Art Healing and the Medical community
by Catherine Whipple Art does have the power to heal. This is something that many artists have known for ages but the scientific community is just beginning to realize. The medical community is also know realizing that art has healing and theraputec properties. Cancer patients, domestic abuse survivors, post-traumatic destress victims, alzhiemer patients, and many other people have been helped by art therapy. Don't believe me? Take a look at the some of the articles that have been written about art therapy by people in the medical field. Here is a list of some very good articles on the subject. Enjoy reading these fasinating case studies and then get out your crayons. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/09/17/in_paintings_a_message_im_still_here/ Sylvia Bickwid can't remember when she painted the picture of a wooded brook that graces her bedroom wall, or if she ever walked along the water-colored seashore that hangs nearby. She fails to recognize the two recent works as her own, though the sight of them brings a comforted smile. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060102104539.html By Northwestern Memorial Hospital, published on ScienceDaily.com, January 2, 2006A study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management found that art therapy can reduce a broad spectrum of symptoms related to pain and anxiety in cancer patients. In the study done at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, cancer patients reported significant reductions in eight of nine symptoms measured by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) after spending an hour working on art projects of their choice. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes By: Jenny Hontz, LA Times, CA, March 20, 2006 In art therapy, patients express their feelings not just through discussion, but through drawing, painting and sculpting. That's why this type of therapy is thought to be especially helpful for people who have difficulty articulating feelings -- including children and those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, strokes and post- traumatic stress disorder. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/05/11/reviving_memories_through_art/ Her eyes have failed and her mind is beginning to fade, but in her mind's eye, 88-year-old Nellie Woolley still sees clear and bright. Visiting the Big Apple Circus in Boston last week, Woolley, who lives at an Alzheimer's care facility in Brockton, clapped in time to the music, laughed with the crowd, and beamed as a young woman sitting beside her described the clowns and acrobats and dogs jumping over obstacles on their hind legs. Memories come harder for Woolley now, but the circus drew some deeply held ones to the surface.
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