[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Trauma and How it Affects the Brain

Source for notes: https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/analysis/2017/12/04/how-trauma-affects-the-brain-doctors-notes.html

• Trauma can have a profound impact on every area of a person's life.

• People report feeling trapped and helpless during trauma and can feel overwhelmed and unable to cope.

• There are four main areas of the brain that are affected by trauma: the hippocampus, the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, and the brain stem.

• When we feel threatened, the brain signals the body the release stress hormones including cortisol and adrenalin

• Cortisol has been shown to damage sells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus that is responsible for integrating memory.

• People who suffer from chronic trauma can have a smaller hippocampus which may contribute to difficulties in learning and memory. 

• We can forge new connections between braincells promoting change and growth, building and strengthening healthy neural pathways with different experiences after a trauma.

• The amygdala is responsible for emotional memory and is important in detecting emotions such as fear.

• In response to trauma, adrenalin - a stress hormone - gets released, putting the amygdala into overdrive.

• The prefrontal cortex is located at the front of the brain. It helps us to think, plan and solve problems but can go "offline" when experiencing and reliving trauma.

• The amygdala can light up, so the fear centre is ever-present

• It is exhausting to live in a state of fear, trauma and disconnection. 

• Treatment for trauma ideally involves a holistic treatment plan that focuses on a person's entire being, including their thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. In terms f the brain, it is important to learn about skills to help get the prefrontal cortex back online as well as approaches to soothe an overactive amygdala. May of the effects of trauma are held in the body, and often survivors disconnect form their bodies as a way of distancing themselves from emotional pain and body sensations that can be triggering.

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Podcast - SuperCreativity Podcast with James Taylor. CL248 Mindfulness and The Creative Process. Interview with Ora Nadrich

Podcast: SuperCreativity Podcast with James Taylor - CL248 Mindfulness and The Creative Process. Interview with Ora Nadrich

• Ora is the founder and president of the Institute for Transformational Thinking. Certified life coach and mindfulness teacher. Specialises in transformational thinking, self discovery and mentoring new coaches as their careers develop. Work has been featured in Women's Health Magazine, Reader's Digest, Psychology Today and many more
• Implementing mindfulness is all areas of her life, just completed a third book, hosting mindfulness club, writing plethora of articles on mindfulness. Lived True: Ensconced in recently released book Mindfulness and Authenticity. 
• How did I get interested in mindfulness? Mindfulness came naturally to me and I consider myself a mindful person. I functioned that way even as a child but didn't realise it was called mindfulness. I've been in the field for quite some time. Looked at, researched and taught many modalities of thought transformation and came across mindfulness and that is the practice of being present,  which I thought was really invaluable. Became certified with the open mind Institute on mindfulness and I continue to write and teach about it.
• Is mindfulness training a helpful way for us to get back to something a little bit more core to us as humans? Absolutely and I recently saw a research out of Harvard that our mind wonders almost 50% of the time. What that tells us is that it's not that easy to stay present and I believe that the teaching of mindfulness, the skill set of mindfulness, is invaluable. Not just with the Millennials, as they are one of the largest demographic groups, but with all of the demographics that I address my work to. Because of the distractions and what is going on today – our devices that we are so used to and so dependent on– It really pulls us out of the moment. We allow for it whether we are conscious of that or not. This really spikes stress because we have greater expectations of ourselves (self-imposed and external of how and what we should be especially - for the younger generation, comparing themselves through social media). There is so much overstimulation that this is the most challenging time to stay in the present moment, that the moment is enough and that we are enough in it. This is a call to action and mindfulness is a brilliant antidote and then the practice of so that we become less reactive human beings and that we don't have to be the effect of what's happening. 
• The latest book I'm writing links mindfulness and authenticity. Why a mindfulness guide around authenticity? Being present means that you are showing up in the moment as your most authentic self. Who we are in the moment is really who we are, not adhering to someone's expectation of us and not giving into the demands that are placed on us whether they are by other people. The authentic self is to be true to who we are in all moments of our life. In our relationships, in the workplace. Our life is precious and we mustn't compromise who we are in those moments. 
• Finding your own authentic creative voice.  For some people their creative juices flow and it's very easy for them to navigate. For others they rely on things to jumpstart their creativity. And if we think about the inner dialogue that we have, a very high percentage of our thoughts (approximately between 40-70,000 thoughts a day) for a creative person negative thoughts will not help. You want to keep your thoughts positive. Illumined thoughts. Thinking with a clear mind that really exposes itself to creativity, that is very helpful for the creative. We need to protect, support, nurture and curate our thoughts. A metaphor or analogy would be a museum or art gallery that has been curated to show the very best pieces of an artist. The same must be true of our mind. We must cultivate and curate our thoughts for creative output. 
• You don't want thoughts that are doubting, fear-based, that are sabotaging your creative process. 
• Transcendental meditation was more beneficial for creativity. Why is that?  That type of mindfulness practice is without any dogma. You don't necessarily have to believe in anything. It is a practice that you can do on a daily basis. I am a former transcendental meditator. That was the first modality that I experienced and it was invaluable. TM helped my skills and discipline. You are given a Sanskrit mantra. You don't have to be religious or spiritual, it is more about getting the mind to focus on something. As we know the mind wanders almost 50% of the time so with TM specifically you were told to view your thoughts as clouds moving across the sky. They never stay in the same place, they are constantly moving. Our thoughts don't hold onto us, we hold onto our thoughts. We attach ourself to a thought, we give meaning to a thought. We can get very obsessive with a thought. So TM is a very valuable tool to use. Mindfulness meditation, which is not necessarily mantra-based, focuses on the breath which is something for the mind again to focus on. The different type of meditation depends on the individual and I really think it's an invaluable tool. You don't have to be spiritual, religious, you don't have to have an altar. All you have to do is show up to the meditation to allow a quieting of the mind so that you can feel less stressed and to feel other levels of consciousness.
• Artists have mentioned the "quietening of the mind before and are quite reticent of it as they like their crazy and the "monkey mind"- going with an idea and seeing where it goes. They are hesitant. What advice would you give? That is a belief and we want to be mindful of us that it's not that we want to thwart or stop the creative process. The "monkey mind" is the Buddhist term for restless mind so you want to be very careful that your monkey mind is not sabotaging you. That is isn't impeding creativity. You allow yourself to 'trip the light fantastic' and free fall and experience a type of euphoria. The creative process is very experiential and mindfulness does not in anyway impede or threaten it. If anything, it enhances it. You become so aware of where your mind is going. It isn't counterproductive to the creative process. The more aware we are, the more we allow more to come forward. We become a vehicle for creativity to reign supreme. Mindfulness supports it.
• Tell us about when you work on something creative and it didn't work out like you'd hoped. What was the lesson you took from that experience? Writing my first book, Says Who?, born out of my sister's mental illness, allowed me to go into some deep places within myself and it was sometimes painful as the creative process sometimes is. "Creativity can come out of the dark night of the soul." We meet ourselves there and it can be frightening. That was how that book progressed at the time but I would be more mindful today and navigated the waters that could have minimised some of the suffering. You don't have to feel like you're suffering and on the verge of a nervous breakdown to be going into the depths of creativity.  
• Has there been a lightbulb moment on your creative journey? I believe that when we allow ourselves to be present and we align ourselves with the flow of life, be it the universe or cosmos or unity consciousness, when we give ourselves over to the exquisiteness of life that we are an open channel to let creativity run through us and it's a magnificent experience. There's ways to prepare for that, like meditation, to fire up the neurones. I encourage people to meditate, allow yourself to contemplate, take a mindful walk connecting to nature, align with the natural order of the universe.
• Each one of us is a beautiful, exquisite? unique spirit unlike anyone else's. 
• Is there an online tool, app or resource that you use or recommend? Inside, Calm, Headspace. These are all great apps to bring us into the present moment. As far as creativity goes, as James Campbell says, "Follow your bliss." Nurture your creativity. Take that walk. Put on some of your favourite music. Read a passage in a book that inspires you. A piece of poetry to become more consciously aware.
• Recommend one record? I listen to so many things from Classical to World music to Gregorian Chants! There's great meditation music out there on Pandora, Sonos, iTunes. A menu of choices! 
• "Wise Mind, Open Mind" book, "Beginners Mind" so many books! We are blessed to have an abundance of riches in these areas that can really feed our souls today. There's no excuse to not help ourselves with the traps of the mind. You are the master and creator of your internal dialogue which creates your reality.
• If you had to start from scratch how would you restart? I believe everyday is a new beginning. A new chapter. Be intention setting. Present moment awareness intention setting. There is no need to worry about the past that has been and gone or be anxious for the future that isn't here yet. Ask yourself your intention for the day to start again. 

