Area art therapy programs drawing talent

By JUSTIN DENNIS

jdennis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

When healing trauma or anxiety, some suffering hearts show better on canvas, said Heidi Larew.

Larew is a certified art therapist and supervisor recently hired by Alta Behavioral Healthcare of Youngstown to oversee art therapy courses, which will be supported by HELMS Foundation fundraising.

“Art therapists use line, shape and color; creativity, metaphor and narrative in ways that give voice to people who may otherwise have difficulty with words,” she said. “For those who can’t find a voice through words, creativity, the arts and imagery can mean the world to them.”

With partnership from Meridian HealthCare of Youngstown — which is now interviewing for its own art therapist — and Ursuline College’s counseling and art therapy Master’s program, Mahoning County’s Mental Health and Recovery Board plans to develop local art therapy programming in the county for the first time and develop a pipeline for new, certified therapists — a field that is lacking, said Terri DiGennaro.

“It’s amazing what I have seen with art and what it has done for people,” said DiGennaro, who heads the HELMS Foundation, or Heal, Express and Learn through all Mediums and Styles.

“[Larew] is a huge benefit — to start to be that person, to start this program and start it out the right way,” she said.

The foundation has raised about $6,000 for art supplies to fill the dedicated therapy room at Alta, she said. She hopes to raise about $10,000 each year to replenish those supplies and keep the program in color. The foundation’s next fundraising event is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Whistle and Keg in downtown Youngstown.

Joe Shorokey, Alta CEO, said Larew’s art therapy and counseling credentials are what will start the wave of new programming. Up until a few years ago, Ursuline counseling graduates weren’t able to complete the supervised, two-year internship needed for certification, due to a lack of supervisors.

Without certification, the practitioners weren’t reimbursable through insurance providers, meaning a lot of agencies “abandoned” recruitment, he said.

Enter Larew, a 16-year psychotherapist from the Cleveland Clinic and former adjunct faculty at Ursuline, who can collaborate with the college and its interns.

She said art therapy is different from other mental health professions. Though it requires Master’s-level education, it has its own “professional identity,” and carries a “sense of inclusiveness” in its community.

“I really enjoy being present with people and I enjoy hearing people’s stories,” Larew said. “I love art. I love the mind. I find it fascinating. I like to be a part of that process of sitting alongside someone while they heal.

“I’m feeling pretty passionate about the whole thing.”

The county Mental Health and Recovery Board is also supplementing Larew’s salary by $15,000 a year, Shorokey said.

Nikunj Patel, Meridian’s director of community outreach, said art therapy is a “natural progression” for the provider, and another way to individualize treatment options.

“With words, you can cover up the things you’re dealing with — you can talk around some things,” he said. “But with art, it’s really hard to do that. It really shows you what someone’s feeling or what they’re going through.

“It’s a powerful means of communication. Anything that we can do to give people options to heal, to recover, to reduce anxiety ... that’s important, as an agency.”