“Throughout human history, people have used comic book-like art forms to document the horror and valor of war.”

Post-traumatic stress disorder is frequently found in the brave men and women who fight to protect our country.  To help these men and women relieve this anxiety, DARPA, the Defense Department’s research wing, has put together an online tool. This tool is called the “Online Graphic Novel/Sequential Art Authoring Tools for Therapeutic Storytelling”. Long story short, this tool will help veterans create their own personal comic books.  This will be a healthy way for them to process memories and channel their emotions.

The veterans can choose to depict their story in a realistic form, or a more fantasy style. Either route they choose will lead them to a professional looking finished product and hopefully some closure as they confront their wartime stressors.

It is interesting to note that certain colors like blue and green tend to have a calming effect and could make a positive difference in your mood if you paint your living room or bedroom in those colors. This Art Therapy Blog provides even more information on this subject. It is noted that in a future article they will be diving deeper into specific colors and their effects. Can’t wait!

Tattoo transformation is not what usually comes to mind when thinking of art therapy, but for Eric Spurth of Sacred Transformations that is all he knows. Graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Masters Degree in Art Therapy, he began using his skills to transform scars, burns, and tattoos into works of art.  For many, those existing marks are a constant reminder of a troubling past, but with Spurth’s help, his clients are able to have a positive outlook on their future.

Spurth and his set of volunteers not only create the artistic tattoos, but they also help the client by working with them to set goals on who they would like to be. Best of all, if you are selected as a candidate for Sacred Transformations, the services are free!

Click here to read the rest of the article, “Art Therapist can turn Negative Past into Positive Future”. Or click here to visit the Sacred Transformations website to learn more about the process or make a donation!

Julia and Mathew Carter volunteer at North Coast Youth Correctional Facility in Astoria, Oregon. They have developed an art program for troubled youths within the correctional facility run by the Warrenton-Hammond School District.  Students are selected with certain criteria to participate. The result is often a way for these young men to look at mistakes made, time served and a future – waiting to be lived.

Please follow the link below to learn about this theraputic program written by Deeda Schroeder for the Daily Astorian…again art has purpose in everyone’s life.

Troubled Youth Speak Through Art

For one autistic kid, art gets him talking.

Seven-year-old Jalyn Weston loves sharing his artwork with anyone who wants to see. This summer, one of his drawings will be displayed in a national traveling exhibit with the 2010 International VSA festival, The International Organization on Arts and Disability.

His mom Pam explained the importance of art in Jalyn’s life since being diagnosed with high-functioning autism.

“I want to make sure that we never forget to display our ability. Getting speech for him was everything,” she said. “And art gives him something to talk about, and it focuses on something that he is good at, and I think it has made so much difference.”

To read more about Jalyn’s art talents, click on the link to the story below written by Beth Drinnen for knoxnews.com.

Boy with autism communicates through his award-winning art

Ines Lozano, principal of the International Christian School, knows the healing power of art. That’s why he helped put together “Through the Eyes of a Haitian Child,” a project that has him and three other educators visiting Haiti to teach art and photography to homeless and orphaned children.

“Art could be a great therapy to relieve most of the anxiety, a way of forgetting,” said Lozano.

Lozano’s school community has been on board with the trip. People donated art supplies and students created artwork of their own to share with the Haitian children.

The school is teaming up with Friends of the Orphans, an organization that runs an orphanage and pediatric hospital in Haiti. Jessica Wendorf, the Regional Developmental Manager for the organization, hopes Lozano’s new project creates a lot of memories…and maybe something a bit more permanent.

“To collect enough supplies for all the kids to last them throughout the summer, and possibly even longer is our biggest goal.”

To read more about the project and find out how you can help, click on the link to the story below written by Esther Medina for the Key Biscayne Times.

Haiti art project seeks to show life in Haiti through children’s eyes

They’re like sports trading cards, except they don’t have a picture of a baseball player on the front or any stats on the back. When dealing with these cards, the message is a little less obvious.

They’re artist trading cards, miniature works of art that are traded or given away. The movement, which started in 1996 in Switzerland, has recently exploded thanks to the Internet where clubs and forums spread the word about spreading cards.

The tiny canvases allow artists and teachers to experiment with media and techniques, and the finished product can be used as art therapy or be given as thoughtful gifts to people near and far.

Art therapist Lisa Kay gives out the cards to patients at a cancer care center in DeKalb, Illinois.

“For the patients in the center, it really gives them a sense of hope that people who don’t even know them care enough about them to do this. It’s a gesture of love from humankind,” she said. “That’s what makes it so powerful. It’s the greatest expression of giving.”

To read more about the artist trading card movement, including how members of the military have benefited from it, please click on the link to the original story posted below written by Dana Herra for the Daily Chronicle.

Card collections are works of art

A small study revealed art therapy reduces anxiety in kids who suffer from asthma.

Anya Beebe, an art therapist at National Jewish Health in Denver, led a study of 22 children between the ages of 7 and 14 with persistent asthma. Beebe and colleagues assigned one group of children to undergo art therapy along with their usual asthma treatments for seven weeks and assigned the other group to the usual asthma treatment without art therapy.

At the end of the study, the art therapy group had lower anxiety and higher quality of life and self-concept scores than the group who didn’t participate in art therapy.

“It’s not about painting pretty pictures,” Beebe told Reuters Health. “It’s about helping people go deeper, and using art as a process to express and release their feelings.”

To read more about the results of the study, please click on the link below to read the original report written by Rachael Myers Lowe for Reuters.

Art therapy reduces anxiety in kids with asthma