Reflection on this podcast:

I found this podcast really difficult to get into at first but wanted to stick with it in case there were any nuggets of information or wisdom that would be useful for my project, my practice or my own personal journey outside of university. Ora talks a lot and reframes her thoughts multiple times so note taking became arduous!

Things started to get interesting around learning more about the different types of meditation, which I'd never considered before, and why it's important to be authentic but on the whole, I want to keep this project about art therapy. 

"Creativity can come out of the dark night of the soul" really resonated with me and this part of the podcast had me most interested.

I think I have some interesting quotes, I got used to Ora's personality and way of speaking and found the latter half very inspiring, especially setting intentions for ourselves, but on the whole this wasn't too helpful in my research.

[LAUIL601] Primary Research: Questions for Inkwell Arts

Reflection: Unfortunately Inkwell were much harder to get in touch with than I originally thought they would be, possibly due to limited communication with the Coronavirus pandemic through emails. I gave it quite a long time and touched base with them a few times but don't think I will pursue this further. I wanted to document this line of enquiry anyway.

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Podcast - SuperCreativity Podcast with James Taylor: CL254 - Mindfulness For Creativity and Writers Block. Interview with Diane Gehart

SuperCreativity Podcast with James Taylor: CL254: Mindfulness For Creativity and Writers Block - Interview with Diane Gehart 

• Dr Diane R. Gehart. rofessor of Marriage and Family Therapy at California State University, Northridge. Therapist, author, speaker. Practicing psychotherapist. 
• Mindfulness comes from Buddhist practices. In the past 30 years we've come a long way in separating the religious practices from the core practice of mindfulness and seeing the phenomenal results and benefits. 
• Mindfulness is an antidote to an overstressed and overstimulated culture that we have created. A lot of it is coming from technology, we are always connected and there is always an ongoing dialogue. There is more information than ever coming at us and available to us. It has an addictive quality and it's hard to turn off. It's hard to disconnect. There is a strange quality to it where it's hard to unplug.
• Our nervous systems are not built for the type of technology that we have. It's constant stimulation that we are not designed to have. We are meant to be in nature most of the time. 
• Mindfulness is the antidote because it helps us to focus on one thing in The present moment where you quiet the mind and it naturally triggers the relaxation response.
• The relaxation response is a physiological response that is the opposite of the stress response. We have had to adapt to the level of stimuli each day in the present times so have had to put practices such as mindfulness into daily routine intentionally otherwise the stream of stress is unstoppable.
• Generational thing. Millennials are attracted to it because of the scientific results and difference it makes to people's lives. For the first time in my career of 3 decades there are brain images of the work I'm doing. Fully separated from the religious roots. Mental health intervention that is compelling. 
• Mindfulness, in its simplest form, is intentionally focusing your mind on something on the present moment. It can be focusing on your breath - the most classic form, it can be focusing on water and suds when doing the dishes, it could be what your drawing, or it could be what you're eating. You're quietening the inner chatter in the mind. You never totally silence that inner-chatter, the only times that would happen is if you're in a coma or if you're dead. It ebbs and it flows and that's the process. 
• For creative types, it creates a space to perhaps step back and look at something from a different perspective, the beginning of new ideas emerging. The inner critic is the most poisonous thing to our creative self, which kills our creativity, so the process of mindfulness and quietening the mind and pauses in your thinking, allows space for new ideas
• By putting pauses in our automated thinking and our ruts, it is very fertile for the creative process to come through. Similarly in Tibetan Buddhism they tell you to pause several times a day.
• Writer's block. The critical voice comes in and you get more hopeless and helpless. Speed writing from the right part of the brain, the creative part of the brain. 
• 5 minute speed writing getting everything out and using the creative part of your brain. Keep typing anything even if you can't think of anything to say. It keeps the channel open. Some days will be better than others. Don't give up because there's a few bad days or a few bad weeks, keep the rhythm flowing.
• The mindfulness really builds this acceptance that you can bring to the creative process. Move with it rather than fight it. Streaming, not attaching, don't edit. Just get those ideas out onto the page
• Key lessons or lightbulb moments when writing my own work? Buddhist psychology "The Friending Problems" where in the west we fight, battle and the Buddhists question whether to fight. Befriend the problem, become curious about it. Curious rather than combative stance to the struggles in our life. Shifting that perspective, slowly taking root in the mental health world, example cognitive therapy. Accepting that problems are in our lives. Mental health doesn't mean we'll never have problems ever again. Befriending our problems, learning how to move gracefully with them. 
• Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat Pray Love talked of her imposter syndrome and her negative self talking and would mentally turn to this voice and acknowledge it and thank it for joining her. 
• If you shift your relationship to something, new possibilities open up that you never imagined before
• Online app or tool or resource that you find useful as a psychotherapist, writer, researcher? I use my insight timer. It's a meditation timer where you can choose different gongs bit i use it to writer and do my five minute writing with it. I use it with my students. There's something about that peaceful sound that reminds me to take a breath and a pause. 
• Music keeps me buoyant and affects my mood and it's important for me to notice if it lifts me up and the sort of message it's sending out. To be critical and thoughtful is it lifting you up or creating more stress and worry in your life? Jason Mraz encompasses that for me
• How would I restart things? I love to run in the morning and then write. My best ideas come when running on a trail. That process of running and writing. Write from the right side of the brain to keep my writing fun and alive and to write the big chunks. The smaller pieces can be filled in later. Be in a good state of mind do that the writing flows for me.
• When running my pace would pick up too!
• dianegehart
• mindfulnessforchocolatelovers.com

Reflection of this podcast:

I came into this podcast with hopes of having help and inspiration with my writing and, while I obtained that, it also built into the foundation of research I already have. Nuggets of information can still crop up when you least expect it!

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Podcast - The Trauma Therapist: Episode 261: Art Therapy & Trauma - Focused Treatment. Emma Cameron

Guy McPherson PhD introducing guest Emma Cameron. UK registered CP arts psychotherapist. She works in private practice and online with sensitive and thoughtful women who are struggling with trauma.

