Andrea´s Pensieve: Art Heals

I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind... At these times... I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure.

 Albus Dumbledore "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul 

Author: Shaun Mcniff. (2004)

 Art heals: How creativity cures the soul (Shaun McNiff)

"Art heals by accepting the pain and doing something with it" opening quote by author.(McNiff, 2004) Nietzche wrote in The Birth of Tragedy that when we are faced with the most dreadful of circumstances "art approaches as a saving sorceress, expert at healing. She alone knows how to turn these nauseous thoughts about the horror or absufdity of existence into notions which one can live." (page 4)

Art is ultimately a way of looking at life that involves everything we do (page 6)

Thus when I use the word ar,t I am addressing every form of expression and creative expression. (page 6)
 

Through the discipline of creative expression we foster healing within ourselves while also giving back to nature in a spirit of reciprocation (page 6). (so art makes us feel useful?? Is that one of the reasons why it is empowering???)

As with disturbing dreams, artistic expressions that aggressively provoke audiences and decry the conditions of the world can embody important aspects of the healing process where the identification and destruction of harmful patterns is necessary (page6-7).

When we are immersed in the process of trying to understand an image, its relationship to the artist who made it, the way it influences people who look at it, and its ability to stimulate further creative expression, it is easy to get ahead of ourselves and to shortchange the meditative process of just looking at an image without methods of responding to images discussed in this book will never take the place of visual contemplation of artworks, of breathing with them in the present moment. (page 13)

Chapter: the creative space

Rather than focusing exclusively on the individual problems of patients, I was oriented to a physical space that called for their involvement. We began with the need to fill a space with images and life. (so instead of getting stuck on the problems she created an area where something could be solved, reminds me of the way sustainability science works: problem focused, solution oriented) (page 16)

We discovered that empowering the patient artists as decision-makers and creators increased their sense of belonging and responsibility (page 18)

Creative transformation was stimulated by a "social ecology" involving flexible and open interaction, listening,
the sharing of decisions, learning from mistakes, trust in people, and a presasive sense that process was more important than the goal itself (quoting Maxwell Jones, 1982, page 144)(page 18)(so would the use of art be an alternative way to create a social learning process in a community??? A less technical one???) (Maxwell Jones "the process of change" 1982)

Art is forever breaking down structures in order to make new ones. The creative cology works in ways that parallel Jones´s descriptions of open social systems. Patterns and themes run trhoufh a person´s and a community´s creations bu the effects of a creative process can never be known in advance (again similar to social learning process) (page 19) (apparently jones (I googled this) sees social learning as something that emerges when there is open dialogue in a group and a conscious approach to all activities in life which leads to a continuous learning tht transforms the image of the individual) (page 19)

I believe that what we need to express will naturally emanate from our interactions if we stay open, committed, and patient; affirm each other; let go; and trust the process. (page 22)

The group-studio chemistry is based uupon the paradox of individual people performing the intimate and individual rituals of painting within a communal environment. We are drawn together through what I call the principle of simultaneity, in which the solitary activities of the visual arts are accompanied by the parallel creations of others. In addition to the shared energy of working, participants give attention to each other. (page 22)

Although I have worked alone with many patients in the studio wettings, my experience of the strongest creative medicine is associated with groups (page 23)

In page 24 she talks about how even the fact that the studios are not perfect helps, it makes the processes within them real, applicable to real events which are never perfect. Seeking perfection in the studio could result in it having an unattainable feeling to it, obstruction the emotional connection, identification of the participants, interesting!!

