Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

I’m very interested to see part 4!

Services – especially healthcare, education and a variety of government services – need to become more efficient and cost-effective if we want to avoid bankrupting ourselves. The best way to do this is to harness the power of new technologies to make these services both better and cheaper…Technological advances have already made products like refrigerators, cars and decent clothing accessible to even the poorest Americans, it is time for the to do the same for the basic services we rely on to keep our country running.

Interesting food for thought…how can we, as art therapists, use technology to become more efficient, thereby securing our futures?

Hat tip Coach Poppy for posting this on Facebook.

Q. How is this different from the branch of psychotherapy known as art therapy?

A. Art seeking is distinctly different from art therapy. In art therapy you might be asked by a therapist to don a smock and soften clay or paint something. Art seeking requires none of this. In art seeking you don’t get your physical hands dirty. There is so much art all around us that already exists-made by artists over the centuries including that made in recent years-that we simply can begin to avail ourselves of what may be the greatest untapped resource for psychological healing.

Seems like Art Seeking is akin to collage, either magazine or online photos…don’t you think?

Actually, this post should be titled “How I’m trying to overcome a phobia and how freaking difficult it is!”

Growing up in the east coast of Canada, in a city with great public transit, I never felt the need to learn how to drive…or so I told myself. I could get around just fine, and it was something I just didn’t have an interest in learning how to do. Fast forward to present day. I live in the Bay Area and still take public transit everywhere, but I’m feeling the pressure when it comes to not having a driver’s license. So, with much prompting and encouragement from others, I reluctantly went out to get my permit and began learning to drive. This is when I realized I had a phobia- the moment when the possibility of driving actually became a realistic thing…something I was going to do. My anxiety became overwhelming, so much so that just thinking about driving turned me into a sobbing hysterical mess. Even writing about this topic still brings tears to my eyes, despite the fact that I’ve come so far. Currently, I am taking driving lessons, practicing and I even drove on the highway for the first time a few days ago. I’m just waiting for desensitization to (finally) take hold, as this has been going on for months…but I have to admit, it is getting better.

Here are some examples of art therapy directives I thought up that would help someone with a similar phobia (and can easily be adapted to other forms of phobic behaviors):

- Using art making to visualize yourself driving. For example, you can begin by drawing, or perhaps collaging a picture of yourself in a car. The next step would be to create a visual story or comic strip about the drive itself, where in the end everything works out okay and you return safely home.

- Using art making to reduce anxiety before and after a visualization or in vivo session. This can mean simply making a mandala, or perhaps knitting or sewing…anything that you find to be meditative and relaxing.

- One may also decide to create a piece of artwork that includes encouraging phrases or images. This artwork could be also be made before or after a visualization or in vivo session, or perhaps it could just be hanging around the house or car so you get a dose of encouragement through out the day.

Its been almost 8 years since I needed to be hospitalized, and I was surprised by how the memories of past hospitalizations (which were traumatic for various reasons) came back to me…with a vengeance. It made me realize- I mean, really realize…not in the way you would take in information from reading and think about it, but from actual experience- how traumatic memories can be triggered, and how they can become bothersome once again if a similar situation arises later in one’s life. This is probably something that happens to many people with chronic illnesses, but I don’t know for sure since I tend to avoid any research on the subject…it just hits too close to home.

Although I was not feeling up to creating artwork during this incident, I did notice there were some symbols that popped into my head, that I’ll probably make artwork about in the future. A recurring fantasy is that somehow my muscles will give way, causing everything to spill out, and I’d be left a lump on the floor. Also, being cut and sewn up from surgery causes me to feel sort of Frankenstein-ish, and some of my past artwork reflects that.

When the new pieces come, I will be sure to put them up on the artwork page.