• Show us a quote to understand the value and mysteries of life and that we don't need to understand everything. We don't need to put words or answers to everything. There's always a dance between knowing and not knowing. It's so tempting to get drawn to whatever the next answer seems to be which is great because I'm always seeking and learning and getting excited and then I remembered that I need to find ways to integrate the new learning. Alongside that there is The dance of the artist Who loves the excitement of not knowing. The way Emma approaches paintings is with chaos and gradually finding a path to follow that she trusts are painting will emerge. Clinically in the therapy room it's so important to tread lightly and allow space to be surprised by the extraordinary processes of growth and healing. Be ready to recognise when we get it wrong and when we don't know. 
• I think if your train is an art psychotherapist One of the main things that is transmitted to you is that you don't know. We don't impose our interpretation onto somebody's artwork or dream or whatever it might be. We actively hold onto not knowing. It's in the training
• How did I get to do this work? I was born into a trauma world in a sense. Both parents had experienced trauma early on in their lives. They didn't process their trauma when they had me and it was transmitted to me on an unconscious level. My brother couldn't deal with our family traumas , with devastating consequences for him in the end, resulting in another family trauma. It is written that our own family trauma draws us to the profession, too. The loss of my brother strengthened my want to become a therapist and help others. 
• I went to art college, painter for many years, teacher in higher education, still do teach some life drawing. It wasn't until in 40s until trained to be art therapist
• I felt led and the time felt right. In my 20s I'd had therapy for a few years and was always interested in psychotherapy. Wasn't ready to train back then but was in back of mind. 
• Was there always a specific interest in trauma?  I don't think so but trauma is everywhere when you're therapist. You have to learn ways of working with it. 
• What is it about art therapy and what do you think people don't realise about art therapy? You don't have to be good at art and even if you only ever draw a stick figures you can still get a months benefit from using the arts and therapy. I think people tend to worry that they have to be good and that they'll be judged on their art skills when it isn't about that at all. Often times there won't be any arts used at all. Sometimes it will be sitting and talking and listening and there won't be any materials used. Other times there will be. Because I've had a very broad training at the college I went to in London, i've been encouraged to use more than just visual arts so I use things like puppets, poetry, Sand tray, and of the things and that broadened the way that I worked. 
• How do you work? Do you have a case study to share? So the client may come in and I will think "is there a way that I can deepen this using an art form? " i'll suggest it to the client and see how they feel about that and they may take it up, they may not. I really try and tune into what they feel comfortable with but at the same time it's really important to try and do some challenging as well because just because someone has never used puppets before doesn't mean that they can't get enormous benefits out of using them for the first time. I try to show that I'm not too attached to which artform is chosen and that it's very relaxed and that we will try which ever out. If you trust the art materials they will always go somewhere powerful. It can be used either in the session or it can be noted and we can come back to it at a later point.
• Sometimes someone will want to talk while they are working, sometimes they will see the process of making as something to do with their hands so that they are no longer anxious. Other times they will just want to work quietly and we will take a look at the piece later in the session. Occasionally someone want to work in silence for the entire session and very little will be said and of your strong feeling of the client being held and the therapist being active in the room rather than being passive. And listening in the kind of receptive way. 
• To be more genuine and authentic over the years rather than trying to pretend to be something I'm not. At the beginning I will try to dress differently and hide my name and hide my identity which was strange because I had exhibited my work and was well known in the art scene around my area. I found that by being more genuine the work was more receptive. It was a combination of trying to look smart and like the doctors but also trying to shift away from my role as an artist. 
• The number one thing I would recommend to all therapists is having your own personal therapy whether that is going back into therapy for a little while know what that's ongoing deepening your own personal therapy. Self-care is very important. I wrote an article online called "the crucial thing every therapist should know" talking about my personal therapy for therapists is so important. One of the important takeaways from that article is to distinguish what is your "stuff" and what is your client's "stuff" so that you have much more clarity about who's issue is who's. I'm not the takeaway is that we need to be in a position where we can give to our clients without feeling caught up in being envious about them receiving our care and attention. If there's any sort of unconscious envy, we need to let that go because the client deserves us to do our own work on ourselves and to have received enough care in our own therapies. 
• Self-care feels like such a throwaway concept because really how many of us are practising it? But it is so deeply important that we do take care of ourselves before we can bring someone else into our care. Doing the Rhône therapy is important as well because we can experience what it's like to be the client and understand all of the different angles. We don't always realise this but to be a therapy client takes enormous courage and to come face-to-face with your own vulnerabilities , Your dependencies, Your neediness your fury - Allsorts of things and I think once you've experienced these within yourself you'll be far better able to empathise with your clients. 
• Books I'd recommend "breakthrough moments in arts-based psychotherapy". The author trained where I did before me, so has a broad therapy approach like I do, and is a gesalt therapist as well. It has lots of case studies and examples of what happens when you introduce the arts to psychotherapy. Ailene Webber
• My all time favourite that I recommend to people all the time is "detachment in psychotherapy" by David Wallin. 
• My website is emmacameron.com and I can be emailed or contacted on the contacted form. I'm also planning a podcast called the creative therapist podcast addressing all things creativity and psychotherapy and where they intersect.

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: - Podcast- CAMHSTalk Episode 3 - Let's Discuss Art Therapy

This is a podcast made by service users and professionals in East London of the NHS foundation trust. A podcast debating, discussing and challenging child and adolescent mental health in the UK. 

This episode features two service users and an art therapist discussing their experiences and the benefits of art therapy. 

