ALBERTON- Sanchi Leibach, teacher and owner of The Art Centre in Alberton, treated the psycho-social team from Stepping Stone Hospice and Care Services to a healing art session.
Using art materials to create images is a wonderful way to connect with your subconscious mind, as the process allows a person to access their feelings without having to verbalise what they feel.
Sanchi emphasises that her healing art sessions are not meant to take the place of professional counselling. “If anything, my sessions are a wonderful complement to other counselling methods. I take people on a journey. I play music in the studio, we meditate together, scribble a bit and work with assorted media including pencils, crayons, paint and soft pastels. You can smudge and you can blend. It’s a very tactile experience.” It doesn’t matter what you create, she adds. “It’s more about the process. It’s not about the end result or presenting something pretty.”
Sanchi has had people express both anger and sorrow during sessions. “Some people cry, not always in a sad way, but more as a release,” she explains. “I find that participants are often surprised at what they create and leave feeling contented.”
Stepping Stone Hospice CEO, Tersia Burger, admits to feeling apprehensive at first. “I, for one, cannot draw,” she says, taking a pen and doodling a stickman on a piece of paper to illustrate her point, “so the last thing I expected was to be confronted with my vulnerabilities and to realise how vulnerable we all are. People don’t realise the toll it takes on our team seeing the same heartache at the unit, day after day, like a revolving door.”
For Ruby Evrard, a counsellor at the hospice, the experience was particularly insightful. “We all have subtle triggers be it a song, a certain smell or an object that may remind us of a difficult time in our lives or of someone we’ve lost. I think that doing art therapy can lift the lid on feelings and help people let go. Many people I work with struggle with letting go, but it’s important.”
Truus Odendaal and Christie Mitchell, two other psycho-social team members, enjoyed the ‘downtime’ and found the session very relaxing. “It certainly takes your mind off the everyday,” says Truus. “We don’t always take the time to do these things for ourselves,” echoes Christie, adding that she feels art therapy is a good way of expressing grief.
“There is a definite benefit in doing this if you’ve lost someone,” says Tersia. “Even if you’re resistant, just participating is healing, no matter how small.”
Sanchi is a trained visual artist who has taught art and presented workshops at various levels and institutions since 1991. She describes her healing art sessions as her ‘soul’ work. “I do it to give people a method of healing, but it also fulfills my calling.”
For more information or to book a healing art session, contact Sanchi on 011 869 8875 or 072 274 0491. Alternatively send an email to artinalberton@gmail.com
