I think it was exactly what the residents needed to break the ice with each other, as well as a successful way of introducing the general theme of the class. The most important result from this was to facilitate a positive group dynamic, which was clearly achieved. The residents were given time to interact with one another and share their thoughts on something new. Once they realized that most of them were in the same boat, they loosened up and actually enjoyed the activity.

For the main project of the day, I decided to chose a medium where the residents would be able to continue to interact with each other, as well as something that would be very constructive. I reminded them that each week we would have a theme for the activities- and all of the themes would relate to their life course. This week, however, we would not have a theme because it would serve as more of an introduction to our group. Instead, I suggested that we focus on the most important part of their life course- themselves. For the activity I spread out dozens of magazines across the table, gave each resident their own sheet of drawing paper, and their own glue stick and pair of scissors. I told them to look through the magazines, and cut out anything that they liked, or anything that would be able to describe them, and to glue it to the paper. Again, I was very pleased with the results from the residents. They spent almost an hour on this exercise, and they created some really interesting pieces. A common theme was food- luckily I had a handful of Racheal Ray magazines, and many of them included their favorite foods in their collage. One woman cut out a picture of an older woman driving a Ferrari. "That's me," she laughed. This activity was another way to strengthen the group (something I hope all of these projects will do) because they spent almost an hour chatting with each other, sharing pictures, sharing the reasons behind why they chose certain pictures, and they all seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Therapy Trials Part II

2008-01-14T13:49:00.000-05:00

These are some of the drawings made by residents of Carillon. Today was important because I was able to see how the residents responded to me, especially when trying to persuade those less inclined to give it a shot. The first woman I worked with wasn't particularly keen on drawing with me. She told me she didn't know what to draw. I thought about it for a minute, wanting to give her just enough direction to become interested in what we were doing, but not too much so she wouldn't just be copying what I said. "Pick your favorite color," I said. I had laid out a number of markers and crayons on the table. "The orange," she replied. I told her to start with a circle, it was a good starting point. A circle could be anything and it wasn't too hard to draw. When she was done she looked at me. "Okay, what about something to go in the circle?" I asked. "The eyes, I guess they would go here, right?" And after that, she didn't need much more direction and drew a really interesting picture of a person with brown hair, grass, and a sun. At first she didn't want to keep her drawing until an aide came over and suggested that she give it to her son. I would have liked to get a picture of it, but it proves a strong example of person-centered process therapy.

A second woman who was wheeled over to my table needed much less encouragement to use the supplies in front of her. I asked her to pick out her favorite color (blue), and she was off. I again needed a starting point, each of the residents seemed overwhelmed with the blank paper in front of them and no ideas in their heads. So again I ran with the circle idea, and after that she was completely involved in her picture. She was non-directive drawing for twenty minutes or so before she got tired of it. When she was done I asked her to explain it to me. "See, it's so good, she doesn't even know what it is. Actually, I don't even know what it is," she said. Again, an example of person centered process therapy- without analyzing the drawing itself I will say that she really concentrated on what she was doing, and enjoyed the act of drawing itself. Analytically, I think it's common for the circle to be interpreted as a head. Even though the resident wasn't too sure of what she was making, I think this drawing definitely follows that trend.

Next, two more women were placed at my table, both needing quite a bit more direction than the first two. Again I started by asking them to draw me a circle, and here is what they each came up with:
The woman on the left was very timid about drawing anything, she repeatedly told me that she wasn't an artist and she wasn't any good. Her circle turned into a letter O from which she wrote some words. When she was done, she folded the paper and handed it to me. She was really proud of what she had made, and that was good enough for me.
The woman on the right drew a first circle in green. I asked her what it looked like to her, and she told me it looked like a heart. So she drew a heart inside the circle. After each time she would draw something on the page, she put her marker down and looked at me. In order to keep her going, I had to pick out a new marker and hand it to her, at which point she mimicked either the initial line or circle, and put the marker down again.

I think this initial experience of art with nursing home residents has given me a better idea of how to handle the class at Longview. I think I will continue to use the circle as a starting point, it's an idea similar to that of Mandala drawings. Mandala drawings are an art therapy technique that encourage people to draw within a circle because of the symbolic ideologies surrounded by that shape. With more experience it will probably get easier to find new ways to get them out of the idea that they aren't any good because they haven't had any experience in art before.

A Third Example of Therapy Approaches

2008-01-12T03:15:00.000-05:00

More research has led to yet another division in the approaches to art therapy. In addition to process-centered v. product-centered therapy and directive v. non-directive therapy, there exists a third pair of conflicting styles. To clarify, process-centered therapy relies on the act of the art making itself, insisting that it is the individual alone who creates meaning out of their therapy. Quite the opposite is product-centered therapy, which is based more on the psychoanalysis of the finished product. Here, the therapist assists the individual in creating meaning out of their experience. Directive v. non-directive therapy builds on the last two approaches by highlighting the amount of assistance the therapist actually provides. Two more methods of art therapy now join the list: person-centered therapy and the systems theory approach. Person-centered art therapy is based on the theory that the experience should emphasize personal growth and self-actualization of one's own problems with the goal of developing a more positive wellbeing. In other words, the results of the therapy are entirely reliant on how well the individual explores their feelings for themselves. The systems theory approach comes from the idea that one is best understood through their reactions with others, and for that reason, therapy is best performed in group settings in order to facilitate interaction. This is based on the assumption that the individual's feelings and emotions are tied up with their relations and interactions with others.