• Art therapist at CAMHS in Dunstable working with many different young people for different reasons. Main approach is to support them to develop or come to a better understanding of what's going on for them and the way I do that is by inviting them to use a range of art materials.
• A typical session invites a young person to The room and get to know them. May already know a little bit of information through an assessment. Have a talk about what the problems are And the things they might like to work on our achieve together. I would then open up the room and show them the different art materials and I'm led by them and they are able to make anything they want to using any of the materials and I'm there to help and support with that. Together we will look at the artwork and talk about what's going on and what the outcome might mean for them. I'm really led by the young people. I think that's quite common myth in art therapy that a therapist may ask you to draw feeling sad but actually that's not always helpful. It's helpful to allow the creative process to happen and to see what comes out.
• One of the service uses reminisces using art therapy and agrees that she wasn't told what to do. It was there as a means to motivate her. Used printed pictures of her and her friends, places she wanted to go, things she wanted to do and those materials were brought to her house focusing on creating something with that. This would allow discussion and questions to open up and it wasn't seen by her as a "harsh therapy." Would motivate and remind the service user of why they needed to get better. 
• Art therapist agrees that something important is being said because in mental health sometimes negative things are focused on but it's really important to think of the uplifting things. And making images, poems, songs about our future and things to look forward to. Art can really help foster that creativity and enjoyment. Sometimes we forget to play and plates actually a really important part of our development. Play, having fun, and having a shared experience with somebody. 
• Another service user thinks that having art is a great way to have a distraction. They make lots of quotes to stick on the wall to keep them safe by doing something and at the end of the session they have something to look at and show that they've created something. They have achieved this. When they were in crisis was mentioned to find the little things that bring pleasure, don't try to achieve happiness because snapping yourself out of this is not possible at this time. People to look back and say "when I made that I was happy "
• Art therapist agrees with the importance of taking a piece of art home
• Service user initially didn't know where to put the piece of work but then realised to put it on the mirror as their problems were eating specific, The artwork was the reminder of why they need to get better. It was such a helpful tool because every time they looked in the mirror to criticise themselves there was then a distraction - A positive distraction.
• Art therapist says that you do not have to be creative to enter art therapy sessions. That's another myth of art therapy. People really benefit when they don't have an interest in art and it can be really beneficial because those defences are down. You don't need to worry about making a good or a bad picture. It's about being expressive and creative in the moment.  No prior experience is needed and our therapist is there to help show how to use the clay or the inks. Going back to taking things home in art therapy is really important because it can remind you of the positives. But then the artwork may contain things that you may want to leave behind so it's my job to look after that for the young people. I contain that and hold that until they are ready to take that home with them. The art acts as a really helpful container to all of the worries.
• Of the service user didn't do art therapy specifically but as part of crisis they were encouraged to do it and still has one picture on the wall from when they were really poorly. Although the time was not good for them, they were in such a bad place that they could not talk on move, her mother sat on her bed and made it with her so it holds that special memory to show that there are people around them who care.
• Art therapist job is there for people who may not have that option with somebody else and they can help to encourage that journey instead of a loved one. Throughout time in therapy together they then create this big portfolio of artwork which can be reflected on. Words can be too difficult sometimes, everybody experiences this in therapy, to describe what's going on and it isn't about describing a picture to show exactly how you feel it can be about making a mess or chaos.
• Service user reminisces making a diagram with pen of a town with the psychiatrist to discuss what was happening to them. Every time they struggled they were encouraged to look at the diagram of the town and visualise it.
• Creativity was our first form of communication right back at caveman times, before we were even talking we were making pictures on walls. It predates all of our verbal ways of communicating. 
• Service user agrees that when they couldn't even talk to anyone, and there aren't enough words in the world to describe how are you feeling, it is best to draw something instead. So as you get older you get into this frame of mind that you have to be really good at something for it to be your hobby but even if it makes you feel slightly better then you should pursue it.
• Art therapist agrees that this is where you need to feel really safe and trusted with your therapist. Sometimes you have to make things that feel uncomfortable or that may not look aesthetically pleasing but the trust in the safety that you have with your therapist to go to those places is important. There is no pressure to know exactly what's going on. Weeks and months later you can look back on the arts and realise what was happening. When you step out of it and reflect that's a really powerful part of your journey. 
• This particular art therapist works from children ageing from 0 to 18 but at therapy can used for people with ages ranging up until their retirement. Art therapy covers a spectrum of being able to work with everybody. It's a really accessible therapy that can be used across the ages. No age prejudice or bias so everyone can engage. 
• Within CAMHS Setting we use it to support people with mental health problems but there is art therapists all across the spectrum. There are art therapists for dementia care, palliative care, Learning disabilities so it's a really accessible type of therapy for lots of different people. 

Some reflections and observations by listening to this podcast: I became my own art therapist without really realising it as it was really what I needed in some really traumatic moments. I hadn't tell me for around two weeks at that point and it really started to show signs of struggling and signs of being alone how do I cope with this? I've never been alone like this before. Even though it took an extreme event I did begin to start working without prejudice on my outputs and without consciously making a final product. I have no prior skills anymore because of my retinal detachment and was free to do whatever I wanted. Even though I didn't have expertise in the materials I was using as I was using watercolours and acrylic and oil Pastore for the first time since going blind, and didn't have a professional to guide me, I was essentially leading my own art therapy sessions to make sense of how I was thinking and feeling. It's interesting to hear the dynamic between service users and art therapist and why they do certain things and how impactful that has been on their recovery. This will be very important to my research and my dissertation, even to my future practice. I enjoyed the mention of how accessible at therapy can be no matter the age or the ability of somebody it's all inclusive and nonjudgemental. While I'm still in one of the worst times in my life recovering from various traumas, I need that no pressure approach and gentle encouragement to create work on my own terms and for my own mental health benefits and growth. Creating work for any other reason during this time, as someone who is retinas have detached and someone in a class of sighted peers, it is not enjoyable to me and provides so much pressure and comparison holding myself to an impossible standard that I cannot achieve. Creating work through an abstract expressionist and art therapy lens and there was me the freedom to play and have fun and explore my emotions no matter my mood. This can have very exciting results.

[LAUIL601] Practical Response to Research: Alexithymia

https://thepsychologygroup.com/alexithymia/ [Accessed: 10 April 2021]

• In 1972, Peter Sifneos introduced to psychiatry the term alexithymia, which (derived from the Greek) literally means having no words for emotions (a=lack, lexis=word, thymos=emotions). Alexithymia is not a diagnosis, but a construct useful for characterising patients who seem not to understand the feelings they obviously experience, patients who seem to lack the words to describe these feelings to others. Identifying this deficit in expressivity is important because doing so gives the clinician a leg up in making a diagnosis and charting a therapeutic course.

• Alternatively, emotional trauma later in life may compromise the connection between what is felt and what can be grasped about this feeling and can be put into words, particularly if that link were tenuous to begin with.

• Alexithymia is when an individual has difficulty identifying, describing, and expressing emotions. This term was coined by Peter Sifneos in 1972 and it comes from the roots of Greek words that literally means "lack of words for emotion."

• Poor emotional awareness 

• Difficulty expressing feelings

• Difficulty understanding how others feel through empathy

• Alexathymia is different from apathy

 • Alexathymia and PTSD: Trauma is one of the most important risk factors for developing the trait. Trauma may impact the individual's capacity to identify, understand, and express their feelings. 

• Experiencing traumatic events in general can contribute to individual's using strategies such as avoidance and numbness of feelings as means to bypass uncomfortable experiences which could become a risk factor for alexythmia and PTSD. 

• Some studies suggest that alexythmia is higher within people diagnosed with PTSD. A study performed within 22 Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD found that 41% had alexyithmia. (Rodriguez, G.S))

• Alexithymia was a term mentioned in the Eating Disorder video from the AATA "Art Therapy in Action" website and I'm quite taken with the name, so much so that I"m thinking of naming my project and my dissertation after it.

I, too, struggle with finding the words to describe my feelings and often experience that disconnect with finding my words that other trauma sufferers do. I really struggle to reach out to people whether that be friends, tutors or student support. I go especially quiet and cut myself off from the world - both personal and academic - because of the trauma that I have suffered as I find it difficult to be around people in a space but struggle to explain how I feel.

I don't mean to do this and I feel like it's my fault - when it isn't. What happened to me in terms of experience with trauma isn't my fault and neither are my ways of coping. After listening to the videos and hearing the explanation and definition of Alexithymia I feel so much more validated. I'd like to create a piece of artwork around this word as this feels like a transformative moment in my project already and on my own personal journey.

• I wanted to create practical responses to the definition of Alexithymia and my own personal experiences of being overwhelmed with feelings and emotions. Using loud, neon oil pastels and building up the textures of both dry and creamy layers, scratching away with my fingers to create discord, I have created an abstract world of what it feels to be inside my mind; busy, overbearing, disconnected to my quiet exterior. A strange jungle of the mind that I hide in to avoid reality and facing my trauma and having to put it into words, into terms, into a timeline.

Reflection

Happy with the piece and where the project is headed so far in terms of art therapy and trauma. This was an interesting discovery to make on my own personal journey too. I do feel quite limited in what I'm able to make at the moment though and do hope that as time goes on o can start to explore more with mediums and canvases. I feel like I'm in a state of comfortability with the tools I'm using which comes from a place of being scared to branch out at this time but also self-isolating and not having many tools at my disposal. 

