The nature of news is to cover the extremes. The adage “if it bleeds, it leads” is proven in the coverage of gun violence and crime. All too often, there is no follow-up on the victims. With the exception of Inquirer columnist Helen Ubinas, who co-authored the Inquirer story “Shot and Forgotten,” the stories of the gun violence tragedies and those devastated are rarely told.
This week, Philadelphia Hall Monitor is allowing me to write about “Art Heals,” a program that helps those who have suffered a devastating injury learn new ways of living. The program, housed in Jefferson Moss-Magee’s Magee Center City Building, is holding its annual fund-raiser on Friday, September 27th.
(Full Disclosure: my adopted son was left quadriplegic after he was the victim of a violent crime and helped by the Art Heals Program)
The need for the fund-raiser is great because, unlike most medical services, insurance companies often don’t cover art therapy. The insurance companies’ decisions are not based on the value of the art therapy or what it offers to those whose lives have been dramatically and profoundly changed. As Julie Nolan, the Art Therapist at Jefferson Moss Magee says “A lot of the time, after a devastating injury there is an understandable emphasis on what is lost; our hope is that through the creative process, we can help people uncover new parts of their identity, and parts of what they still have, to give people a new sense of how life can look like.”
Those who have recovered from the devastating injury, like Dr. George, say, “ Art has nourished my life since my injury; it was a very important part of my healing.”Art therapists are well aware that helping people connect to their creative processes helps them find ways to overcome complex problems: “The American Art Therapy Association describes its [Art Therapy] main functions as improving cognitive and sensorimotor functions, fostering self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivating emotional resilience, promoting insight, enhancing social skills, reducing and resolving conflicts and distress, and promoting societal and ecological changes.”
Academic Journals recently reported on the effectiveness of Art Therapy “we found that art therapy has been gradually and successfully used for patients with mental disorders with positive outcomes, mainly reducing suffering from mental symptoms”
Many who have suffered a devastating injury cannot go back to their old way of living. Simple things, such as eating, shopping, and going out to visit, cannot be done in the same way. Art Therapy can help those with profound limitations find new meaning in life. Physical limitations cannot limit creativity.
It is unclear if the Art Therapy program can continue at its current levels without community and individual support. The Honickman Family Foundation provided needed funds for the artists to continue their work after they left the hospital. At this point, no one knows if the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act will be expanded to ensure that insurance companies cover the cost of art therapy. What is known is that Art Therapy helps people rebuild their lives, find purpose, and invigorate the creative process to help them find solutions to the new challenges that they face after a devastating injury.
Supporting the Art Heals Program is an attempt by people like myself who realize we cannot go back in time to stop the damage, but we do not have to accept hopelessness and horror. It is possible to help create a better future.
Our reporters sit through hours of city council meetings, dig through piles of documents, and ask tough questions other media overlook. Because we’re committed to addressing Philadelphia’s poverty crisis — and challenging those who sustain it. If you think this work is important too, please support our journalism.
We’re counting on readers like you.
