By: Valerie Moore-Altavilla, LCSW, Art Therapist, SoulCollage ® Facilitator
In a time in the World when there is so much uncertainty and change with relation to the COVID 19 Pandemic, grief can resurface in more intense ways. The direct and indirect effects of this universal experience bring about a great many feelings that may include fear, anxiety, confusion, sadness, and others. It is times like this especially when the world needs to be introduced to alternative ways to cope and feel better; to know that there is hope and help out there. One such way is Art therapy. You are the expert of your story and Art is the facilitator.
The Healing Arts Workshops and Groups, currently being offered via Zoom, are facilitated by Valerie Moore-Altavilla, LCSW, at Hospice of Santa Barbara. They provide a unique “unfolding” experience for those grieving the loss of a loved one. Participants may initially join the workshops/groups because of a specific loss through death, but may find that the experience takes them into a whole different direction (working through a certain fear, anxieties that may surface, and a range of other feelings and emotions). Trust the process because “where you are is where you are supposed to be.”
The workshops and groups provide time for exploration and an opportunity to heal from within. Participants in The Art Therapy workshops/groups explore their grief in a way different from talk therapy. The workshops/groups offer time and space for participants to get “unstuck” and to get out of their head, get in touch with their body and release grief by responding through various art materials. Through the art process, those grieving often find new insights, new doors of healing open and keepsakes are created in memory of loved ones. Beautiful, healing creativity happens in a non judgmental, safe, comfortable and welcoming space with others who are also journeying through the many losses and transitions of life/death.
“What is Art Therapy?” Art Therapy is about getting in tune with the body; getting out of one’s head and spontaneously creating. Art therapy is fully about the process of creating; versus, that of a professional artist who is searching for a favorable end product. With art therapy there is not an expected outcome. There is not an agenda. Participants experiment with different materials and explore the art utilizing their five senses as a guide. It is about the journey. Images tap into memories, thus magazine collage is an option for creating during the workshops/groups. These memories (images) are then transferred and become a part of a creative project. The process of choosing an image (memory) and creating with it utilizing your hands is part of the unique healing. This process utilizes the 5 senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell). It’s about getting out of your chattering mind (left brain), and into your body (non verbal feelings). It’s about getting images out of your mind and onto the paper. Our mind can play tricks on us, but our body doesn’t lie, our body holds onto it all.
Though in art therapy the goal is not about creating something aesthetically pleasing it often happens naturally and something beautiful emerges. However, the dying/grieving process can be anything but “aesthetically pleasing.” It can be scary, frustrating, confusing, and sad, thus, the doors of creativity are open and anything and everything goes. There is absolutely not a right or wrong way of creating. The process is an expression of the individual and their personal experience, their journey, their story. Therefore, there is no room for judgment or expectation. It most often is a surprise until the end. At that point there are many insights and discoveries that unfold from the experience and only then can words begin to express through talking and journaling.
Often participants worry about not being artistic and the judgment of others. The participants are encouraged to be free like the child! The inner child is a part of us still, but for some it is hidden in a deep place and needs the opportunity to reemerge. In observation of a 3 year old boy this lesson was emphasized. The little one was intrigued with lamp posts. He was interested fully in how they were built and how they work. He was given paper and paints to explore his interest in lamp posts. He painted freely. While he painted, he described what he was painting (lamp posts). To someone else, it was just a muddy mess of pain; but to him, it was his soul, visual images/memories from inside coming out onto the paper. Children can teach us a beautiful lesson. Learn to let go and be free with no care of judgment from ourselves or others.
A word from Valerie Moore-Altavilla, Art Therapist, LCSW: The combination of my personal losses and my professional experiences has strengthened my knowledge in the process of grief and how to better serve myself and others. One major saving grace has been Art Therapy. I utilized the expressive arts for my personal healing through the many transitions and changes of life before even knowing it was a profession and a therapeutic intervention. I received a Master’s degree in Social Work in 2001. My professional experience was in the field of Mental Health and the Foster Care system. I found that utilizing art in sessions brought profound insights and discoveries … movement. In 2006, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete a post master’s art therapy program at UCSD in La Jolla, CA. My internship for the Art Therapy program was at San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care. Though, at the age of 11, I had been the only one in the room with my grandmother holding her hand when she took her last breath, I did not really understand what Hospice was, nor did I think of it as a field I would ever find of interest. Well, needless to say, this 18 month art therapy program working one-on-one with patients; those in end of life, with children and adults of all ages, changed me and intensified my belief that art therapy and grief work was my true calling.
In December 2008, my journey led me to Hospice of Santa Barbara (HSB). 2009 to Present, along with many other roles I have carried at HSB such as bereavement counselor and IHAF ® coordinator, I am an art therapist and facilitate the Healing Arts workshops and groups for participants who are bereaved. I love to journey with people of all ages in all stages of life. Each person takes this journey in their own way. I love the act of presence; to just sit with someone, to listen, to guide, to provide education on the grief process, to help them discover new insights. Many gifts can emerge amidst the weight of grief. Witnessing the hope and transformation that time and healing provide are so profound and beautiful. What an honor for me to be a part of someone else’s journey, if even for a moment.
I have written a book being published with Hanford Mead Publishing Co. that should be available for purchase Winter 2020 titled “All You Need Is What You Have: Using Your 5 Senses Creatively to Move through Grief.” It is my goal to offer easy projects utilizing the expressive arts to help you move along the grieving path through all its memories, feelings, thoughts and sensations.
As my late brother used to say, “To each their own and to each their own is to invite another.” So I invite you to explore the possibilities within you, the gifts each one of you has, and to try something new. I hold Healing Arts workshops/groups periodically and hope to meet new souls ready to do some self care and work through losses and transitions through the creating.
By: Valerie Moore-Altavilla
LCSW, Art Therapist, SoulCollage ®Facilitator