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Art Therapy.org - Art Therapy Action

 Art Therapy Action

After listening to the Art Therapy Decoded podcast with Dr Amy Backos, and finding out about the American Art Therapy Association (AATA), I have taken a look at the website and there seems to be a section called Art Therapy in Action where there are videos detailing a variety of therapies for different needs. These can be anything from the needs of adolescents, to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), eating disorders, culture and community needs, medical needs, LGBTQIA community needs, memory care, to PTSD.

ART THERAPY IN ACTION

Exploring the unique power of art therapy to help people improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change."

I decided to listen to the videos that apply to me and take some notes:

Eating Disorders

"If you have a need or want and you\"re not able to meet that need or want, overtime your body will express it for you. "

Michelle L. Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, CGP speaks with art therapist Juliet King about the transformative potential of art therapy for those with eating disorders, and the role of the therapist in supporting their recovery.

When it comes to eating disorders, why do you think that arts therapies such a good match?

"I'm glad you asked! When I first started working with people with eating disorders it was at a general psychiatric unit. The people who came who also had eating disorders, they weren't there with eating disorder as their main primary diagnosis, responded so Powerfully using art image and the symbolisation to discuss and engage in what was happening for them partly because they lacked the words to express what was happening to them symbolically. It wasn't because they weren't educated or articulate, it was because there was a disconnect between how they felt and what they were able to actually say. The people I work with can often times express themselves eloquently on a range of subjects but when I ask them to explain how they feel there was often a disconnect. This is often referred to as Alexithymia meaning having no words for feelings and it comes in various degrees. You see it a lot of times if there\"s been trauma or other types of ruptures earlier on in their life and eating disorders on a symbolic disorder meaning that people who develop eating disorders typically it is an expression or a voice when a regular voice cannot express what is going on it isn\"t just a matter of being stressed or experiencing a single trauma but a constellation of multiple factors that has come together at a particular time in someone\"s life that needs to be expressed at that moment and so it emerges as disordered eating. There is a whole continuum of disordered eating from not eating to overeating and a lot of behaviours in between. There is also eating disorders that may not meet clinical diagnoses criterion but can still be pretty debilitating to someone\"s life and so those can be addressed through our psychotherapy interventions.

Can you speak a little bit to how you have emerged throughout the process of becoming and practising as an art therapist?

"I think we are all emerging all the time it\"s all about becoming conscious. I tell my students that it\"s really important for them to not only be active artists but also engage in their own therapy process because I think it\"s very difficult for someone to take another on a therapy journey if they themselves do not know what that journey looks like. I always encourage my students, new professionals, supervisees and even fellow clinicians to take that journey themselves. Physician heal thyself. Healing doesn't happen in a vacuum. A lot of the clients that I have with eating disorders that I have come in I told them if they can heal themselves they would have. People don\"t come in for treatment and unless they have been struggling for at least two years and so getting help to have that journey, that supports, to heal that relationship, is part of that process. Often times we feel wounded or injured by those we are closest to and likewise healing or transformative experiences are a big job of the therapist to have that space to help nurture that healing process. "

Reflection: I wasn't expecting too much from a five minute video but I did feel this lady was rambling a little bit and I would have liked a little bit more insights into the process of what our therapy looks like for someone with an eating disorder. What kind of techniques are used what kind of exercises perhaps a very quick case study of someone who has found peace with what they have been through. There wasn't really any closure in this video. There was still some interesting soundbites and quotes. 

Medical

"I saw immediately the emotions The psychological states of people who were about to undergo surgery, or post surgery, or had strokes, or lost limbs, or had cancer and frightening diagnoses."

Irene Rosner David, PhD, ATR-BC, LCAT, HLM discusses the evolution of art therapy in medicine and working with people in hospital settings.

"My ideas were how do I develop this merge this substantiate this in medicine with medical issues? Even though I was now in the course of being formally trained none of that included medical art therapy so early on I longed for the field to evolve in that sub specialty and I felt like the odd man out. But I Felt so certain that this was the right thing.

"You've been on the vanguard and at the forefront of the country undergoing a lot of issues and changes. When people were writing about HIV with art therapy, it was you."

"First thing you have to realise that I work in a hospital that is the trauma Centre of the city. We have had, for well over a decade now, A unit set up on our pulmonary floor that is an isolation and quarantine unit. In that unit we've had a very long-standing and very successful art therapy program. The goals are all of the basic expressive yourself, you\"re in isolation, but also it brings the humanity into restricted quarters. Patients, while infectious, have to be in a private room. So it brought us their world they would bring in - photos of landscapes, realism, and always have to think about and deal with our own feelings of wearing Personal Protective Equipment or PPE as it\"s called in the medical world (Kim\"s note: how apt is this during these during times in the pandemic???) We had our mouths covered with, not just a simple mask but, a specially fitted covering. So we must take care of ourselves in terms of not only our physical but also our emotional well-being. But it enters the therapeutic relationship, right? So we have to think about what we look like to patients, we have to compensify or make moditory efforts because patients can\"t see our facial expression. I lean forward more, there are various things we do to modify that. And we have the art and people become more compliant to treatment because of a positive experience and feeling better about themselves feeling motivated."

Reflection: This video started out quite promising which is why I played it. I have experience with/through my mum, I have experience with having many surgeries from having my retinas detach recently and having many emergency surgeries which gave me severe PTSD. This video got quite heavy though and mirrored modern times especially with isolating and PPE. The lady was well spoken and I\"d like to find out more about art therapy and medical but this video wasn't a very good introduction.

Trauma

"We all recognise the circumstances of the world we are living in and people are experiencing all kinds of traumas but one thing that has kept me going no matter how challenging these cases are is the response to using art therapy."

Cheryl Doby-Copeland, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMFT and Gretchen Miller, ATR-BC, ACTP discuss how art therapy can help individuals or families who have experienced trauma express what they’ve been through safely, and tell their stories without needing to talk.

What is inspiring for you? What comes to mind as a case I currently have with a young girl, who is now five but at the age of three, a stray bullet shot her in the leg. Her response to that trauma was to stop talking to anyone but immediate family. She didn\"t come to me until two years later that I was able to use art therapy and evaluation, with the family too, engaging the families that they could understand how I could use art therapy, to address her concerns, to develop the treatment plan, and so on. I went to her school and met with her teachers to see how they were interacting with her and because of her age and her interest in drawing, despite the fact that she did not talk to me in the beginning, she responded to our making. I met her where she was and allowed her to draw whatever she wanted to do. She eventually at the beginning of the school year transformed into the typical youngster. She now talks to her teacher, goes back to her previous teacher, and all I did was allow her The space to tell her story along with the family. I used the family. I am out of the family step-by-step to engage in a series of drawings to tell their story. Telling without talking. 

Gretchen Miller MA, ATR-BC, ACTP "The "telling without talking part" is very significant and totally sticks out in my mind. Safety and establishing that safe place through the art and so it\"s containing that is so important with youth and women and survivors of domestic violence. Talking without telling, the art can serve as a visible voice for being able to express feelings and experiences especially in situations where you may have been threatened not to talk and not to use the words so you can use the arts in a less threatening way. Tapping into parts of the brain, the cognitive part, that may be hard to use words. The art, the sensory base really helps brings that out. 

Cheryl: "another piece I would add is that we are using the arts to meet people where they are so they feel their particular lens is reflected and respected. So no matter what their cultural, racial, ethnic background is they can see that art can be a vehicle to explore whatever the presenting concerns are. "

Gretchen: "Again helping to restore and reestablish safety and restoring hope as well. I'm really try to come from a strength-based approach with the trauma stuff with the clients I work with and to view the trauma as an experience that has happened to you, not necessarily something that is wrong with you. And managing that. The art interventions and materials sessions with clients help with coping and to help build resiliency relating to managing what\"s happened. I think we can rest assured there will always be a need for art, the need to use art and the art making process as a way to stay connected with one another and to communicate."

