Art therapy comes to UNCW

Art therapy comes to UNCW

Art therapy comes to UNCW

Becka Jackson | Contributing Writer | @oyahbecka

After a traumatic incident, survivors find themselves in a world full of judgment and questions when what they need to begin healing is support and hope. The way to change this discrepancy in communication, according to social workers and advocates in Wilmington, is to increase empathy. This requires survivors to share their experiences with others, but what if talking about it seems too frightening? 

“There are some things that are too difficult to put into words,” said UNC Wilmington field studies professor and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Angie Vandenberg during a lecture given at McNeill Hall on Oct. 19.

As part of the YWCA’s week long event for awareness about domestic violence, A Week Without Violence, Vandenberg’s lecture explored using art with survivors of domestic violence to help them both feel relaxed and feel like their voice can be heard again.

Vandenberg likes to begin with a small project, like filling up an index card. Starting small allows the client to feel like they have control. In Stage 1, her goal is to learn how her client reacts to trauma, and it’s important that they have methods of calming themselves down after a session. Self-soothing activities can include listing, drawing, creating collages or sketching a safe place.

The next goal is for the client to tell their story, but, Vandenberg emphasized, only after she has established safety and trust. This is where therapeutic art can make a difference. For individuals who are withdrawn, resistant to therapy or accustomed to being overlooked, the idea of telling their story can seem trivial or scary.

Although every survivor has a different progression timeline, telling his or her story can help with the healing process. If the words will not come, art can feel like a safer way to express these important stories because each viewer will have a different interpretation.

One survivor of domestic violence wanted others to see her artwork, so she agreed to display her pieces at the lecture. In one self-portrait, her face is shaped almost like a heart, but her skin is bone-white. She wears a red cap with cat-like ears perched on the top of her head. Her hands are jammed into the pockets of her coat, and tree branches reach at her from all sides.

The last stage of healing is the return to the community, also known as post-traumatic growth. “Sometimes we think they’d have PTSD for forever,” said Vandenberg, “but that’s just not true.”

Vandenberg’s favorite activity involves sketching a bridge that represents the pathway between a problem and the resolution. Clients are asked to draw themselves on the bridge, and their placement represents how close they are to reaching their goal. Vandenberg will prompt them with questions like “What do you need to take one step forward?” which makes it easier to tackle a problem that may seem threatening, tremendous or unmanageable.

Representatives from the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc. teamed up with Vandenberg to pool their expertise for the presentation. After the lecture, DVS Outreach Coordinator and advocate Andrea Stough talked about how choices empower victims.

“Self-expression is at the root of what happens in domestic violence,” Stough said. “You don’t have ways to express yourself.”

Direct Services and Outreach Director of DVS had tears in their eyes while talking about how taking the first step can be scary. 

“It takes such faith and courage to enter the unknown,” said Mandy Houvouras, who has previously served as an intern, a shelter advocate and a court advocate for the organization. The DVS strives to create a safe space for all victims, but each individual has their own needs and obstacles.  

“If this was an easy issue to figure out,” said Houvouras, “everyone would just leave [their situation]. We wouldn’t need our scope of services.”

In 2015, DVS served over 1,000 people in the Cape Fear Region. Their services include 24-hour crisis intervention, emergency shelter, individual and group support, advocacy, community education and referral.

When survivors create art, they create a tangible record of their progression. Whether a person has been affected by domestic violence or not, looking at the art can communicate powerful feelings that are harder to express in other ways. 

“You take something small that’s buried dark and deep, and it grows into the most beautiful of things,” said Houvouras.