Our Art Workshop Method evolved from 18 years of successful development. The holistic rehabilitative Workshop method promotes emotional healing, personal growth, and creative awakening for people with brain injuries.
The Growing Through It® Art Workshop is a multi-dimensional experience that enlivens members as they participate in the holistic process.
The flexible workshop process fosters verbal, visual, kinesthetic, musical, mathematical, linguistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities of workshop members. As each art piece reflects the groups’ individuality, each individual becomes more confident in expressing their life experiences.
Participants Become Essential Members of an interdependent community.
This interactive workshop Offers people a creative means to express their relationship with their lives in context of a larger community. The whole systems approach is an innovative team-building method, using holistic recovery circle to attain its goals. A circle will be formed for each individual by the end of the process so that his or her recovery can continue to unfold long after the workshop is complete. A licensed psychologist will be in the circle along with Social Workers, family members, friends, etc
The Project Focuses on the Process of Creation, which parallels the process of healing and growth.
The Workshops 11-step Method provides a safe environment that nurtures participants in a creative way to fully involve themselves in their recovery process. The Method focuses on the process of creation that inherently parallels the process of recovery. The experiential co-creative process fosters self-expression—both individual and group – for people who are grappling with living after sustaining TBI. Group members are supported to take 100% ownership as they produce a final visual and verbal artistic reflection of their shared and unique life experiences. Self-esteem and confidence improve as members engage in this dynamic arts activity.
The Internal Outcome is Immeasurably Positive!!!
For the members themselves, the Workshop process is often life changing – inspiring each to tap into an inherent creative “Self.” Each can redefine him or herself in context of others with similar experiences. In reflecting upon their artistic creation, some have also been empowered to look introspectively upon their current life choices and create a support system to help them move through limiting situations.
Members can take further personal ownership of their experience by reading their personal stories during a public performance. The potential for public education and enlivenment is tremendous as the workshop piece is shared in temporary and permanent public venues.
Each Member receives a Certificate of Artistry with a photograph of the completed Art Piece and an abridged copy of the story about what the Art Piece means to the group, and a reproduction of the complete Accompanying Book.
The Art Piece (a three-dimensional, text-laden, acrylic painted collage) and the Process Book documents the entire process that the group underwent to create the art piece: the member-written stories that express what the art piece means to them, brain-storming lists, sketches, original accounts, and photographs of the group going through the process. These are temporarily and/or permanently displayed in local community venues and at state Brain Injury conferences; the original Process Book is displayed beside the completed art as an educational tool where viewers can also write comments. Completed art pieces and accompanying writings are permanently displayed on the GTI web site. In both cases, workshop members are honored for creating a powerful expression of their individual and shared life experiences.
Growing Through It Art Workshops are open to family members, friends and other differently-abled groups. The shared experience leaves all members with feelings of growth and discovery.
For more detailed information on becoming certified to facilitate your own Growing Through It® workshop, visit Facilitator Training in the services section of our site.