Reflection: I feel really empowered after listening to this video. The two ladies really knew what they were talking about in regards to trauma and managing trauma and using a case study as well really helped bring home how impactful at therapy can be to somebody. I'm much preferred this video to the eating disorder one and trauma is probably an avenue I will explore further for this project. Eating disorders is a huge part of my trauma but I didn't really get too much from that video and I don't want to make it to specific to my eating disorder. I would rather focus it around trauma in general. This video was really helpful and insightful.

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: American Art Therapy Association

American Art Therapy Association

https://arttherapy.org/

• Art Therapy is worldwide so it would make sense to look at how it is practiced acrossed the world, rather than just in Britain and the UK

• There is an American Art Therapy Association. Here are some notes from the website.

• Who we are: "The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, professional, and educational organization dedicated to the growth and development of the art therapy profession. Founded in 1969, the American Art Therapy Association is one of the world’s leading art therapy membership organizations. The mission of the American Art Therapy Association is to advocate for expansion of access to professional art therapists and lead the nation in the advancement of art therapy as a regulated mental health and human services profession.The services of licensed, culturally proficient art therapists are available to all individuals, families, and communities. Adopted August 2016.

• Definition of Art Therapy: Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

• The American Art Therapy Association represents individuals and institutions who are dedicated to the art therapy profession and who have an interest in promoting its growth throughout the United States. Membership is comprised of, though not limited to: professional art therapists, students, educational institutions, and related mental health professionals. Members of the American Art Therapy Association have continuous access to a wide array of benefits. 

• Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association is the most prestigious publication in the field and showcases leading research, practice-based articles, and more; it is fully accessible to you as a member. 

• Art therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

 • THE PROFESSION Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives

of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied

psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.

Art Therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports personal and relational

treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art Therapy is used to improve cognitive and

sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience,

promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance

societal and ecological change.

• WHO ARE ART THERAPISTS: Art therapists are master-level clinicians who work with people of all ages across a broad

spectrum of practice. Guided by ethical standards and scope of practice, their education and

supervised training prepares them for culturally proficient work with diverse populations in a

variety of settings. Honoring individuals’ values and beliefs, art therapists work with people who

are challenged with medical and mental health problems, as well as individuals seeking

emotional, creative, and spiritual growth.

Through integrative methods, art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are

distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic

opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can

circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience,

and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation.

• WHERE ART THERAPISTS WORK: Art therapists work with individuals, couples, families, and groups in diverse settings. Some examples include:

Hospitals

Schools

Veteran’s clinics

Private practice

Psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities

Community clinics

Crisis centers

Forensic institutions

Senior communities

• HOW ART THERAPY WORKS: Through integrative methods, art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone. Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic opportunities invite alternative modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the limitations of language. Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience and empowers individual, communal, and societal transformation.

• INACCURATE USE OF TERM ‘ART THERAPY’ Inaccurate use of “art therapy” often occurs due to a lack of knowledge about the profession. Such instances provide an opportunity to offer accurate information and educate the public. It is with this in mind that the AATA encourages outreach to individuals and/or companies that may be found to inaccurately categorize activities (such as trainings that are offered by non-art therapists) or products (such as adult coloring books) as “art therapy.”

Additional inquiries can be directed to the AATA at info@arttherapy.org.EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES

IN ADVERTISING

On occasion, non-art therapist practitioners might be found to advertise their services as “art therapy.” This is an inaccurate use of the term, as art therapy can only be practiced by an individual who possesses the required training, certification, and/or state licensure. Bona fide art therapy is beyond the scope of practice of non-art therapists.

IN WORKSHOPS

Another context in which art therapy may be inaccurately categorized includes professional trainings that furnish a certificate upon completion, which may mislead the participant to believe that he or she can practice art therapy. These sorts of trainings, workshops, and the like, give attendees the erroneous impression that art therapy is a modality rather than a profession.

To prevent this problem, facilitators are advised to adhere to the AATA’s Ethical Principles: “When providing training and/or supervision to non-art therapists, art therapists take precautions to ensure that trainees understand the nature, objectives, expectations, limitations, and resulting qualifications of the supervision and/or training as distinct from formal studies in art therapy” (8.6). As such, a disclaimer should be used to alert attendees accordingly. EXAMPLE PRODUCTS

Several products on the market may inaccurately identify the term “art therapy.” Two such examples include art therapy apps and art therapy coloring books.

While the AATA does not discourage the use of coloring books for recreation and self-care, coloring activities must be distinguished from art therapy services provided by a credentialed art therapist. 

• Education and Practice: Becoming an art therapist - There is a section on the website about becoming an art therapist, similar to the British version, except this seems to go into a LOT more detail with a multi-layer FAQ, a link to applying to Ursuline College for a Master of Arts in Counselling and Art Therapy (a bespoke course of its kind). Educational standards, scholarships, credentials, honours and awards, research awards can also be found in this section.

• Annual conferences: They have annual conferences (in it's 52nd year) held at swanky hotels and resorts to book. This year's will be in San Diego at the end of October. 

• Blog: https://arttherapy.org/blog/ covering a variety of subject matter and media including looking at the impact of the pandemic on the art therapy profession, examining justice, racism and violence, member demographics, etc. 

• Membership: As with BAAT, AAT offers membership with ''important research, tools, and connections you need to succeed in the field, including the prestigious Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.' Again there are different types, which they call "chapters" depending on your profession (student, professional, retired professional, associate, affiliate, international, etc.)

• Advocacy: state and national advocacy. Arts Advocacy Day, National Mental Health Awareness Month, Collaborations, National Creative Arts Therapies Week

• Resources: Art Therapy Today (newsletter with back issues), research (outcomes bibliography, journal, research awards, AATA Multicultural Committee resource list

Reflection: Personally, I feel the AATA is a lot more in-depth in terms of the information that is available to the public who aren't a member yet. I was able to collate quite a bit of information in regards to wha art therapy is and what it isn;'t to use for my written work, with a feeling of great confidence. There are many landing pages filled with information, FAQs and PDFs that I don't really have the time for but that I could explore in the future. This has been such a valuable resource!

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: The British Association of Art Therapists

 

BAAT - The British Association of Art Therapists

https://www.baat.org/

• About BAAT: "The British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) is a dynamic organisation and art therapy is a growing profession. In the UK, Adrian Hill and Edward Adamson helped to pioneer art therapy in the 1940s and 50s. Strongly anchored in visual art practice, the art therapy profession has since developed and evolved from a primarily psychoanalytic, psychodynamic model to include other approaches such as mentalization-based treatment, mindfulness, dyadic parent/child, cognitive analytic art therapy, etc."

• Can be contacted through info@baat.org or 020 7686 4216

• What they do: The British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) is the professional organisation for art therapists in the UK. It works to promote art therapy and provides professional support and advice to its members. The BAAT represents art therapy within national organisations and has a growing international profile.Full BAAT members are qualified art therapists, regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and HCPC registration is a statutory requirement in the UK for arts therapist. However, anyone interested in art therapy may join the BAAT as an associate member.

• They have a blog with various multimedia including videos, photos and posts of interest including posts asking for submissions to papers.

