Art as Therapy – a Local Idea for Great Self Care

As a therapist, the topic of self care often arises.  Therapists and other helping professions need to be extra diligent in taking care of themselves to continue to provide quality services for those they work with.  Helping professions and professionals need to be aware of “compassion fatigue” and burnout.

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist I see it as my job to have integrity with what I am sharing with my clients to help them in their lives, and what I am doing in my own life.  I can’t boast about pampering and taking care of oneself if I am not willing to do it for myself.

Back in September Elizabeth Gard, owner of “The Gard Gallery” in Parkland, FL, reached out to me to join forces with the work I do and the work The Gard Gallery does.  I decided to take a group of friends, most of them therapists, for a partial celebration and to put our artistic skills to the test.

It was a very interesting experience.  Getting so focused on what is at hand the worries of the world seemed to slip away.  As we allowed the instructors to guide us through the process, I definitely felt many different emotions arise as I was painting, some of them were frustration, confusion, pride, and relaxation.  One of the skills that they taught us was to “step back”, every once in a while to gain a new perspective on what we were painting. So many times in working with clients we have to remind them to “step back” to look at the big picture.  We invite them to look at and celebrate the progress they have made as well as looking at all the sum of all the parts and how they have come together to create a whole.

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This collage contains pictures of the studio, Elizabeth assisting me on my painting, and me stepping back to gain a new perspective of my creation.  I think you can tell by my expression that I am pleased with the final product.

As 2014 rolls around Lemieux Solutions Unlimited, LLC and The Gard Gallery will be joining forces to bring together counseling, creativity and art.  Check back with us periodically to see what we are up to, how you can get involved and how our joined forces will benefit you and those you care about!  For more information about services that Lemieux Solutions Unlimited, LLC provides CONTACT US.

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Snapshots of our evening were done by Photographer Trish Hamilton.  For further info about her photography you can visit her at https://www.trishhamilton.com

So we did a trial run of a Mother’s and Daughter’s Painting Evening on December 27th. we gathered 18 mothers and daughters to take part in this event.  Below are some snapshots of what was created.  The Gard Gallery instructors really have a talent for bringing out the talent in others.  For many of the women it was their first time painting and they were all pleasantly surprised by the results of their work.  In some of the pictures you can see the drawing as well as the painting.  Look closely and see how well every woman is doing.  We hope you stay tuned to what we are up to in 2014.  See you then!

by Katie Lemieux

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