Central VA Art Therapy Association Start-up

Art therapists in Richmond, Virginia are finally getting together to make a state chapter for art therapy. Check out our website and blog.
The Central Virginia Art Therapy Association (CVATA)
CVATA Blog

Open Art Therapy Studio and Experimental Music Night

My center is hosting a creative expression night as part of the local Art Walk event. An effort to put ourselves out there, get people to experience art-as-therapy through the studio art therapy experience. We are also haveing experimental musicians playing as well, an all-over creative expression night. Art Therapists in residence: Carol Olson, Sarah Thacker, Sarah Larsen and musicians: Rollo Barrier (Kenny Yates myspace.com/harmstryker and Marty McCavitt of Birds in the Meadow) and Gutterwall (Richard of www.etchingtin.com) View event: Open Art Therapy Studio Event

What is Art Therapy

Everyone is always asking me, what is art therapy? I always give relatively the same answer. The use of art in the counseling process, the use of creation of art for healing, communication, self-fulfillment, connection with others, etc. The creation of art in itself is healing, fulfilling, life enhancing, comforting, uplifting, terrifying, exhausting, unsettling. All the things needed to process feelings, issues, events, relationships, paths taken and not taken. So perhaps art therapy is more than art and more than therapy but can also address life, be a way of life, be a way of communicating with life, others, self. I wonder if because art therapy is more than art and more than therapy, that is why so many people (other therapists and artists) want to do art therapy, practice art therapy and yet don't really understand it because it is more than either of their fields. Psychology deals with healing the mind, art deals with expressing the soul, so perhaps art therapy deals with healing the soul along with the mind. It is ineffable I guess.

Noise, Rock, Art Therapy and a Grand Opening

The grand opening of my art therapy space went great. A couple of noise guys came and played: Kenny Yates from Harmstryker and Marty McCavitt from Birds in the Meadow - playing as Rollo Barrier. Richard's band: IMG played next - they played awesome but unfortunately really loud so we can't have them again. But the noise band was a great blend with art therapy. To me, it's really congruent with the tenet of art therapy expression: raw, complicated, juxtaposing different things to jar the ear or excite the mind. Just like what the person creating raw art for therapy, self-expression, immediate communication, and/or story-telling does. I was amazed at who liked the noise band - people I didn't necessarily expect to like it and surprised at who didn't like it. Here I assumed my older friends (older than me I mean) would not care for the noise at all, would find the improvisation of it disconcerting but they were the ones who appreciated the juxtaposition of different sounds, the use of an unusual instruement, the blending of a classically trained musician with a modern, self-taught artist. And the people I thought would appreciate the similarites of the creation of noise with the creation of art in therapy didn't. A person who has made noise in the past, is a trained musician also didn't seem to care for it as much. It's always amazing who strains toward the usual, the generic, the comfortable because it doesn't make you think. I suppose they are the same people who watch a lot of TV and get lulled into the blandness of a safe, generic world. The same people who want to deny the complications inherent in each of us. People are never who you think they are. I posted on Kenny's blog a comment regarding his despairing of the difficulty in getting a noise voice heard in Richmond. I think it is fear of what noise is saying, that noise, experimental music, experimental art, raw expression frightens people because it brings up the possiblity of such intensity in all of us: the violence that can be brought out of anyone, the fears that can immobilize a person, the alienation we can all feel from each other, even from the ones we love the most. We have more and more violence being brought to us and yet we want to retreat into music and art that puts a bland and shiny finish on. People want to gravitate to what they think is popular because it gives them comfort and validates their own avoidance of deep feelings. Within the happy, shiny music, people can pretend all is well in the world, all is the same and therefore valid, can tell themselves that if everyone else likes it then I must be okay too. We are afraid of ourselves.

Basic Info

Here is some information on art therapy if anyone is reading this....

Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in the making of art is healing and life-enhancing. Through creating art and talking about art and the process of art making with an art therapist, one can increase awareness of self, cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences, enhance cognitive abilities, and enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of artistic creativity.
Art therapists are professionals trained in both art and therapy and hold a masters degree in art therapy or a related field. Art therapists work with children, adolescents, and adults and provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups, and communities. They often work as part of clinical teams, in settings that include mental health, rehabilitation, medical and forensic institutions; community outreach programs; wellness centers; schools; nursing homes; corporate structures; art studios; and independent practices. Art therapists are skilled in the application of a variety of art modalities (drawing, painting, clay, and other mediums) for treatment and assessment and conduct research as well as provide consultations to allied professionals.
"www.arttherapy.org"