Four years ago following the attacks of 9/11, Julie Franco faced
deep personal grief. A friend had died in one of the plane
crashes.
Four years ago following the attacks of 9/11, Julie Franco faced deep personal grief. A friend had died in one of the plane crashes.
To help her deal with the sadness, the Gilroy resident drove to Goldsmith Seeds headquarters on Hecker Pass and painted a picture of the colorful flowers lined up in rows with the rolling hills in the background. The artwork she created that day helped her find some peace.
“I use art as therapy,” Franco said. “When I’m having a day when I’m having trouble expressing myself, I get out my sketchbook and start drawing.”
A professional artist, Franco teaches the Kids Discover Art program through the Gilroy Parks and Recreation Department. She has seen many times how art has enabled children to deal with personal issues as well as develop their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Both children and adults often have a hard time expressing their real feelings through words. Creating art such as paintings, drawings or sculptures gives people of all ages a visual medium to deal with various painful emotions or the daily stresses of life, she believes.
“Ten percent of communication is what we hear or say. The rest is visual,” she said. “Art teaches us to observe and allows the mind to express itself with the hands.”
Like Franco, Gilroy resident Joanne Robinson discovered that creating watercolor artwork serves as a wonderful escape from the stresses of life. And she’s encouraged her 9-year-old daughter Kyle to develop her own artistic skills to express her emotions.
“I don’t really do art with her for that reason, but she’s kind of grown up around it, and I’ve noticed that she’s really not afraid to do stuff,” Joanne Robinson said. “It’s opened her up … giving her some confidence and the courage to be creative. She’s more outgoing.”
Kyle has even entered her drawings and paintings in junior art shows, thus learning to communicate visually to a wider audience, Joanne Robinson said.
Local mental health professionals agree: art can be great therapy. Jerry Mermis, a mental health clinician at the San Benito County Mental Health Department, often uses art therapy with his clients – especially as an assessment tool.
“With children, it’s a pretty natural direction to go,” he says. “Give them some paint or watercolors and brushes, or crayons and pencils, and they’re always happy to draw … With adults and senior citizens, unless they’ve already had a bent for being creative, it’s going to be difficult getting them started.”
Giving old magazines to his clients, either individually or in a group, and asking them to cut out pictures and paste them on a poster board often gets the artistic juices flowing, he has found. It allows people to get past the cognitive processes and go deeper into the mind to explore whatever feelings might be submerged, he said.
Clay is also another effective art therapy medium, he said. He learned the technique from a college instructor who once played soothing music and gave the class clay and told everyone: “Just try to put your mind in neutral, put your hands in the clay, and let whatever you’re trying to express come out.”
As therapy, a work of art doesn’t have to win any blue ribbons. It’s the expression of the artist’s inner world that counts, Mermis said. And art therapy isn’t just effective for mental health clients but for everyone, he emphasizes.
People going through grief, divorce, loss of a job or the ordinary stress of life can greatly benefit by channeling their emotional energy into art.
Donna Cohen Cretcher, a licensed clinical social worker in Morgan Hill who works with children and families, often incorporates art into her therapy sessions with kids.
“Some children eight and under have a hard time articulating how they feel,” she said. “They really don’t have the cognitive ability to put their emotions into words.”
Some adults also feel stifled when it comes to expressing their more painful emotions, which can prevent them from successfully resolving personal and social conflicts.
“That’s why art is such a cool method of release for so many people in general,” she said. “It helps release feelings and emotions.”
Art therapy can provide healing not just for individuals but for groups such as families or couples going through marriage difficulties, said Amy Williams, a mental health therapist with Community Solutions in Gilroy. She occasionally has her family clients work as a team to create an artistic “Survival Island” where they help each other decide what to draw on the island to help them survive.
She particularly uses art therapy when working with young children.
“When people have been through trauma, they aren’t always able to communicate it verbally,” Williams said. “Very often, they don’t want to talk to others about it, so it’s easier to draw.”
Art can take different forms, too – clay and collages or decorative scrapbooks can be used for those coping with a difficult situation such as divorce or death.
Diane Wallace, a Uvas Valley resident who teaches art to students of all ages, has seen first-hand how art has helped calm hyperactive and agitated kids. “At the end of the three-hour class, the children would be very calm and centered. It has the same effect on everybody,” she said.
Wallace sees art as a type of therapy that everybody can benefit from. Some professional guidance can enhance a person’s skills and allow the artist fuller expression, she said.
“The returns come in developing your skills and the sense of accomplishment and self-fulfillment,” she said. “It makes every day life more beautiful and enriching.”
Art therapy can be used for everyone, not just for those with mental health problems. Bosses and staff who are under pressure can use it to deal with the intense emotions of the business world. It can also be a wonderful tool for children and young people with severe learning difficulties, or for those who have trouble controlling their emotions.
And art therapy is also for people who feel their lives are relatively problem-free but who would like to explore personal issues within themselves.
“When you do the art, you go inward,” Franco said. “The whole journey is done inward.”
