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Easing pain through art

Posted at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2010 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Education

Frank Lee had a nice piece in the St. Cloud Times this weekend on how art therapy is being used as a tool for dealing with the roller-coaster ride of cancer. Patients at the Coborn Cancer Center are encouraged to channel their emotions into paintings, clay models, plaster masks and collages. I found patient Sally Thayer's explanation of the value of art therapy particularly pointed and compelling:

"My husband, my church and my friends were very supportive, but as supportive as they were, they couldn't possibly understand [what I was going through], and that's where art therapy comes in."

You can read the full article here. In addition, St. Cloud Times writer Amy Bowen shared a similar story a couple of weeks ago... this time it was teenager Kate Stewart who was able to face her Leukemia through art and poetry.