This past Thursday and Friday marked my second to last visit to Tucson. I can't believe this project has gone by so fast! I was looking through my notes the other day (I keep a whole separate journal of notes about my experiences at Bridges) and the number of people I have met and learned from is absolutely incredible. I plan on making my last visit next week really count.
Anyway, I figured I would share a few things from last week. There were thirteen patients at Bridges! That is the most I have seen, and the great thing was that almost all of the patients were willing to participate in group meetings.
Thursday started out with an early group session. I tried my best to learn names of new patients as we sat around a table and passed a giant inflatable ball around. The patients really seemed to enjoy the physical activity involved in group and all shared answers to questions like "What did you come here to do?" "What kind of positive qualities do you need in your life?" and "What did you get out of this group discussion?"
The physical aspect of the morning group got me thinking and I suggested to Ms. Endreson an art activity I read about in an art therapy book I had been skimming before (you can check out the book here if you're interested). The activity I suggested had to do with the physical human form. Patients are supplied with a blank template of a human body and asked to do a "somatic check-in" of sorts. By using colors and shapes, they are supposed to express on the template their feelings of anxiety and how their bodies respond to that anxiety. I really liked the idea of a body template because it forced the patients to really think about themselves. It reminded me of a fun activity I saw when I was browsing YouTube for art therapy related things. The activity in the video below is definitely different and probably suits a higher functioning crowd better, but it still incorporates the human body outline, which I love (also its just a really fun and well filmed video) :
Ms. Endreson and I tried to sit down with the patients and talk with them after they all started finishing up with their work. Some gave their pieces titles and explained parts of their artwork. For example, the artist who created the piece on the left in the second row explained that the orange box represented his heart and the gold in the head area represented a gold plate in his head.
At the end of the session, each patient shared their work and explained their choices.
Friday was a bit more sleepy at Bridges and a lot of patients seemed very lethargic. But one of the bright sides to having a sleepy day at Bridges is the opportunity to have individual sessions with patients. When the floor was *Q-word* (the nurses always joke with me not to say "quiet" on the unit because I might jinx it and all of a sudden it will be crazy and loud again), Ms. Endreson and I invited one of the patients who was awake to join us in her office for another session of the Value Game.
This patient--we can call him M-- was the first male patient to play the Value Game with us. He was much higher functioning than the past few patients we worked with on the game so it was refreshing to see someone who could follow the directions. As he shuffled through the pictures I noticed him categorizing a lot of the genders in the images, often separating men and women.
Overall, the images brought up a lot of different stories and had deeper meaning but M made many of the same choices with images as he did words. I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable in the setting, with both me and Ms. Endreson staring at him as he made his value choices, but I think he did reflect a bit and got to really evaluate what was important to him.
I've been putting a lot of time into my final presentation at this point and I love going through all the projects we've done at Bridges. I hope my final trip to Tucson includes some more amazing art. I'll be sure to share :)
Until then,
Tia
Ahh time does pass quickly. I'm glad you've had such a good time, though. Do you think patients playing the Value Game would be more relaxed if they were alone with the images and words and such? Though I'm sure that wouldn't work with all of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting idea, Daria! I feel like doing the Value Game by themselves would probably let the patients feel a little more comfortable, but it would also be a whole different experience. When Ms. Endreson and I observe the value game sessions, we often engage in conversation with the patients and ask questions like "why that card?" or "who does that remind you of?" (or sometimes we just have to clarify the directions). If we weren't there, I feel like patients would maybe not reflect as much. This is something you see in all kinds of art therapy, actually. In individual sessions, the therapist sits with the patient but has to find a way not to seem intimidating, while also prompting and helping the patient along. The therapist to patient relationship is certainly an interesting aspect of art therapy!
DeleteI am a senior in Lutheran High School-Parker and I am curious about the concept of art therapy. Recently, I read about a grand old book that Carnegie wrote about dealing with anxiety. In the book, it claims there are more than half of the mental issues are not caused by physical illness, but by mental stress. If this is true, art should certainly hold a place in pharmacy. My personal understanding of the secret of art therapy is it can direct out people’s repressed emotion that can’t express by word or act in any way. What do you think make art therapy work?
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel! Thanks for checking out my project :)
DeleteYour personal understanding of art therapy is absolutely correct. Art is a universal language that helps people communicate ideas that are otherwise too difficult to express in words. What I think makes art therapy work is the amount of freedom it gives to the artists. Freedom is something that you don't really have when you are sitting in a hospital or in a difficult situation in general. Art is a way to take complete control of something and do whatever you want. Whether patients choose to express something or even just let out some steam, art gives them an opportunity that they might otherwise not have.
Love those images and can't wait to see your final presentation. I am glad you explained the orange box image - that is the one that caught my attention the most. Very interesting...
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ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how people describe themselves and their own body. Do you think there is an introspective or deeper meaning to each one? Or are they purely random and unconscious doodles?
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