Research shows that both the process and the product of therapeutic creativity are beneficial. Using the arts for expressive, creative, and reflective purposes can reduce anxiety and stress, improve your mood and enhance the quality of life and treatment outcomes by addressing your physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.
What is art therapy
Art therapy is an integrative mental health support service that enriches the lives of individuals, families and communities through active art-making and applied psychological theory within a psychotherapeutic relationship (American Art Therapy Association, 2020).
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Creative Arts therapy program is open to all, free of charge, with no previous experience or artistic skill required.
Our art therapist works with patients, survivors, and caregivers from all age groups and backgrounds, to provide support in a safe, non-judgmental space.
For questions about art therapy at Sylvester, please contact Lindsey Weaver at lxw743@med.miami.edu.
How does Art Therapy work
Our art therapy sessions are person-centered and look different depending on each individual’s unique needs. Using live art-making, meditative art appreciation, guided prompts, and verbal discussion, our art therapist can support you through all phases of treatment and survivorship. Evidence-based research in the field demonstrates how art therapy helps resolve problems, gain insight, and improve overall wellbeing.
Art therapy services include:
- One-on-one sessions: Our individualized art therapy sessions can positively impact emotional health, increase awareness of cognitive patterns, and help you to experience a sense of connection and accomplishment. Participants may choose to engage in painting with watercolor or acrylics, sculpting with clay, weaving with textiles, and other mediums, all geared towards healing and wellness.
- Group sessions: We facilitate group art therapy sessions online and in-person, holding a space for community, self-expression, and empathy. The sessions follow an open-studio approach, where participants can choose to paint, sculpt, write, chat, or simply witness the therapeutic process together.
- Writer-in-Residence program: This Writing Well is a collaborative program co-led by a published poet with expertise in literary arts, in collaboration with our art therapist. The Writer-in-Residence co-leads a series of generative writing for wellness workshops. Participants are provided with reading materials and writing prompts.