We want to have the best spaces possible, yet ewe must also work with whatever we have, especially when bringing the arts to places with limited financial resources. (page 24)

CHAPTER 3 LETTING GO IN A SAFE PLACE

Limitations can pradoxically fuel creative expresions (page 30)

CHAPTER 4 EMBRACING UPHEAVAL

Art does not profess to rid the world of suffering and wounds. It does something with them, realizing the soul is truly lost when afflictions can not be put to use. Creativity engages breaking points and fashions fresh life from them. The big transformations are rarely planned and arrive in their own time, often contradicting the artist´s intention. (page 32)

Repeatedly I discover that fear and resistance signal the presence of great veins of creative discovery.  (page 33)

When we accept that our different interpretations are openings to the world of experience, interactions with artworks take on a new excitement and vitality. We recast the tired subject-object relationships of psychology into a more imaginative realm that affirms the otherness of phenomena. When we seek greater depth and accuracy in our communications with others the discipline of interpretation shifts from explanation to empathy. (P.70 it speaks of the importance of open interpretations of art and empathy rather than explanation)

Rather our own energy adopts menacing guises to gain attention, showing us where we are out of sync with ourselves, others, and our environments (p71 it explains how to think about disturbing images… maybe red flags for social change?)

Arnheim shows how vision and the other senses involve thought and interpretation without the mediation of language. (p78 useful??)

Sometimes our obsessions with meanings and the story behind the image block our ability to see, and thus interpret, what is before us.  (…) in this case we leave the aesthetic relationship with color, texture, and shape behind and replace them with stereotypic clinical concepts that might have very little to do with the original stimulus. (p79 to keep in mind when interpreting the poems)

They see that what we study and learn is ultimately most useful when it becomes incorporated into our natural way of responding to situations. The expert is recast as the one who has the ability to say, “I can’t say what it means. Let’s reflect on it together” (p80 does this happen in Colombia?)

David Linge suggests that understanding comes when we realize that we are in a dialogue with the world, when the interpreter learns how to open to the image or gesture “by listening to it and allowing it to assert its viewpoint. It is precisely in confronting the otherness of the text –in hearing its challenging viewpoint- that the reader´s own prejudices (i.e. his present horizons) are thrown into relief and thus come to critical self-consciousness. (p 83 this is HUGE this is why I think art makes you more reflective)

How we treat an image (or poem?) often reflects how we treat other people. The discipline of personifying images helps us to become more sensitive to the feelings of other people, and vice versa. Life is an ongoing practice of sensitivity and cooperation which imagination and the physical world influence one another (p85 then can u use this to say that the poetry is actually teaching this kids new social skills? Allowing them to create a different community?)

When artistic expressions become agents of change, we not only find ourselves concerned for t heir well-being and protection, but also deepen our social interaction with them through feelings of gratitude for their assistance and delight in their presence. We might even find ourselves slipping into archaic patterns of propitiation and creating hospitable environments that welcome their visitation. (p86 maybe it helps understand how something like this initiative can become part of the identity of the social group?)

Jung urged people to become aware of the myths they are living. Our culture generally lives the myth of the heroic and self-sufficient ego rather than one of collaborative and ecological creation. We unconsciously act out the heroic script in our dealings with the world, conquering adversaries, actualizing personal potential, and practicing self-reliance. Creative collaboration is decentered rather than heroic, imaginal rather than literal, and spontaneous rather than planned. (p86 promoting community spirit rather than competition)

If we change the particulars of our expression, we will change in correspondence to them. Therapy becomes a creative collaboration with imagination and the world from which it issues. The process generally requires us to relax the self and move it out of the way so that imagination can treat itself within the context of its innate wisdom (p88 so if you change the way you talk about something we change our experience of this? Is this happening over there?)

These moments of crisis bring the transformative dissolution from which fresh vision emerge (again the ability to shift perceptions is crucial in sustainability pg89)

As in relationships with other people, dialogue takes us into a deeper more intimate and creative exchange. We move beyond explanation and the controls of one-way speech and open ourselves to the surprises and discoveries that occur through interplay. In order to dialogue with an image, we have to acknowledge its interdependence as a partner, a personified other. This can be difficult. (p91 dialogue deeper understanding, meaning different realities??? As in max neefs???)

The agitated psyche of the artist will frequently generate pictures that seem unpleasant to some, but the ability to make an artistic expression correspond to troubling feelings can bring the artist satisfaction and relief. (why putting a feeling into words can be empowering p96)

Carl Roger´s discovery that groups move naturally toward cooperation if given the proper support. Jung similarly observed that even the most upsetting and difficult manifestations of the psyche were part of a life-affirming purpose. Likewise, I find in my professional and personal lives that tension and conflict help to define problems so that something can be done with them.  (p97 useful??)

