Is your child being bullied at school? Childhood bullying is unfortunately a widespread problem and faced by many of today’s youth.  According to the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study, 27% of students from year’s four to nine were bullied frequently, every few weeks or more during every term. The bullying that is endemic in schools most often takes the form of offensive teasing and being the victim of lies designed to damage reputation.

Previous generations could find a safe haven in their home but young people in the 21^st century have the added threat of cyberbullying so if they choose to use social media to chat with their friends they are also at risk of ‘trolling’. The same researchers found that people who bullied others at school would also bully online – although less common than face to face bullying, 14% of students experienced cyberbullying and 7% experienced both.  The most frequently used mediums to bully someone online are MSN Messenger, social networking sites, texting and email.

Usually the bully and their intended target know each other and may even describe each other as ‘friends’.

The person on the receiving end of the negative treatment may end up feeling anxious or depressed as a result as well as being isolated and lonely. There are also physical side-effects of bullying, like upset stomach, disturbed sleep and increased susceptibility to infection. This is because the child is pumping out extra cortisol, a stress hormone that raises blood pressure and pulse while suppressing the immune system.

If your child has become the victim of bullying, if their grades are slipping, they are skipping school or you think their mood is low, art therapy is a way you can help them release those negative tensions and start to feel good about themselves again.

What is Art Therapy

Art therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses art as a method of expression so that a person can communicate how they feel through painting and drawing. The approach is based upon psychoanalysis – a technique by which a person accesses his deepest held impulses and instincts and acknowledges them even if they are considered unacceptable. Repressed emotions can manifest into psychological problems so recognizing underlying feelings in important in maintaining good mental health and balance. Art therapy could be described as a symbolic language, that is, experiences that are too complicated or frightening to describe in words can be described more easily through the use of pictures. Just as Freud – the father of psychoanalysis – was able to interpret a patient’s true feelings and motivations through dream symbolism, the same can be done through picture symbolism.

Art can bring out the hidden desire for revenge against the bully or help the artist’s self-esteem by giving him an outlet to bring colorful creations to life.

Art therapy is often used for children who are victims of child abuse; physical, sexual, emotional or verbal and who may be suffering from mood disorders, attachment disorders and behavioral problems. As victims of bullying are also subject to emotional and verbal abuse – and sometimes physical abuse – this makes art therapy an ideal form of therapy for them too.

Art allows traumatic memories to be communicated on paper or other media and is particularly useful in children who find it difficult to talk about what has happened to them. Nurturing their creativity and expressing themselves through art can encourage some children to verbalize their experiences when they previously didn’t.

Is Art Therapy Effective?

Art therapy is an effective strategy for preventing anxiety caused by bullying and can be used as a way to explore self-empowerment methods. Edith Cowan University reported on a 10 year old girl who was psychologically affected by bullying and had started to skip school because she was worried she would experience more bullying. She was given six, directed art therapy sessions with one follow up session to encourage her to express her fears and worries about being bullied. She also saw a child psychologist before and after the art therapy intervention to get a measure of her emotional state pre and post treatment. After she had completed the course, she reduced the number of times she skipped school, had a greater opinion of herself and improved relationships with her family members, according to her own estimation and the opinion of her mother, the school principal and the child psychologist.

Art therapy can also be utilised by a child who is displaying bullying behaviour as an outlet for expressing negative emotions in a safe way instead of expressing them by intimidating others. This approach is increasingly being used by schools to prevent bullying from occurring in the first place.

References:

Art Therapy, Children and Interpersonal Violence, Psychology Today, accessed December 20, 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/arts-and-health/201310/art-therapy-children-and-interpersonal-violence

Bullying and Cyberbullying Facts, Queensland Government, accessed December 20, 2015, https://www.qld.gov.au/disability/children-young-people/bullying/facts.html#common

Physical Effects of Bullying, Kwik Med, accessed December 20, 2015, http://www.kwikmed.org/physical-effects-of-bullying/

Matthews, F. (1998). A Case Study : A Short Term Art Therapy Intervention For A Child Victim To Bullying, accessed December 20, 2015, http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1449

Forest, Melanie (2006), Children who Bully: A School Based Intervention Using Cognitive Behavioural Art Therapy, Concordia University, accessed December 20, 2015, http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/8960/

Lyndal Bond et al, Does Bullying Cause Emotional Problems? A Prospective Study of Young Teenagers, BMJ 2001;323:480, accessed December 20, 2015, http://www.bmj.com/content/323/7311/480.short

The Blog today is written by freelance contributing writer; Helen Farnes and I hope that you find the article both interesting and useful.

The Art of Mental Health

When you get into the flow of doing something that holds your whole attention, the experience can become almost like meditation. We can immerse ourselves into this relaxed state when reading, painting, gardening, even for a few moments while ironing or washing the dishes, but when it is a creative activity that catches us up, the benefits can be even greater. Art can be wonderful for your mental health.

