CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — IMPORTANT NOTE: art shown in attached video is not patient artwork from art therapy sessions, as those are confidential. The artwork used in the b-roll are pieces patients have done in the School Room at Driscoll Children's Hospital while working with school teachers.
Driscoll Children's Hospital is rolling out their first-ever art therapy program.
Whether through activities such as drawing, painting, coloring or molding, this type of therapy allows patients to express themselves in ways words may not always be able to.
Haven Wright will be the hospital's first art therapist, and is looking forward to working with the hospital to roll out the new program for patients there.
"Once we start seeing things like increased anxiety or depression or any of the other hard emotions that come with long-term or short-term hospital stays, that's where I hope I can jump in," Wright says.
"There's kind of a misconception that you have to be good at art to participate in art therapy. You definitely don't, so we go in, we see what the patient needs, what maybe they're struggling with or what skills we can work on with them, and based on that, we bring in art materials that I know to pair well with the needs of the patient."
For Wright, she says getting to see the children interact with the various forms of art can be super helpful in breaking down barriers to build a connection with the children as they and their parents navigate what can otherwise be a scary, and uncomfortable time in their lives.
"It's also really powerful because unlike traditional talk therapy, art therapy involves those non-verbal elements," Wright said. "So, we get to see children express themselves through visual language and that can bring a lot of insight."
To learn more about the various Patient and Family Services available through Driscoll Children's Hospital, click here.
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