As per usual, I am attempting to lead my groups with a nice equilibrium of the two conflicting approaches... encouraging personal growth within a group setting.

Therapy Trials Part I- Analysis

2008-01-11T15:08:00.001-05:00

Exercise 1: Dream Imagery

In process terms, this drawing served as an introduction to the session. The purpose of this first exercise was to loosen Kenley up, giving her both freedom to draw what she wanted, as well as encouraging her to stick to drawing something which she did not consciously come up with.

In product terms, the image itself seems to be much more subconsciously rooted than her explanation of the dream does. Kenley is seen standing in the middle of the page, amongst a forest of tall trees in a valley. It's raining and she's holding an umbrella. The raisin lady doesn't have an umbrella, but she does have a bike. Stuck in the valley between the trees she is trapped, and she stands there yelling for help. Psychoanalytically, I am not yet at a point where I can be confident in my interpretation of what might be going on here. But there is a clear sense of entrapment and fear from her location on the page in the drawing.

Exercise 2: Creating a Healthy Place

These are the three drawings from Exercise 2. The purpose of this exercise was to uncover suppressed feelings concerning Kenley's health. The second drawing in this series asked her to draw a place where she doesn't have to worry about her condition. She drew our grandmother's house because she doesn't have to do any treatments there. What I found most interesting about this picture was the fact that she wasn't in it. In her drawing of her safe place, she didn't include herself. This might be because she took my directions literally- to draw the place where she feels safe. Except she included Polly, a being separate from the house itself.

Exercise 3: Self-Portrait

The directions I gave Kenley in this exercise were to create a self-portrait. Immediately after she asked me for a mirror, and I expected this. I tried to stress the importance of the process of creating the painting rather than the overall result of what she was going to create. "You know your face," I said. "Close your eyes and imagine your face, then paint it." Three times during the exercise she told me how bad it looked. Again, I expected this. For the class at Longview one of the first activities I plan to do with the residents is for them to create a self-portrait, sans mirror. It will serve as an initial gauge of their self-perception. During the final week of the class, they will be asked to create another one using the same medium (tempera) as before. The idea is that through the fourteen weeks of creating art, personal growth will be evident through the changes in their artwork and will shed light on the changes of their perceptions of themselves and their feelings as a whole.

Exercise 4: Family Portrait

As a closing exercise, I decided to have Kenley create a family portrait. Again, striving for the most amount of creativity as possible, the only directions I gave her were to create a family portrait. At this, I was presented with an interesting request. "I'm not good at drawing bodies, can I put animal bodies on their heads?" I of course was thrilled at her suggestion, and reassured her that she could create this picture however she wanted. I think the substitution of animals for members of our family offers an interesting insight into her feelings concerning the family dynamics.

Therapy Trials Part I

2008-01-11T02:04:00.000-05:00

Attempting to become more comfortable with the idea of leading this class, I thought I might try out some of the different exercise concepts on my artistic youngest sister, Kenley. I also recognized the potential for a positive impact on her psychological wellbeing and I went for it. In retrospect, I was surprised at how well the results I got from her corresponded to the research I've been reading. In using a directive approach*, I found there to be a clear difference in Kenley's level of communication in her explanations of each piece, compared to her normative verbal expression. These results were especially relevant concerning her illness.
I was really interested with her performance in the second exercise, Creating a Healthy Place, an activity designed to specifically target an afflicted individual's chronic condition. She never talks about having Cystic Fibrosis, and tends to remove herself from any situation in which anyone else might be discussing it. Using art as a facilitator, I was excited to see a huge increase in the amount of information that she was willing to divulge to me.
Overall, I believe Kenley was so successful with this activity because of her interest in art. However, this statement is not meant to confuse anyone by eluding to the fact that she was more successful because she was artistic. I believe the non-artist will actually have an easier time with these exercises because they have had less of a fundamental education in art making, and therefore fewer preconceptions to be hindered by. Before beginning each exercise I was cautious about how I should try to word my directions in order to keep her communication with me as open as possible. But in the end, I decided that being straightforward with her would be the easiest way to gauge the impact this would have on the expression of her feelings.

I began the session with a quick relaxation technique, an aspect of the class I plan to implement before each session begins. Being calm and relaxed before each session will offer each individual a clean slate of emotion and feelings in order to encourage greater expression from their work. I also played some Coltraine in the background... she totally liked it.

