With the last three weeks of school ahead of students and the rise of midterm stress, there has to be a way to calm the nerves.
Art it Out was brought in by Jennifer Scott and the arts department to assist students with these nerves using art therapy, but what does that truly entail?
“The counselors wanted to provide this opportunity for students to gain some stress reduction skills ahead of exams and the holidays,” said Scott. “The counseling team thought that bringing in someone to talk about handling intense emotions could be beneficial. Missy Curtis, our middle school counselor, used to be a therapist at Art it Out, so she had a connection with the center director.”
Therapists at Art it Out have made it their mission to change negative thinking patterns such as anxiety and depression and improve mood, self esteem and promote positive thoughts. They also talked about how using art therapy creates a healthy coping mechanism to come back to and practice, especially with holidays and finals to worry about.
This workshop really worked to take students’ minds off of the business of life and express those thoughts into a piece of art.
“In my opinion, connecting with art in any way elevates our problem solving skills. I think ultimately connecting with art can help us to gain perspective, to step outside of our busy, chatter-filled minds and see our personal situations from a new point-of-view,” explained Scott.
This workshop used colored drops on tiles and was then lit on fire which solidified the piece. This form of expression is not only simple and fun for people of all art backgrounds, but really provides a symbolic message that all the thoughts and feelings that arise at this time of year are being let go as the flame burns the colored drops.
“In typical therapy, we use our words to flesh out our personal narratives and gain self-efficacy. But using any sort of art–whether it is music, dance, visual arts or even play–connects us with problem solving through the nonverbal, sometimes more creative part of our brain,” said Scott.
Students found this workshop to be extremely helpful with worries in the weeks leading up to final exams.
“The workshop helped to lessen the stress of the year by giving a relaxing and fun activity to do among all the stress at school,” said sophomore Grace Stearns. “My favorite part was mixing all the colors and seeing what it would produce.”
Art it Out overall encourages students to deal with their feelings and coping mechanisms in the best way possible and for many people that means making a piece of art, so having them come to school provided many students with the opportunity to do so.