The Creative Mind

Creativity doesn’t always have the best press when it comes to mental health, although we are increasingly keen to encourage people to be more creative. There are still many articles suggesting that the examples of great artists affected by mental illness show that being creative makes us much more susceptible to conditions such as depression. There is even some scientific evidence to back up claims that those of us who are more creative may also have a slightly increased chance of developing certain mental health problems, such as bipolar disorder, and that there may be a higher incidence of mental illness in the families of creative people. Some of the characteristics that we prize in a healthy creative mind, such as openness to experience and the ability to make unusual connections between apparently unrelated ideas, can also be seen in certain kinds of mental illness, combined with symptoms that can make these characteristics very problematic. However, this does not mean that creativity and mental illness must go together. There are plenty of creative people who have great mental health, and many people who are affected by mental illness who have never been particularly imaginative or artistic.

The Science of Creativity

Scientists have been working on understanding exactly what the apparent connection between creativity and mental illness means, where ideas come from, and how the creative process itself actually works, but figuring out how our minds work when we create might be even harder than creating a work of art. It is not as simple as the traditional idea of left-brain logic and right-brain creativity. The process of creation seems to involve a complex series of conscious and unconscious processes that take place in networks of neurons spread across the entire brain. These networks work to keep us focused, to reconfigure what we know and remember into newly imagined combinations, and to pinpoint the best and most important thoughts. Exactly how this results in a new poem or piece of art is still something of a mystery, but while we might not understand exactly what creativity does to our brains, we do know that art can help us to heal.

Art as Therapy

The link between mental health and art can actually be a very positive one. While some people fear that creativity can spark mental illness, the truth is that art can actually play an important part in helping people to manage these kinds of conditions. Art therapy is increasingly being used to help people who are affected by mental illness or who are recovering from issues such as drug and alcohol addiction or trauma. Art therapists encourage their patients to express themselves through a variety of forms, from visual art and writing to drama, dance and music. While these types of creative processes can often feel very cathartic and may act as excellent stress-relievers by themselves, under the guidance of a trained therapist or art psychotherapist, they can also be used as diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

How Art Can Help Your Mental Health

Why is this sort of therapy so successful? It turns out that producing art can help to shape our sense of self, a sense that therapists are often working with their patients to change and strengthen. It can help us to express our feelings and to process our experiences, even when we have suffered extreme trauma. Art can also provide a different way for us to communicate with other people, which can be particularly important when there are subjects that we find difficult to talk about. When we create, we can gain insight into ourselves, increase our self-esteem, and develop a greater sense of empathy for ourselves, and for those around us. We learn to see the world from other perspectives.

Artists Healing Themselves through Creativity

Although these benefits of creativity have only been recognized by therapists relatively recently, many artists have been aware of them for years, and there are some interesting examples of people, like Agnes Richter, whose embroidered jacket is preserved by the Prinzhorn Collection in Germany, who expressed themselves creatively while experiencing mental illness. Now that the value of art for mental health has been recognized, these types of creative works are no longer shut away of ignored. Instead, they can form part of therapy, and be celebrated in exhibitions like the annual MIFQ show in Brisbane.

Links on Art and Mental Health:
1. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s TED talk on Flow, the secret to happiness
2. The Scientific American explores The Real Link Between Creativity and Mental Illness and the Real Neuroscience of Creativity
3. Everyday Creativity in Psychology Today
4. The Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association explains What is art therapy?
5. Agnes Richter’s jacket at the Prinzhorn Collection
6. The Queensland Mental Health Commission reports on how Creativity Shines at Iconic Brisbane Art Exhibition

So on the theme of health at the end of Helen’s article I thought I would add just a little humor to the blog with this great quote from James H. Boren;

” I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and enjoying life.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

It never ceases to amaze me how many talented people there are everywhere and in this painting I am celebrating that fact along with the birthday of Sydney’s Opera house although “she” has had many more birthdays since this artwork was painted.

Last weekend we went back to Balaklava the country town that our kids grew up in for the Eisteddfods as our daughter Hillivi and her school friend Jed Rowland were competing.  This year was the 17^th year Balaklava has hosted the competition and visitors come from all over the state to take part in the musical, theatrical, speech and drama performances.  The event is spread out over 3 days and includes a grand finale concert on the Sunday.  This year there were more than 1000 performers in 12 disciplines spread across 6 different venues and an amazing 120 volunteers assisting.  Some of these volunteers are also stars in their own right such as a former English teacher Geoff Gardner who always stars in the local Community Arts productions and is funny as a fit. The local paper The Plains Producer said; “Announcer Geoff Gardner kept the crowd amused and should’ve won an award for his entertaining witty ad libs!”

EISTEDDFOD

The Eisteddfod – which is an old Welsh word meaning a “sitting” but now used to describe gatherings of musicians, artists, poets, actors and crafts-people to compete, compare and learn from each other.  The town population swells to twice the normal size every August when the Eisteddfod are on, so for any budding performer eager to take part use the above link.  Many a famous performer got their start through entering the eisteddfods such as June Bronhill from Broken Hill and Sir Robert Helpman from Mount Gambier as well as Keith Michell from Port Pirie.