Exercise 1: Dream Imagery
“Think of a dream that you remember really clearly. Close your eyes and think of it.”
She opened her eyes, “When the raisin lady was chasing me.”
I gave her a pencil and computer paper to start with.
“I’m not very good at drawing the raisin lady.”
“It doesn’t matter, just draw it as well as you can remember.”
Halfway through her drawing, I offered her markers, crayons, and a ruler, but she continued to use the pencil.
“It wasn’t a very wonderful dream, so it shouldn’t be very colorful, it was a nightmare."
"Okay."
"Well, I was in this forest, hiking. And then, cause I was older so I was allowed to hike alone, and then all of the trees turned into vines with grapes growing on them. Then the grapes molded into raisins and then the raisin lady popped out on her bike with a basket full of raisins, and she yelled at me to eat raisins. And in my backpack, you know those little yellow guys from the aim? They were in my backpack, and I got home and I let them out and I went under my bed. Then the raisin lady came to our door, and grandma let her in. She told her that I was upstairs hiding under my bed. And then the little yellow guys came out with swords, trying to chop up the raisin lady but they couldn’t because she was made of brick solid, so she couldn’t die. I got so scared that I jumped out the window and into the woods and all the trees turned back into vines again.”

Exercise 2: Creating a Healthy Place
“I want you to make three drawings for me."
"Okay..."
"In the first drawing I want you to draw what it feels like to have CF.”
Immediately she smiled awkwardly, “It doesn’t feel like anything.”
“Well I want you to tell me that throuh your picture.”
“Okay.” She picked up a blue marker and drew a picture of herself, a big grin on her face and a t-shirt, then told me she was done.
“Are you sure? Look at it again.”
“Oh wait, I’m not done.”
She picked up more colors this time, and continued to draw until she had finished.
"Tell me about what you drew."
“There’s blue hair because I’m different than other people, and I’m smiling because I’m happy, and my name is on my shirt because I like my name. “
"How does this show me that this is how you feel to have CF?”
“I’m smiling, I’m happy.”
“It makes you happy to have it?”
“Well I’m happy anyway. And the blue is because I’m different than other people.”
I smiled. It was probably the first acknowledgment of her nonconformist attitude she had ever shown me.

“For the second drawing I want you to draw me a place where you wouldn’t have to worry about having CF. It can be real or imaginary.”
“What if there’s more than one?”
“Draw the first thing that pops into your mind.”
“You might not be able to tell what it is.”
“That’s okay, you can tell me about it when you’re done.”
She picked up a pen and drew until she told me she was done.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. This is grandmas house, and this is Polly in the window, she likes to go up there. And I did that because it’s the first thing that popped into my head. And I did that because I don’t have to do any treatments there, and I can just have fun there.”
“And you don’t want to color it in?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Because I like black and white pictures.”

“Third, I want you to draw me a place where it would be really harmful to have CF.”
I think she had a clearer idea of these directions.
“It’s the perfume section in Macy’s because with CF you can’t breathe perfume and stuff like that, its bad for your lungs. And when people spray it there, its not good for me. And that’s why.”

Exercise 3: Self-Portrait
“I want you to make a self portrait.”
“I need a mirror.”
“I want you to do it out of your head. Close your eyes and imagine your face, that’s what I want you to paint.”
I had expected this reaction from her.
She started to paint.
“I know how terrible this looks, but I don’t really care.”
“Don’t think about that, I’m not judging you, I just want you to paint.” I also expected this reaction of my little product-focused artist.
“Well, It’s me, kind of, not really. Can I do one that I can look at myself with the mirror with? I chose that color for the background because it’s my favorite color. And I chose red because when I get mad at Kerry, I beat her up and my face gets all red. And that black stuff in there, is dirt, when I roll around in the mud. And that’s it.”

Exercise 4: Family Portrait
“I want you to draw a family portrait.”
“In age order?”
“How ever you want to draw it, it’s your picture.”
“I’m not very good at drawing bodies, can I draw people heads on animal bodies?”
“Kenley, all I want is a family portrait, how you do it is up to you.”
“I picked the dog for daddy because he’s dopey, and he lays on the couch all the time like Kody. And I picked the mermaid for mommy because, I don’t know why, I just did. I picked an octopus for me because I like to do things really fast because I like to jump around. I made Kerry a goldfish because she’s boring, I made Kylen a bunny because she’s always so bouncy. And I made you a butterfly because I just felt like it.”

Kenley spent about an hour and a half with me doing these four exercises, and was disappointed when I ended the session. The fourth exercise was particularly interesting because of her suggestion to use animal bodies on the heads of her family members in the Family Portrait exercise. I made sure not to give too much direction when explaining what I wanted her to draw for each activity, and I think this offers an interesting insight to Kenley’s feelings. It’s important for the people in my class to know that they are encouraged to be as creative as possible, so that there will be a more interesting and cathartic result from each activity. Also, I expect that they will all be very judgmental of their work, at least at first. I need to make sure they know that it is the process of creating these pictures that is the most important part of therapy... not the finished result.
Written by a famous poet on the act of reading: "The reader should be carried forward, not merely or chiefly by the mechanical impulse of curiosity, not by a restless desire to arrive at the final solution, but by the pleasurable activity of the journey itself."

*Directive Approach- one method of art therapy as opposed to the non-directive approach. In directive approach art therapy, the therapist offers directions surrounding a theme and/or topic of importance. The amount of direction is up to the therapist, though usually just one or two sentences about what the therapist wants from the patient is the most useful in sparking catharsis.