April 2019 – Rachel Gibson

Introduction
In this text, I will be exploring mental illness/ wellness and the effect that producing art can have. In preparation I have secured a work placement at the Compass Recovery College as a creative volunteer. The Recovery College is an organisation which helps people with mental health difficulties, through education and workshops and a supportive community.
I will also be discussing my own journey with mental illness and how art has affected it, as well as looking into my own art practise which is centred on Borderline Personality Disorder; and how artistic expression can become a positive form of communication. Similarly looking at how producing art can aid psychological understanding to one’s own mind.
This will be aided by psychological research including Therapeutic thinking in contemporary art Or psychotherapy in the arts (Marxen, 2009) and Creative Approaches to Motivational Interviewing: Addressing the Principles (Crowe and Parmenter, 2012) . These texts investigate the importance of art as a social and political device.

I have chosen to look at art in relation to mental health for a range of reasons. The first is psychological curiosity, I have always been interested in human psychology and how all our experiences of living are vastly different depending on our brain chemistries. The second reason stems from my own experience with mental illnesses and the fact that art is immensely helpful in living with them.

CHAPTER 1

Compass Recovery College
A Recovery College is founded on the recovery principles of hope, opportunity and control and uses an educational method to allow people to become specialists in their own healthcare. They build on people’s strengths and aid them to develop skills and self-assurance to manage their recovery journey.
National mental health policy endorses the development of Recovery Colleges as a key device for change. There is evidence that a ‘Recovery College’ model has the potential to convert services as it shifts the emphasis from treatment and risk management to education, growth and self-fulfilment. The Recovery College is not a day centre and it does not offer treatment or care co-ordination. Instead it provides a range of courses (Servicesguide.reading.gov.uk, 2019).
I have chosen this establishment to carry out volunteer work because Mental health is both a huge part of my life and my practise, and Compass College is one of the very few places willing to help people in need.

Short introduction to the site
This establishment delivers free educational courses about mental health and wellbeing. The courses emphasis on recovery and increasing self-management skills. They are constructed and carried out by people with personal experience with mental health challenges, clinical staff and other professionals. The courses are available to anyone eighteen or over with mental health difficulties, as well as their friends, family, carers and clinicians.

My time at Compass
As a volunteer, my role has been mainly running/supervising the Wednesday art group. The group has been running for over a decade, and some of the students have been attending from the beginning.
The group runs from 1pm- 4pm. Tables and chairs are set up and art supplies are provided. People who attend are able to create whatever they like from week to week.
There is no official therapeutic element to the sessions, for example we do not go around the room and talk about our feelings; however there is a healing sense of community and understanding that is there even if unspoken.
It is largely a social gathering, with the art being a safety blanket. What I mean by that is, if a person wanted to come along and be around people but not talk, their sitting silently painting would not be addressed- as it is an art group. Conversely, if that same person wanted someone to talk to about an issue they were having or something on their mind, they could bring it up to a room full of understanding people and they could feel heard without judgment; receiving support and even guidance from peers. If anything surfaces in the group that raises a red flag, for example, if a student mentions hurting themselves or someone else- then I would have to report it to my superior and they would deal with the risk.
Having attended the sessions, I can definitely see the positive affects it has on the students. For example, one student I have spent time with in the group and out of it. Out of the group he has severe anxiety, worries about talking to anyone or going anywhere in case someone is nasty to him. But in the group, the art works as a conversation catalyst, allowing him to talk about his interests instead of his insecurities. Also, he is comfortable with the people around him, knowing there will not be any negative energy or judgement, and that is so important for someone who struggles socially. These are a group of friends. I have also been told a student who has been attending the group for several years with her mother, has improved immensely, and has completely transformed in the most positive way.
As well as the social element, and the art activities being a safety blanket, I have seen the actual act of drawing/painting have very calming effects on students who normally have very short attention spans.

