Can art boost our mental wellness? Expressive arts practitioner, Nancy Solange, says it can.
An innovative virtual peer support group offered through The Royal’s Women’s Mental Health Program is giving 10 women the opportunity to try it out for themselves, free of charge.
Solange is one of the facilitators of Healing Through Art (HEART), a 10-week support group designed to help participants use the language of art to express themselves, tap into their creative sides, and find connection.
The group is not so much about creating beautiful art as it is about therapeutic creativity. Solange describes the weekly creations as “spontaneous” in nature. No art experience is required. In fact, one of the first group exercises begins with a scribble.
“It’s a chance to express yourself and see yourself in a different way,” says Solange. “It really is about being in the moment, learning how to accept what is on the paper and learning a little bit more about yourself during the process.”
Interestingly, Solange doesn’t even describe herself as an artist. “I don't draw well. I look at a blank page and I have no idea where to start,” she laughs. She does, however, have an intimate understanding of how creative expression can have a positive impact on wellbeing.
Scrapbooking and journaling helped her pull through a depression diagnosis after the birth of her second child. Creative projects, as she says, were a way to “get out of her head” for a short time and ultimately helped her regain confidence and restore a sense of self-worth.
“It just gave me the sense that I could do something, and that I could change things,” she says.
Peer support is a significant component and a “major strength” of the HEART group, says Solange. “It’s an opportunity for individuals who have had lived experience to be in a respectful and caring space to express themselves, be heard, and not feel alone.”
“It’s an opportunity for individuals who have had lived experience to be in a respectful and caring space to express themselves, be heard, and not feel alone.”
Solange wants group members to know they don’t have to worry about incurring extra costs for art supplies, or stress about picking out the “right” materials before the course begins. All the tools and supplies are provided. “It removes barriers and sets the stage for what we’re going to be creating together,” says Solange.
“This is something Nancy is really passionate about,” says KJ Thomas, lead of the Women’s Mental Health Program at The Royal. “She really advocated for tools to be provided because she wanted people to have the same materials, to have equity within the group.”
Solange – and her co-facilitator, Kim – are already looking forward to meeting the next group of participants and seeing what they create together – what insights, self-reflections, and transformations will arise as a result.
“When people see what they create and what comes out of a particular scratch or mark they made, when they see how insightful they are and how creative they are, there's a little bit of a change,” says Solange. “There's just a little bit of a change.”
For more information, or to sign up, contact KJ Thomas at kj.thomas@theroyal.ca.