Transforming Lives with the Arts

 

Art has become widely accepted as a means for peers to tell their stories, as a way for them to express themselves, for its power to heal and transform lives and increasingly a means of self-sufficiency for some.

 

Many peers with traumatic life experiences report the importance of the use of art and creativity as integral components of their recovery.  The arts can be whatever we usually think of as being creative: writing, music, painting, dance, sculpture, storytelling, performance and journaling.  All of these are pleasurable activities but can also be used as a conduit for expression of parts of ourselves we have not been able to express in any other way.  Art is a powerful healing tool to explore deep emotions, the sorrows, the struggles and joys.  Art is a safe way for survivors of trauma to express themselves without judgment or censor.

Art offers us the ability to transform us by awakening parts of ourselves to recover and heal from earlier traumatic memories. Peers starting an artistic journey may find parts of themselves they hadn’t started out to reveal.  Through artwork people can develop their own personal vocabularies for a fuller identity.   Images on paper, words in poetry, reflect back at us as mirrors of ourselves providing us with new insights.

 

Audiences are important.  We are our first audience, self-critic, self-analyst for meaning.  We make decisions whether to share our talent with others.  Some of us destroy our art, afraid of memories that we have discovered or we de-value our expressions.  Valuing our art is another step in our healing.  Letting ourselves speak, giving permission for ourselves to continue, and eventually to share with others is a separate but equally important challenge.

 

Our consumer movement has done a lot to bring us out of isolation.  It has allowed us to find each other in peer run organizations including drop-in centers, wellness centers and in some states peer run arts programs.  Having a place to go gives us opportunities to meet each other and support each other. We discuss our art over cups of tea, in support groups, in workshops.  We give each other confidence. National conferences offer yet another way for exposure in talent shows and art exhibits. Art is flourishing as it is being discovered as if something new.  Alternative healing is considered part of artistic exploration.

 

More artists have begun to make a living form their art.  Prominent among them is Jerome Lawrence who has painted series of beautifully combined colors in different subjects, notably flowers and scenes of nature. Jerome has received attention from Roslyn Carter and now sells his works for upwards in the thousands.  Musician, Mike Skinner writes songs about his recovery from childhood sexual abuse and has created a following.  Meghan Caughey also has created a name for herself.  One of her works, Strip Searched on the Inpatient Unit, was inspired after reading Pema Chodrin who said, we should take full measure of joy in the “juicy, spicy, and brilliant craziness and confusion.  Meghan has contrasting artwork, some done while she was extremely depressed and lifeless; later her lotus series, she describes as “coming out of the mud.”

 

Art is leading the way for culture change in mental health settings.  Environments change, comfort rooms are created, paintings on walls are done by clients and use of full names is becoming common.  Art therapy is gone, self-directed expression is here.  Creativity and the arts can lead us to the answers we seek, heal our wounds, transform us to be the persons we want to be.  Having fun while creating is an answer itself to mental illness, for when we are so engaged we do not have time to ruminate or reminisce; we are just there.