CHAPTER 2

My journey
I have been struggling with mental illness since the age of fourteen. I only received help at the age of sixteen after my situation spiralled into one of life or death. I got counselling from my school, it was good to have something in place, but I was neither improving nor getting worse.
When I got to University, all the big life changes put a strain on my mental health, and I went to the doctor for help and I was put on medication. Every time I asked for help after that they would just increase my medication. I got to fatal state again. After that I knew that I could not continue to live this way. I had to be proactive. My mum paid for me to see a therapist who then suggested I may have Bipolar and referred me to a psychiatrist who could diagnose me. The psychiatrist diagnosed me with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). It was an amazing feeling to finally know what I was up against, but it took me 5 years and hundreds of pounds to get there.
After the diagnosis I was able to seek the correct help and medication. Since then I have been having Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) which has been an immense help but without my parents, something I could not possibly afford.
Compass Recovery College is free, as well as being open to those who do not have/ cannot afford a referral. This is a service people like me need. By volunteering here, I feel like I am helping a great cause that is close to my heart.

My practise
Another reason I applied to volunteer at the Recovery College is the fact that my entire artistic practise is based around mental health.
In my first two years of University I was working on painting and stop motion animation focusing on Depression. Since my BPD diagnosis, I have based all my art around this. The main idea behind my work is personifying BPD. Translating something into an image is always a challenge, especially when it is a state of mind- but it is a challenge I enjoy, and it helps people (and myself) to understand better. Most people can relate to an image more than a diagnosis, or a dictionary definition. My hope is that my piece will bring BPD awareness and help non-sufferers to empathise. By working with people in the art workshops at the Recovery College, I hope they will find the same comfort and expression that I have found.

CHAPTER 3

Research
To gain more depth on the subject of art and mental health I have been looking at acclaimed research that others have conducted.
Therapeutic thinking in contemporary art Or psychotherapy in the arts (Marxen, 2009) is a journal written by Eva Marxen, MA, MA, DEA; a trained art therapist, psychoanalytical psychotherapist. The text highlights the importance of art as a political and social tool.
In her work with the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona (MACBA)’s mental health workshops, she has found that art activity is effective in ‘indirectly provoking discussion about social relations’ and that art is a ‘suitable vehicle for addressing frustration tolerance’ (Marxen, 2009) . Here she is discussing how the actual act of making art can help with social and psychological issues. She also found once this first barrier is overcome, and the young people are comfortable with the authority figure as well as the safe and empathetic environment, ‘then, the artistic expression can obtain a personal meaning and can become a form of constructive communication’ (Marxen, 2009) . This supports what I described in chapter 2 when referring to my own experience with art and mental health. Art can become a way to convey thoughts and feelings that cannot be expressed by words. Also it can help to make sense of your own mind.
Marxen’s experience at the MACBA and my experience at Compass have had notable similarities. For example, she saw the attendants of her workshop being able to open up much more, as I have seen with the students at the art group. She discusses frustration tolerance, where I too have seen the students behave much calmer when making art. This all supports that the act of creating does have a positive effect on one’s mental health. Marxen also advocates art groups can ‘help compensate for a deficiency in the special care services’, to wit I couldn’t agree more. As I mentioned before, mental health care is sparse, and private care costs a significant amount; so, these free art groups can work as a surrogate for those denied care, and for those who cannot afford it. Furthermore, the regularity and consistence of the sessions provides a sense of stability which in itself becomes therapeutic.
The text goes on to analyse the work of three artists in relation to their therapeutic approaches and political influences. One of which is Krzysztof Wodiczko. This Polish-born artist considers art to be in constant interchange with social movements and psychoanalytical theories. Wodiczko works on artist projects that aims to give a voice to those who would not normally be heard. People with mental illnesses, those who have

suffered trauma, he says ‘are the most important speakers in democracy. They should speak because they have directly experienced the failures and indifference’ (Phillips, 2003) . His work benefits those who participate, giving them a voice that usually would be ‘locked in a posttraumatic silence’ (Phillips, 2003) . Implying that art can be used as a therapeutic tool to improve one’s mental wellbeing.