ARTISTS ON YOUTUBE

I have previously written a couple of blogs about another local boy made good; James Abberley and if you fancy a look at those art and music blogs here is some links 111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird and 116. Art and Music with Marie James and I collaborated on a Youtube clip which at this stage has just passed the 60.000 views which I think is pretty impressing.  Here is a link to my Youtube channel if you fancy a look as one of my other videos; Kissing Richard Branson & ARTnBED has reached 124.000 views and climbing!

CREATIVITY IN THE COUNTRY

However back to Balaklava, which is very good at producing creative people,  creativity is very much nurtured, embraced and valued which I think is perhaps a little unusual for a small country town where sports is normally the be all and end all.  Perhaps it stems from that the town was blessed with four dynamic women in Di Spence and Bronny Cottle in the performing arts and music side and Joyce Ross and Jo May to guide the visual arts.

STAR QUALITY

Another local performer Kelly Bickle took out several awards on the weekend and also ended up winning the Musical Theatre Solo Champion for her rendition of Wicked as well as winning the Contemporary Vocal Solo Champion where she could have given Liza Minnelli a run for her money with a song from Cabaret.  This girl should have taken off for Broadway a long time ago and I have told her as much for the last 20 or so years, but she is perfectly happy raising her family and living in a small rural town and gets her kicks from knocking the socks off the country folk at the local institute when she performs.  Perhaps Kelly is on to something after all when you look at the miserable lives some of the stars live – all that glitters isn’t gold!

HOME GROWN ARTISTS

So how did my daughter go then, I hear you ask?  Well she and her singing partner Jed did very well indeed says a very proud and happy mum.  They took out 3^rd place in the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble section against a field of very talented ensembles with the William Fitzsimmons song  “I don’t feel it anymore”  Both of them singing and Jed Rowland also playing the guitar and the adjudicator Libby O’Donovan strongly encouraging them to stick together and do some gigs around Adelaide as she felt they had great potential.  Jed Rowland is certainly someone to watch; he is every bit as talented as James Abberley and Jed also did a fantastic rendition of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love which got him another trophy in the solo section in 2^nd place.

My inspiration for my quote today comes from one of the songs Hillivi sang so beautifully on the weekend “Feels like home ” which always brings a tear to my eye, so here is John Ed Pearce’s quote which fit well here;

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

Have you been wondering why your favorite artist, whether it is visual art, singer, band, writer, photographer or whatever page you have already LIKED is not showing up in your HOME page anymore.

Well the reason is simple since facebook was listed on the stock exchange and did rather worse than expected they are now pulling out the big guns in how to turn a profit.

Artists are passionate people and what could be more passionate than getting married so I thought this acrylic on canvas board was a good fit for this art blog.  This naive painting “BALLOON WEDDING” is also available as Giclee Prints.

ARTIST FAN PAGE

If an ARTIST has a FAN page, facebook are requiring them to pay to have their status updates read by all their subscribers.  This is even though you have already “Liked” the page thus indicating that you would like to see their updates through your homepage regularly.  Instead the content we are currently posting goes through less than 10% of the news-feeds.  We used be able to post updates as messages but that function has been removed as has suggest pages to friends.

ARTISTS PAGES

However there is a way around this.  Go to your favorite Artists pages and hover over the button on the page where it says “LIKE” or “LIKED” and then make sure you are check marked to “show in news feed”.  This will not cost you anything nor the artist and you won’t miss updates from your favorite pages.

This week I have had several messages saying that none of my posts are coming through to my fans and friends as the same thing is also happening on our own profile pages.   With 3700 fans on my Naive Art by Marie Jonsson-Harrison and a further 2300 subscribers and over 5000 friends on my personal page (never mind 12000 followers all told on social media) I thought this strange to0.  It seems as Facebook is up to the same trick with our friends pages and trying to make you pay either by having a post highlighted, superliked,  announced or  promoted so that your friends will see it.

SUBSCRIBED TO ARTISTS OR PEOPLE IN GENERAL

So there is a way around this too.  Firstly go to the profile page of the person whose content you would like to see in your HOME page and then make sure you have subscribed to their post.   This is of course if they are not already one of your friends and are happy to have people subscribe to their content.  At the same time hover on the subscribed button and tick “all updates” and make sure the events are ticked as well such as status updates, photos, music & video.

FRIENDS NOT JUST ARTISTS

Finally the same thing is happening to you and your friends own profile pages.  At the moment Facebook is not putting your friends updates on your home page unless you have specifically asked for it.  So make sure you go to your friends profile pages and hover over the “FRIENDS” button and the dropdown list will come up – there make sure that “show in Newsfeed” is ticked.

What I find sad is that artists all create work because they have a passion; they want to make you FEEL.  Some artists like I would like to make you smile, brighten your day; make you forget your troubles for a little while, make you feel good about being alive and perhaps also make you think about something that you hadn’t thought of before.  Whether it is in regard to human condition the plight of animals, environmental or just a funny situation.

So come on EVERYBODY and support your favourite ARTISTS and brighten everybody’s day.

Here is a quote I like from the movie P.S. I Love You;

“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you,

Love Marie xxxx

So I hope this information was useful to you, however if you want to read something a bit more amusing, here is a link; 6. San Francisco Art Blog

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.