| Home | About Us | Hotlines | Activism | Presentation | Discussion | Contact | Search | |
|
Welcome
to the ARTS and HEALING page
First, let me introduce myself. Ten years ago I began my search to connect the arts with the healing process. Intuitively, as a 9 year old, when I started my first journal, I already knew there was something safe and healing about writing, poetry, and the visual arts. I became certified as a Poetry and Journal-Writing Therapist in the 90's and commenced on a Master's of Arts program in Counseling, integrating arts with traditional healing processes. I am also a survivor of sexual violence and so intimately know the struggle to heal. I am looking forward to working with you on this project. Marcia R. Reich, Poet, Artist, Survivor, Therapist, Wife, Mother, and Creator of the Arts and Healing pages for the RAPEIS … website. For
more information, please contact This is a new venue for us. One that we hope will support us in our search for unique and inspiring contributions from survivors, their healers and loved ones. Anyone who has been touched in some way by sexual violence is encouraged to send us their creations. Through the arts we hope to view another side of sexual violence and its impact on the lives of victims and survivors. We encourage contributors to write something about their art. A few suggestions on what you might include in your writing: AT WHAT POINT IN YOUR HEALING DID YOU CREATE THE PIECE YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING? TELL US WHAT YOUR ART SPEAKS TO YOU OF. EXPLAIN IF AND HOW ART PROVIDES A SENSE OF HEALING FOR YOU AND IN WHAT WAYS YOU BELIEVE IT CAN DO THIS. We are looking to these pages as a place of honesty and of hope. We believe that the "arts" have numerous possibilities to help survivors heal from the traumas they have experienced. Art can be a part of what I as a "healer" have often called the survival box. We can use it to self-explore, to calm and soothe ourselves, as well as, to communicate the horror and often wordlessness of the experience of sexual violence. Art is a way of placing emotions and feelings onto a blank page, of allowing what lives inside to live outside as well. There is no doubt that art heals as it reveals. First a few notes of caution: It can also hurt a lot! - We will be displaying art and poetry from survivors. Initially we will work with images that have less potential for initiating overwhelming emotional states. Sometimes, persons who have experienced trauma begin to feel an increase in emotions and feelings when faced with images or writings that resonate with their own personal experiences. Other people's work and stories can initiate this reaction. In case this does happen, please discontinue going through the images and reading the poetry. Take time to nurture and calm yourself. A walk, a bath, a nap, all can help the process of slowing down the body's responses to traumatic experiences. If you don't feel a reduction in symptoms and you continue to feel overwhelmed, please contact a mental health professional in your area. You
may mail or email your work to the following: creativecs@att.net A
CALL FOR ART Upcoming
FORUM For those who can't wait - Remember, start slow and don't begin by spending hours on your projects. Set a timer and walk away from whatever you are working on. Moderate and modulate. Total immersion in the beginning stages of creating art can be too emotionally intense.
ARTS AND HEALING  Rape
Is…
Healing can often feel like an endless battle. In this painting I was struggling with all the selves within me and the determination to maintain the presence of some light. In the early days of my healing process I found myself unable to paint women with their eyes open. I did not recognize this at first as something that was mirroring my inner experience at the time. I was not yet ready to "see". In essence I did not want to admit to myself the reality of sexual abuse and its place in my life. In time I was able to paint who I am - A woman with eyes fully open, still grieving but able to see. - Marcia Reich - The following is a poem written during a Sexual Assault Survivors Workshop. The workshop participant wrote about the different "voices" that speak to us during the course of our lifetime. Here she speaks of the inner voice that we often lose trust in. This is a poem of great spirit and strength. It mirrors my sense that finding the voice inside, the one we often think we have lost, particularly after experiences of sexual abuse and violence, is vital to our sense of healing. -M. Reich-
The Voice Inside You
can do it! You know you can.
|
 Trauma and violence have become so prevalent in our society. The need for education and change is so vital now. Without a voice, without a lot of voices, there is only more of the same.- Marcia R. Reich |
