A Painting Dance

Ninety three years old. Gladys speaks so softly that it's hard to make up her words. I sit by her side, and ask  if she would like to paint. She nods a timid yes. When presented with an assortment of colors, her sinewy hands go straight to the green and blue tubes. No hesitation there. Her daughter told me she used to paint a lot "before". 

Watching the artist come out of Gladys as she effortlessly pushes her fine brush on the white paper is quite a treat. Something important is taking place in her brain, that's giving her back the confidence that normally eludes her. After one long green stroke, she lifts her brush and hands it over to me.

Gladys's painting dance with me at Zen Hospice

I look at her with surprise. Me? Does she want me to join her? She nods. I pick up where she started and complete the green line, then give the brush back to her. Pretty soon, she and I enter into a trance, dancing together in silence on an 8 by 11 sheet of paper. Until the whole surface gets covered. "It's beautiful" says she.

Being present for each other. It was beautiful indeed . . . 

Double Healing Power with MBAT (Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy)

An emerging therapeutic approach, Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy blends the two disciplines of mindfulness and art therapy. There is little research in the field to date, besides the controlled trial done by Caroline Peterson with cancer patients. 

What I know for sure, however, from years working as an art therapist with patients in partial hospitalization programs, is that art therapy is a powerful modality for many suffering from  a wide range of conditions, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, chronic illness, trauma, chronic pain, adjustments to life transitions, anger issues, personality disorders, psychotic states, etc . . . On a personal note, art has always been a part of my inner journey, whether in the form of paintings, sculptures, and more recently simple collages, and poems. Art therapy engages the creative, imaginative, soul-making part of ourselves. As such it helps with putting ourselves back as broken, and yet potentially whole people. It is both a process and a goal-oriented activity, that can be accomplished alone, or in the presence of an art therapist who then acts as witness, and also assistant of natural healing taking place during the person's art-making.

At San Jose State University Foundry

working on bronze sculpture - Spring 2005

(from San Jose State University Magazine)

Separately, I have also witnessed the potency of mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention, in my work with MBSR groups, hospice patients, and also individual clients. As with art therapy, I came to discover the transformative power of mindfulness, through the door of my own emotional and mental suffering. While mindfulness has taken the front seat in my journey towards self-healing, I have found expressive techniques to be a very useful adjunct during those times when strong emotions and difficult mental states arise.

Of course, in order for it to work, Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy requires that the therapist be deeply involved personally in both practices of mindfulness and art-making.