Creative Arts Therapies Week takes the idea of play seriously

By Beverly Akerman

The Arts as Pathways to Healing was the theme of a bilingual weeklong celebration launched March 4 by Concordia's Creative Arts Therapies (CATS) Department, in collaboration with the Association des arts thérapeutes du Québec and the Association québécoise de musicothérapie. Activities were scheduled throughout the province.

Stephen Snow, acting director of CATS and a drama therapist, explained that the field took off in the 1980s after a doctor named Israel Zwerling published an article called “The creative arts therapies as real therapies.” He explained that non-verbal media tap into the emotional consciousness, a basic, primordial form of communication, one that is "more direct than words and yet is reality-based."

The CATS Department has 50 to 60 students, and accepts 12 Master’s of Arts students in its art and drama options. Concordia is the only Canadian university to offer professional training at this level. A music option will be available in 2006.

Dean of Fine Arts Christopher Jackson, a musician, said at the launch that he is "truly convinced that disciplines like art and music therapy are taking their rightful place among the more linear disciplines."

A panel of professionals working in the arts, psychiatry, and education made presentations and answered questions at the launch.

Jaswant Guzder, a child psychiatrist at the Jewish General Hospital, explained that in the kind of work he does with young children, art and play are the cornerstones of connection.

“We treat kids at risk, many of whom have conduct disorders. They love music, rap, and singing as a group. They feel validated by putting on an annual play together. It is absolutely extraordinary for their parents to see these children up on stage, functioning as a team to make the play work,” given their histories.

Guzder said that after the tsunami in South East Asia last December, the immediate needs of children affected by the disaster were for safety and basic survival, but after that, “they needed play and art, to help them feel safe enough to express and discard their experiences, to help them get over it."

These experiences are instructive, Guzder said. “As the multicultural component of our population increases, less verbal methodologies will become increasingly significant.”

Brian Greenfield, a physician who is director of the Adolescent Suicide Prevention Unit at the Montreal Children's Hospital, explained that since 1996 his team has been looking at the impact of art therapy.

They estimate that they can decrease hospitalizations for the adolescents in crisis seen by his unit. “The beauty of creative arts therapy is that it facilitates an alliance with youth." The incidence of depression in young people "may be as high as 20 per cent. Suicidality — anything from thinking about it to mild attempts — may affect 20 to 50 per cent."

CATS Week started with a festival of documentary films showcasing the arts in various settings for prevention, therapy and rehabilitation.

Art therapist Nicole Paquet works with children having serious problems "who don't have the words to speak about them." Using kinaesthetic expression, through drawing and music, "actions lead to words, and that leads to understanding."

Drama therapist Louise Rinfret works with adolescents. "They like the confidentiality; they feel safe. There are things they cannot express, but when they are in character, they are often surprised at how what they create brings things out of them. They say things like 'I had a knot inside of me, and this unravels it.'"

The length of treatment depends on the client and the milieu, music therapist Guylaine Vaillancourt pointed out. Working with individuals affected by diverse conditions, from cancer to autism. She is grateful to the charitable foundations that provide seed monies to start innovative treatment programs. Greenfield mentioned the Hogg Family Foundation as having been especially helpful.

Paquet's clients, from the homeless to addicts, can all benefit from creative arts therapies. "Results are impressive, but I am frequently told there is no money for 'play'. In England, these therapies are well integrated in the health care system."

Everyone at the launch of Creative Arts Therapies Week was focused on the day they will be able to say that about Canada, too.