The disturbing image intrudes and threatens the existing order. Even when we welcome abrupt changes, the psyche might need the assistance of disturbance in order to realign itself. Quickly attaching a positive value to a disturbance may compromise its essentially negative function and the upheaval it brings. Rather than improve the image or repair it we try to appreciate the purpose in its expression. The process is rarely easy. But if we trust and support the creative imagination, it will help us engage forces of healing that may exist in the most improbable places. (p98 why disturbing expressions are helpful, conflict not always bad)

In extending hospitality, we greet the person, spend time together, talk, enjoy each other´s company, and afterward feel enriched or ensouled by the visit. Can’t we extend this curtsey to the images we make? (p 101 about contemplation)

Interpretation is an ongoing active imagination, and creative transformation is the energy of healing. Art heals by cultivating imagination with a trust that a revitalized spirit will treat its own disorders. (p 104 about healing, does this happen in Colombia? What healing do they see?)

Many people find it easier to respond viscerally, with their bodies, to the raw energy in a painting. There is a direct expression conveyed by the painting to the body of the viewer, a charge that stimulates an equally physical countercharge that usually corresponds to the movement and energy that shaped the painting. (p 105 do they allow this in Colombia? With kids it’s probably even easier and more divers)

The key to this approach is that the person who has suffered the soul wound must admit to the injury. This can be challenging for those who deny emotional wounds and resist the loss and pain that they bring. However, when a wounded person denies the affliction, it does not diminish; it grows. Unable to reach the person in whom it resides, the demon of the denied pain turns its energy and need for attention onto others. This is how cycles of soul wounds work their way through families and generations of families, through troubled societies, and finally through nations. The neglected wound tends to continuously up the ante, the pressure, and the risk, screaming for attention, until it bursts into consciousness in a way that stuns and humbles the afflicted persona and softens the soul for transformation. The creative work of angels is paradoxically dependent upon the conflict-inducing demons who prepare the soul for change and healing. (p113 how healing happens, why it is important to provide the space and tools to acknowledge the pain of the reality the children are living)

The medicines of creativity come from reimagining the way we view our lives and re-visioning our chronic conditions. (…) we will no doubt have periods when for whatever reasons, we choose to deny wounds. But we can also trust the healing opportunities that life brings to help us open to our wounds (…) and receive the medicine they offer.  (p 120 summary of how healing happens)

Palo Knill, who has created a method called intermodal expressive therapy (…) emphasises how we need to pay more attention to “the basic human need or drive to crystallize psychic material; that is, to move toward optimal clarity and precision of feeling and thought” (page 152) interesante??

 The more interesting task is the exploration of how all therapists and artists can open their work to a more complete process of expression. (Page 152)

 Can we learn to approach multiplicity as an opportunity rather than as a threat? In environments that support the expressions of creative imagination with both children and adults, there is typically an integration of varied media. We find repeatedly that the ecology of different sensory expressions not only increases the creative vitality of the whole environment but also furthers imaginative expression within a particular medium. (Page 153) Como diferentes modalidades de arte nos puede hacer mas proclives a ser transdiciplinarios o interdis

 When multiple art forms are used, we are more apt to experience ourselves making free gestures within a supportive environment of expression. I believe this use of different artistic media creates and environmental energy, or imaginative realm, that truly acts upon the individual (page 154 como usar diferentes modalidades de arte ayuda a tener libre expression)

 We have all heard the child or adult patient say, “I can’t think of anything to draw”. The same poverty of ideas tends to apply to the other arts when they are approached through mental or even visual planning. Movement offers a guaranteed starting point. (page 156)

 You don’t have to think of things in advance. Just move with the materials. Close your eyes if it helps and feel the movement and the way the art materials make contact with the surface. (p156 about trusting the process)

 People move from within themselves, from the particular place where they are at the moment. Many find it difficult to act creatively because they try to do too much and essentially attempt to be in a place other than where they are at the moment. (157 xk el arte te ayuda a esa mente intuitiva)

 Those who have encountered the powers and gifts of the creative imagination know firsthand that it is usually the overly controlling mind, excessive effort, and narrow expectations that restrict access to the process of imagining, which requires a paradoxical discipline of letting go while staying focused and allowing the creation to emerge. (p158 about creative processes and different realities???)