• Membership and a membership area. The BAAT welcomes qualified art therapists, art therapy trainees as well as individuals and organisations with an interest in art therapy. You have to submit an application via e-mail and there are different levels of memberships including full membership, trainee membership, and Associate and Corporate membership with PDFs to download for guidelines. 

• Can book online for professional art courses: "Introduction to the Profession of Art Therapy," "One Week Foundation in Art Therapy," "Introduction to the Profession of Art Therapy," "ARTiculate CPD training for Staff in Education." Running in September, October and November. Available to members of the British Association of Art Therapists though some events may be available to non-members. They seem to be full days and half day symposiums and all are online delivered through Zoom.

• What is art therapy? "Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of expression and communication. Within this context, art is not used as diagnostic tool but as a medium to address emotional issues which may be confusing and distressing.

Art therapists work with children, young people, adults and the elderly. Clients may have a wide range of difficulties, disabilities or diagnoses. These include emotional, behavioural or mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, neurological conditions and physical illnesses.

Art therapy is provided in groups or individually, depending on clients' needs. It is not a recreational activity or an art lesson, although the sessions can be enjoyable. Clients do not need to have any previous experience or expertise in art.

Although influenced by psychoanalysis, art therapists have been inspired by theories such as attachment-based psychotherapy and have developed a broad range of client-centred approaches such as psycho-educational, mindfulness and mentalization-based treatments, compassion-focussed and cognitive analytic therapies, and socially engaged practice. Exploring the links between neuro-science and art therapy has also been at the forefront of some of the BAAT's conferences. Importantly, art therapy practice has evolved to reflect the cultural and social diversity of the people who engage in it.

The BAAT runs regular one day art therapy introductory workshops and foundation courses (these are available either as a  weekly course for three months or as a one week intensive course). These courses are very popular and tend to book up early. 

View our Courses & Conferences to find out more and book online."

• What our clients say: "I had so much benefit... real lasting benefits that I' ve been able to carry on with on my own, like a new way of doing things and different methods of coping. I think I got more from it than I ever thought possible."

"I really feel that it has given me a lot more tools to deal with the things I need to deal with."

"It's had a profound impact.  I consider this to be the most successful thing that has happened in my mental health history. I have taken away what I did there and used it."

"I don't feel a prisoner of my depression any more. I can't tell you how much that means. I'd rather die than go through another dark time like the last one. But this has given me a new way of being shown a different way of coping with being me."

"There have been enormous changes in how I cope now. I don't think realistically I could have hoped for much more from it."

"I've had profound and lasting benefits from this work."

• Find an art therapist with search box for role (private practitioner, supervisor), search by (postcode, therapist details) client group, area and area of practice drop down menus.

• Courses and Conferences: BAAT provided accredited courses and diplomas. Accredited Diplomas: CYP & Supervision. Conference: Art Therapy Practice Research Network Symposium - Coproduction in Art Therapy Practice & Research (Friday 4th June 2021. E-Learning Courses and CPD Courses. 

• Information on career and training in art therapy: A career in art therapy offers an opportunity to be professionally connected with art. It also makes work meaningful: art therapy helps to make a positive difference in the life of many people who find verbal communication difficult. n order to practise legally as an art therapist/art psychotherapist (both titles are inter-changeable) in the UK, it is mandatory to complete a training validated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). PDFs are available in this section for more information.

Social media

• Faceook: https://www.facebook.com/thebaat

• Twitter: baat_org

• LinkedInk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebaat/

 Youtubwe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXOatMnzGOtHg9TJkUZaMHQ (sharing various videos and playlists including personal journeys and testimonies)

• https://www.instagram.com/baat_org/

[LAUIL601] Secondary Research: Podcast - Art Therapy Decoded Episode 1:1 with Dr Amy Backos

Instagram: @arttherapydecoded

Lindsay and Janet of Art Therapy Decoded. They both open and introduce the podcast by explaining that they are in the early stages of their art therapy practice  and wanted to create the podcast to strengthen connections with art therapy colleagues, build communities, share knowledge and bring art therapy into the digital age.

