Life Change Recovery Center recently held an art exhibit at the SSS Museum and Library. Entitled "Mindscapes," it proudly showcased the art works of our psychiatric inpatients who, despite having schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, addiction, and other psychiatric disorders, were able to produce masterpieces. Guests of honor included master fiddler John Lesaca, daughter of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo- Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, and master healer Dr. Tom Kurz.
I was tasked by Ms. Agnes Agbayani, Executive Director of Life Change, to give a brief talk on Art and Emotional Healing. I shared to the audience that it was in college, as a psychology student in U.P., that I first learned of art's potential to heal. It was back then when I learned how to administer the Draw-A-Person Test and I observed that some people would spontaneously cry when I asked them to describe their drawings. Later on in life, I did a lot of art therapy for myself and produced a lot of what I call "healing images" or "prayers in pictures." And despite the passage of time, I discover that they still have a healing effect on me until now. As a student of hypnotherapy in my post-graduate studies, I also learned that our mind thinks, not in terms of words, but in terms of pictures. In fact, part of the creative challenge in doing hypnotherapy is coming up with appropriate healing images for the client.