 What are the materials for art, and its limits? Is the practice of art available to every person? These are not esoteric philosophical inquires, but rather the most pragmatic and material issues related to the practice of art and healing. In the tradition of Nietzsche, the Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima believed that the art’s relevance depends on transformative action in the world: “Art kept snugly within the bounds of art alone shrivels and dies… if art is not constantly threatened, stimulated by things outside its domain, it exhausts itself” (p 165)

Throughout his writing Jung emphasizes how giving “visible shape” to an emotion may be more therapeutically effective than intellectual analysis. (pg 175)

In a 1928 essay Jung further elaborates on this use of the creative process in therapy to show how we can personify images and emotions in orders to understand them more completely and to differentiate them from ourselves: “the patient must try to get his mood to speak to him; his mood must tell him all about itself and show him through what kind of fantastic analogies it is expressing itself” (p175)

Pain and suffering, along with creativity, are necessary participants in the process of energetic conversion underlying the flow of life. Creative healing methods welcome the dark and troubling qualities of lie, trusting that they will find their way to transformation. Attempts to resist the basic conditions of our lives through control and denial block the flow of creative energy. (p218)

The healing process is based upon an acceptance of what is happening at the present moment. Letting go is often described as a basis of healing. by abandoning the need to control every aspect of our lives, we open ourselves to the total complex of creative energy that exists within the present moment. In this respect healing involves a compassionate embrace of life as it is. (p218)

Acceptance of our conditions does not mean that we become complacent, abandoning efforts to transform our circumstances. On the contrary acceptance of what exists is a prerequisite of creative transformation. Nietzsche describes how art heals by turning “nauseous thoughts about the horror or absurdity of existence into notions with which one can live” and y affirming that life is ultimately “powerful and pleasurable”. Our life situations are what they are, and the creative process enables us to live with them in new ways. If we bring creative energy and a life-affirming sprit to difficult situations, this condition is contagious. Others are influenced and inspired, and the creative environment cross-pollinates from the circulation of energy. (p219)

 Healing can be conceived as allowing creativity –the most elemental force of nature- t do its “work” in our lives. Our challenge is to find ways to open more completely to the circulation of creative energy that already exists in every life situation. (p219)

 Imagination is a “middle realm”, where the interplay between inner and outer worlds takes place. It is an open and dynamic zone where narrow fixation is discouraged because it interrupts the ecology of creative relations and dulls a person’s sensitivity to new influences. (p225)

 Throughout history, well-being has been linked to the ability to use adversity as material for creation. As Nietzsche wrote, “Unless I can discover the alchemical trick of turning this mock into gold, I am lost.” (p232)

 My experiences with the arts have consistently shown that rhythmic expressions in all media bring about feelings of well-being. A person who feels agitated or tense before making art invariably feels relaxed and revitalized by rhythmic expression. (p233)

 Trust the process, it knows the way. (p235)

Creative discovery is not planned in advance. (p236)

 A synergy involves a multiplicity of interactions between the participants, resulting in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. When art therapy works collaboratively with another discipline, there are going to be effects that cannot be planned in advance. This type of relationship is the basis of the creative process. (p271, poesia y educacion/problemas de lenguaje?)

 Therapeutic programs for children in medical facilities have used art both for the rehabilitation of expressive faculties and as primary mode of communication within the psychotherapeutic relationship.  (p275)

 “May God keep us from single vision,” pleaded William Blake, reflecting his concern about the increasing dominance of the marterialistic world-view that evolved into what we currently call “scientism”. (p275)