Month: November 2007

Working with developmental disabilities is a challenge — especially when the groups are not split up according to cognitive ability. I have some clients who are naming the scribble, while others are functioning on a schematic level in the same group. I find that art as therapy is a great approach with the lower functioning clients, however the higher functioning one’s seem to benefit from art psychotherapy as well.

In an effort to ballance the needs of the group, I’ve been trying to take a middle road approach (similar to Wadeson) when planning directives, but the fact remains that some of the clients do not have the ability to process abstract concepts due to their developmental level. Sometimes I wonder if my approach goes over their heads. At the same time, these clients don’t seem to notice any discrepancy between themselves and others while they are engaged in the process of art making, in a similar way that a 4 year old doing artwork alongside an 8 year old does not seem to notice the differences in cognitive ability between himself and the 8 year old. They seem to take pleasure in the art making process and don’t seem self conscious of others in the group.

What I have found very tricky, however, is introducing a particular directive in a way that everyone can understand so that the lower functioning people do not become agitated because the concepts are overly complex and so that the higher functioning people feel challenged and acknowledged. I guess that will come with time.

I discovered VICE magazine in my late teens. Lesley Arfin’s Dear Diary quickly became my favorite regular article…waaay better than the Gross Jar. Every month I looked forward to reading her old diary entries and her reactions to them in the present.

One day the articles stopped and in the back of my mind I always wondered what happened. I found my answer a few weeks ago when I picked up Lesley’s new book, Dear Diary. In her book, Lesley includes her “funniest” diary entries from the ages of 11-25, where she goes from self-conscious pre-teen to punk rocker to heroin addict to rehab. She includes follow up statements from both herself and the people who played a role in shaping her life…if she could track them down.

Lesley seems to use her writing as a way to make sense of the world. Through the careful review of her diary entries, as well as self-reflection, Lesley seems to discover and accept herself for who she was and who she is today. This process allowed Lesley to realize that there are numerous points of view to a single event. She is also able to connect with others in a way that seemed impossible at one time. I admire her honesty and her ability to confront herself and people from her past.

Here is a brief quote from the afterward section of the book:

“What was once written in a locked-up book on a plain sheet of pink paper had turned into something I could use to communicate with. This is how a girl who was so insecure once upon a time turned into someone who would let the entire world read her diary today…”(p. 230)

There are many ways one can keep a diary (see the post entitled Documentary Film Making). I most naturally use art in this way, but I also find writing during times of crisis extremely helpful in organizing my thoughts. While working with eating disordered patients, my supervisor Jeanette Pailas would often suggest keeping a visual and/or written diary as an intervention. Diary making was a common group directive, where the patients make books for the purpose of recording one’s thoughts throughout the treatment process and perhaps reviewing the entries at a later time.

Whether it be through pen and paper, the fine arts, film making, or even blogging, keeping a diary of sorts seems like the natural tendency for many people. Not only is it often experienced as non-threatening (because you don’t have to show it to anyone), but it can allow for self-reflection, self-confrontation and can be reviewed at a later date. As Lesley demonstrates, it can also be used to creatively inspire others to learn from their mistakes and to accept oneself.