• First episode is with Dr Amy Backos (Instagram @DrAmyBackos) chair of the graduate art therapy psychology program at Notre Dame University. Professor, advisor and advocate for the field of art therapy. Writer, researcher, and 22 years of experience.
• What different roles have you had in relation to art therapy? Past and present. Chair of art and psychology department, creating a nurturing and inviting space for students. Part of that includes work with American Art Therapy Association (AATA). I sit on their research committee, guest editor of the journal, and those things inform my teaching as well. I teach the research classes here at Notre Dame and a variety of classes in the doctoral program as well. I also work at a substance abuse facility each Friday which nourishes my teaching. I\"m working on a book about art therapy and PTSD. I do a lot of things but still feel I wear the hat of Art Therapist. I do art therapy supervision who are recent grads and I started an Instagram page under my name (@dramybackos) to give information on art therapy and trauma in a simple, daily way.
• Deeply committed to not having a 9-5 role. Nourishing self in the morning, meditating, run, spend time with family to help start day that fuels and sets up for success. Things happen on my schedule.
• History of Becoming an Art Therapist: Went to summer school and doodled a lot. Tutor took notice and mentioned Art Therapy as a potential profession and a light went on in my head. Studied Studio Art and Psychology, Art Therapy program at Cleveland, moved to San Francisco for love, went back to school for Masters, waited for job opening at Notre Dame to teach Art Therapy which I knew was perfect for me.
• Intuitive process of believing this is what I want to do and then honing the right skills, learning the teaching skills, the psychology skills, the experience with working at trauma and crisis centres. 
• Both parents are teachers so it was probably natural to lean more towards a teaching role of some sort. 
• Dad taught chemistry and had a "bring your daughter to school day." Observed one of his students dropping lots of test tubes but instead of making the student pick it up and being angry - he offered to clean it instead. "You go on, that\"s my job." Questioned him later, dad stated that student had haemophilia and would cut himself and bleed (?) and it really stuck out to me how compassionate and graceful he was to that student. He was protective so he didn\"t embarrass student. That inspired me to teach. (Kim\"s note - this has stuck out to me and inspired me too that I had to make a note of it. That general care and empathy for someone else has a profound effect on all involved).
• Students inspire me and drive me in my work and my field. Inspired by new generation. "Not as a sage on the stage but as a guide on the side." Switch things up in the classroom based on who is in there. It\"s all a shared experience of learning and we are all responsible. Millennium generation profound shift in culture. Radical shift like with feminism, how women look at their work, get paid for their work, focusing on Mother Nature, protection. Cultural humility to the table. Great time to be an art therapist. Focusing on my own art keeps me motivated. 
• What do I look forward in your days as an art therapist? So much. Every night I do a gratitude session with my son about what I was grateful for in my day and in my sessions. Always on my list is "grateful for my job." Always thrive on constant change and shift and not repetition. I appreciate community of art therapists. Enjoy the exhibitions when students and faculty come together. Sharing what we do which is often private. Sharing homework giving an inside to students\" minds, which is so different to working with clients... seeing the art outcomes. So much about my job that I love. Important to be a voice for creating. "It\"s part of our biology and our need to express ourselves." Reminder of how important creativity really is.
• I have a mantra of "pay yourself first" (Kim\"s note - wow this is resonating very thoroughly with me regarding my own life and my own work!) Meditate. Don\"t let go of creative process or having outside time. Pay yourself first has really helped me to prioritise because we cannot give without nourishing ourselves. 
• The art is the side-dish of the art therapy and the psychology so it feels important to bring it in more. Fuelling of the creative first and tying those things together. That building block of why I find art therapy so amazing. 
• There are art therapists who have written about how we\"ve become externally motivated rather than internally motivated. Externally motivated by the license, the demands are of medical or the insurance company and that gets to be on the front burner instead of the creative process. If we are working with other clinicians, no one else is bringing in art and we have to sustain the creative space over and over again in the absence of anybody else and it\"s a hard job.
• I think doing this podcast is the perfect antidote to the feeling of being a solitary practitioner.
• Being on a clinical team as an art therapist can be a very lonely experience (Kim\"s note - something for me to consider in the future, I\"m used to copious amounts of loneliness in the first instance) 
• I\"m doing something for the greater good. There\"s something contagious about staying positive in my work that and be passed on to families or people in the grocery store. This is important stuff. Try to have an eagle-eye view of what I\"m doing. Conceptualise it to what I\"m learning and how it\"s consistent with my values it makes the challenging parts a lot better. What we\"re doing is impactful.
• It\"s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day but reframing it to look at the scope and the longer term. 
• I practice acceptance and commitment therapy so focusing on values and doing something every day in-line with my values but also looking back on my day and giving credit to " head vs heart" psychology.  Acts vs values. 
• How have you seen the potential of art therapy evolve over the years through clients? So many things have changed in 22 years. The journal was more case based when I started to see now some more studies and randomised controlled trials in art therapy out there now. So we\"re catching up to the field of psychology in being able to provide evidence hand evidence is what we need to get funding and get paid. Using language in western psychology we\"re on people\"s radars in a completely different way. Music therapy has done a very good job of that. My son was a participant of that and they played him prog music in an MRI. We have some powerhouse people doing this kind of work now. 
• I think another piece that\"s important to us is a shift towards cultural humility and social justice and bringing it to AATA (American Art Therapy Asdociation). Space and time for everyone politically. Pain and discomfort for everyone of what our history is and how wrote the history. Great things happening. 
• Chicago institute for Art Therapy, powerhouse voice that is lending space for discussion on issues that are new on the lips on everyone in this country. 
• So many pieces of our culture coming together to interact through the art therapy process. Lot of important work going on. Eagle eye view of intentions, actions and consequences. 
• Hopefully ultimately make art therapy more accessible to people. So important. Better for our clients. Whatever part of the conversation people want to jump in on, we all want to be better for our clients. 
• What are some of your hopes and dreams for your future in the field of art therapy? Delicious question! I\"m so excited for the direction of digital online art therapy and digital online spaces for people to engage in their creative process. The VA has done some work on virtual reality, digital be art therapy class, how to bring experience to clients. You can do so many things on a tablet. Traditional media vs digital media. We have to keep moving forward. Not necessarily "neglect" the traditional art media but we have to move forward with trends. Hopes are coming to a spot where cultural humility is truly valued, reading "art therapy and social justice" currently, also reading "mindful of race," we\"re really trying to bring it in at a systemic level and students are bringing it in at being present in the classroom so my hopes are really really around the cultural humility and digital experience and moving forward so that we are at the forefront of the creative process. And it\"s about time, too! 
• They\"re both such relevant topics and an ongoing conversation. We\"ve already been in the digital age for a while so it\"s amazing to see art therapy head there and the accessibility that comes with that. Offers so many more opportunities.
• Gretchen Miller\"s book "Social Media for Art Therapists" with done guidelines around ethics and so she\"s really leading the way with some beautiful online platforms. Powerhouse of the digital piece. 
• When I think of social media there is such a visual element to this generation right now that wasn\"t as present previously and presenting oneself as an artist is a lot more accessible. 
• I love Instagram so much! I have to be so cautious of not going into a loop of scrolling! So inspired by what people are scrolling. There are some really great pages from art therapists on that platform.
• What are some hopes and dreams for yourself? Projects do you have next? I\"m working on a few things and one of them is a PTSD and art therapy book. What happens to people when they have a trauma that disrupts everything. We all experience a kind of trauma but it\"s the ones that disrupt everything where I think art therapists can offer some amazing support an abstract feeling into bodily symbols and translate it into a trauma narrative (Kim\"s note: wow! I\"m incredibly interested in this as someone who has experienced various traumas over the past 3 years which has absolutely disrupted my life from all angles, including my higher education, even up until this present day and I am so interested in obtaining it somehow.) Help them to make sense of what happened to them and make meaning from it. I\"ve just started my Instagram page (@dramybackos) sharing tidbits from the book, ideas of what\"s helped my clients, and putting it out there in the space where people can get a little bit of inspiration. Perhaps they aren\"t comfortable or don\"t have access to a therapist so they can get some inspiration from the therapy pages on Instagram. 
• Do you have any advice you would give your younger self? I think there\"s no perfect time to do what you want to do. There\"s no optimal moment to go back to school or create a piece of art or write a book or integrate studio practice or live the life you want to live. Times going to roll on by anyway. There\"s never a right time. There\"s things we can do every single day to move us closer to the people that we want to be. Go ahead and do something today that your future self will thank you for. 
• Do you have anything that your students or new art therapists really need to know? Something that you maybe see them struggle with? I think embodying the role of healer comes often at great cost to ourselves. The archetype of the healer comes with the light and the dark side.  the healer is giving and selfless and takes care of others and does good in the world but the flip side is that the neglect of self or the exploitation of others. I don\"t think anyone intending to be an art therapist intends to exploit others but it may come attached to our role, to the expense of self care, that the ego becomes so gratified by the work that we pour everything into the work and don\"t stop to nourish and I see a lot of students do that. They stop exercising they stop doing their own art. Stop doing that is required for class, diet goes out the window. And just acknowledge the needs we have and what we get out of it. It\"s okay to have your wants and needs as a professional. We are really living in a culture that values work and completing tasks and just keep moving forward which can really contribute to that neglect of self. Over identifying with work is rewarded here. Perfectionism is rewarded but slowing down and making space for ourselves makes our work better. Integrate important information consolidate information. Neglecting good sleep and healthy eating is when our work really starts to suffer.
• Again take an eagle eye view. It is not a race. Sustain your own needs.

Reflection:

This podcast and episode was pretty hard to get through at first and I didn\"t know what it was going to entail but I wanted to stick with it for the beginnings of research. Despite being academics, the three American women sounded nervous and really similar in their suburban accents, which were actually rather grating, and I couldn\"t tell who was even talking. There wasn\"t too much of value to begin with in the small talk.

As it went on, I began to understand the intent behind the podcast - to speak with fellow Art Therapists and question them on their background and their jobs (initially going into this podcast I thought it was going to be about art therapy itself and the value of it as a practice, rather than speaking to art therapists - but this is an interesting perspective to consider in my research and has not been a waste of time.) I may listen to another episode but if it is more of the same, I will leave this podcast in search of another to explain art therapy in itself as a practice as that is what I\"m interested in uncovering at this stage in my research.

Having finished the episode, I now feel quite inspired by Dr Amy Backos as she mentioned trauma and art therapy as a being she was working on - a theme, a thread, which I feel is the backbone to my own practice. I am someone who has suffered greatly with trauma over the years from different circumstances and I have turned to art as a therapy. It\"s taken me a long time to find art again, on my own terms and without feeling pressure from university and deadlines to make work. It had to happen organically. Now that I have found it, it has become a strong interest of mine and I want to pursue this line of investigation. There\"s a number of resources linked in the podcast that I can take a look at too.