The art of opening doors of understanding
Colombian therapist Carla Ortiz hopes her art workshops will help expats ease into life in Beijing. File photo |
Art therapy is a creative, group approach proving particularly successful with recent arrivals in Beijing who are struggling to adapt to their new and sometimes chaotic environment. Therapist Carla Ortiz launched her Expressions Within Art Studio in February with the aim of providing an alternative to conventional psychotherapy or drug treatment.
Her workshops encourage participants to express themselves through art, or other creative endeavours, such as journaling.
The artwork becomes the basis for the group's exploration of their feelings, which in turn, brings self-knowledge and a greater understanding of their current situation. Because the emphasis is on the creative process, rather than artistic merit of the work, participants need no prior skills or experience.
"Art therapy has helped a lot of people, especially with adaptation issues to the life in Beijing," Ortiz told China Daily.
"It is hard for people who come here, not necessarily because of their choice, but say for a woman whose husband came here with his job and brought the family.
"It can be very, very useful for those partners, through art therapy, to understand the processes and feelings they are going through in a meaningful way," she said.
Ortiz, 27, arrived in China from her native Colombia four years ago to set up a program for handicapped children through the United Nations educational branch, UNESCO. In partnership with the Beijing charity, Magic Hospital, she then launched the Outreach Creative Arts Therapy program in 2003.
Ortiz organized regular art workshops for homeless, ill and disabled children in disadvantaged areas of China.
Ortiz said the challenge of introducing her largely unknown methodology to China was outweighed by the rewards.
"I think [art therapy] is still a very difficult concept to grasp because here in China, there is nobody else doing it, but so far in China, I have found they are very grateful and they keep in contact with me because it has given them great results," she said.
Since the opening of her studio in Chaoyang District this year, Ortiz has worked increasingly with adults who are dealing with a range of different issues, or simply turn to art therapy as a means of self-growth. "We can address all kinds of issues, for example depression or self-esteem. But also for wellbeing, it is like when you do yoga or exercise, but this is an image language process of management," Ortiz said.
She said art therapy was especially suited to visually inclined people, who may find it hard to articulate their confusion or distress. "There is a big amount of psychology in the training, using art as the main means of expression. For some people, it is very complicated to use words, or it is easier to use an image to explore many things."
Cost: One workshop costs 240 yuan ($31). Check out www.expressionswithin.org.
(China Daily 05/18/2007 page20)
