Page 6 - Silver Linings Issue4

Art is one of many creative outlets incorporated into a patient’s treatment plan at Silver Hill. There are several options, many led by volunteers, that
encourage patients to explore their creativity. Other options include music therapy, knitting, jewelry making and beading.
“Art therapy provides an additional forum for patients
to express themselves,” Silver Hill Hospital’s Chief Clinical Officer Michael Groat, Ph.D., says. “There’s something about engaging people’s sense of creativity that helps foster a sense of capability and competence. It gives people the ability to express their current state of the world they inhabit. Art therapy can complement, in a unique way, the work people are doing in therapy. People respond
to it.”
Katie says some
patients are
initially hesitant to
participate in art
therapy because
they believe they
aren’t good artists,
or they don’t see
the value in it. A highlight of her
6 profession, she says, is when a reluctant patient tries it and becomes
aware of the benefits of art therapy.
“People have said, ‘Oh, I had forgotten how much I like art. This is really
“They think it’s going to be arts and crafts, but they get so much out of it because they have to think, and we discuss it afterward. They see why
it’s therapy. That’s nice when they are reluctant, but they try.”
A common misconception is that art therapy is like art class and the art needs to be done a certain way. While there is often direction on what to draw, sketch or paint, what is created is entirely up to the patient. Sarah says she is happy to teach someone an art technique if they ask her, but she sees the role of an art therapist as someone to guide a patient on a journey of discovery with art as the medium.
“I want the patient or resident to be able to express themselves and leave space for things to be done abstractly not
just concrete drawings,” Sarah says. “That allows us, as therapists, to
be able to create a safe space for
helping me, and I plan on continuing this when I leave.’ It’s something else added to their toolbox,” Katie says.