My first semester of grad school (I’m half way finished the degree now) equaled a real homecoming. Instead of just creating a world, I became part of a world that had already been created, a world I now know as expressive arts and expressive arts therapy. That first semester and every semester since has been – but not limited to – a mix of experiential learning, interpersonal relationships, intrapersonal relationships, and lots of ambitious reading. It has been the equivalent of learning a new language; I understand what is happening because I have been living in the arts, but now I have a whole plethora of words and phrases to explain what is going on. The funny thing is that you would think this would make it so much easier, in fact the opposite is true. Each nouvelle experience, network, etc. leads towards more uncovering until you get left in a pile of academic literature brow beating Cartesian dualism, poststructuralism, and the eventual path of existential phenomenology! This is good, but the fact of the matter is that I do the work daily. I utilize the arts in healing for myself and for the clients I work with in a residential substance abuse treatment facility. This is the first time on this blog that I have written about my work. The rumors are true; I am a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor in the state of pine trees (Maine). The goal is to help as many people as I can. Just like they say in AA, you can’t keep it unless you give it away. And I do.
Despite all this rambling disclosure I really wanted to mention one certain essay from that first Fall that hit me and hit me hard; it was an essay about being an artist-in-residence and the idea that by creating and making your own space for expressive arts and healing, people might watch and see and eventually start their own process of healing. At least that is what I remember; if you want to read it, do so and get back to me, eventually I will reread it to see how much got lost in the muddiness of my cognition and phantasies and projections…
Allen, P. (1992). Artist-in-residence: An alternative to “clinification” for art therapists. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. 9 (1), 22-29
So ramble on parce que, je suis artiste. I just had a client say to me that I contain multitudes. How did he remember that Walt Whitman quote? I had typed it onto a piece of paper and given it to him one day months ago when he was really suffering being. And out of nowhere he pulls a classic “I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I?”
ARTORBUST, INC is not polished and shiny. ARTORBUST, INC is in the trenches doing the work, living the ideal of artist-in-residence, artist as healer. Freud said psychoanalysis is about finding love and finding work and that is just what I am trying to do.
Please enjoy the short video and this work-in-progress… become a share holder someday!
NOTE: the whining in the video is our little dog Salvador Dali
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