Another journal I have looked at is Creative Approaches to Motivational Interviewing: Addressing the Principles (Crowe and Parmenter, 2012) . This text looks at using creative approaches in counselling. The authors analyse different research that has been conducted, generally concluding that a creative approach is one of the most effective, with the benefits including ‘the ability to reframe, or shift, perspective. In addition, emotions can be externalised’ (Bradley et al., 2008) . These deductions very much mirror Marxen’s findings, in the sense that she too found that expressing one’s self artistically can become an invaluable form of communication- I can also confirm this through my own experience.
Crowe and Parmenter speak about the importance of the counsellor being ‘accepting and empathetic’ and ‘seeing the world through the eyes of the client’ (Crowe and Parmenter, 2012) and how art helps with this. I view this as vital in terms of counselling- to make progress the client must feel understood, and art is a remarkable means in which to do that. A lot of my practise has the underlying desire to be understood, and I think that is what a lot of people with mental health issues crave above all else. Through personifying my state of mind, it is much easier for people to comprehend what I am experiencing when there is a visual aid.
The text also outlines some of the creative activities that can be deployed. For example, Crisis Directive- where clients are asked to illustrate the crisis that bought them to counselling; The Recovery Bridge Drawing (Holt and Kaiser, 2009) – where clients draw a bridge from where you have been, where you are, and where you want to be and Depict Yourself a Year From Now (Holt and Kaiser, 2009) – where clients draw themselves in a year from now twice, once having made the changes they want, and a second time having not made any changes. Having completed a lot of these activities while attending my DBT, I can ratify that these methods are effective in changing one’s way of thinking. The creative element also helps clients to share sensitive issues which are more readily discussed in non-verbal ways.

Conclusion

To summarise, creating art has an overall positive effect on mental health.
Through my observations at the Compass Recovery College I have witnessed art bring people comfort and provide them a safe environment and activity that promotes a healthy state of mind.
Taking from my own experience with mental illness I can say that art helps me to express things that words can not. In times of distress the act of creating can have a calming and mindful effect.
Reflecting on Marxen’s findings illustrated in Therapeutic thinking in contemporary art Or psychotherapy in the arts (Marxen, 2009) , her deduction from working with MACBA about how art can be used for frustration tolerance as well as giving the student an invaluable method of communication, correlates directly with my personal experience with art and mental health.
Furthermore, considering Crowe and Parmenter’s research: Creative Approaches to Motivational Interviewing: Addressing the Principles (Crowe and Parmenter, 2012) , we can infer that the use of creative methods within a therapeutic environment has proved overtly beneficial to those involved. I can also say that the use of creative methods in Compass as well as my own experience have been received exceptionally well and clearly contribute to a healthier state of mind.
I can confidently conclude that producing art and employing creative techniques can improve a person’s mental wellbeing.

Bibliography

• Bradley, L., Whiting, P., Hendricks, B., Parr, G. and Jones, E. (2008). The Use of Expressive Techniques in Counselling. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 3(1), pp.44-59.
• Crowe, A. and Parmenter, A. (2012). Creative Approaches to Motivational Interviewing: Addressing the Principles. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 7(2), pp.124-140.
• Holt, E. and Kaiser, D. (2009). The First Step Series: Art therapy for early substance abuse treatment. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36(4), pp.245-250.
• Marxen, E. (2009). Therapeutic thinking in contemporary art. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36(3), pp.131-139.
• Phillips, P. (2003). Creating Democracy: A Dialogue with Krzysztof Wodiczko. Art Journal, 62(4), pp.32-47.
• Servicesguide.reading.gov.uk. (2019). Compass Recovery College | Reading Services Guide. [online] Available at: http://servicesguide.reading.gov.uk/kb5/reading/directory/service.page?id=YutC22gY1G0 [Accessed 17 Mar. 2019].