Creative Arts Therapy as a means to Rebuild

“When there is peace, you can see it on the faces and in the eyes of children." A.K., a middle-aged man from Iraq, shared this quote about his drawing of children playing around trees. A.K. noted during his sharing time that the music playing in the background, eased his nerves as he drew. Read about A.K. here.

Oliver, a man in his young thirties, drew stick figures at an airport about to board a plane to a new land. In describing his image, he discussed his journey of leaving behind his home country and going to new country where he is currently unfamiliar with the language, people and the culture. Overwhelmed by these challenges, he shared with the group that he often thought “maybe I should go back home". With encouragement from the group and much reflection through his artwork, he felt by the end that the group would be a good place to network and share his story as a survivor of torture.

As part of BuildaBridge's efforts with the Philadelphia Partnership for Resilience, creative arts therapists and teaching artists provide art therapy and therapeutic art making groups in the community context for survivors of torture. The stories of A.K. and Oliver signify the positive outcomes art can have in facilitating hope, healing and resiliency. BuildaBridge uses creative arts therapy and the therapeutic arts because they are some of the most effective strategies for alleviating symptoms of trauma, abuse and stress through its effects on physiological, brain and hormonal activity.

In honor of Creative Arts Therapy Week (#CATW2015), we share these stories of the transformative power of the arts through our work with survivors of torture, just one of many different vulnerable populations the organization serves through the arts.

Additionally, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) affirms strategies like the ones BuildaBridge uses. They note the use of Creative Arts Therapy with survivors of torture by describing Lembe's story. "Lembe, a torture survivor, wrote her name on a colourful cloth. As part of her rehabilitation therapy, Lembe worked passionately on it, designing a fish, a bird and adding the names of other survivors. “Designing on the cloth helped my creativity,” she said “it allowed me to mentally relax, to learn how to express myself and to forget my daily hardships.” Read Lembe's story and the UNHCR's article here on art therapy.

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