Finding Community and Connecting through the Arts Online

By Amanda Gee, BFA, RCAT, RP (left) and Virginia Jahyu, MA, EXAT
Toronto, ON

The Studio began as an expressive arts drop-in group held at our clinic, From Trauma to Trust, within the clinical department of Vita Community Living Services in Toronto, Ontario. It was developed by Virginia Jahyu, expressive arts therapist and is co-facilitated by Amanda Gee, art therapist and registered psychotherapist.

From Trauma to Trust was opened to provide therapy to individuals with intellectual disabilities who have experienced trauma. After the closing of institutions for adults with intellectual disabilities in Ontario, lawsuits were filed against the government for the horrible abuses that people experienced in these places (CBC News, 2016). After the lawsuits were settled and people received settlement funds there was money left over. It was determined that this money should be used to provide supports for the people who had survived the trauma of the institutions. Vita Community Living Services put in an application for funding to start a trauma clinic providing free service to those who had been institutionalized in any way. The clinic was designed to be fully accessible and to offer new and otherwise unavailable therapeutic options and choices for those seeking service.

When The Studio began, and took place in-person, it ran once a week on Monday afternoons. The call-out was inclusive to those who lived with disabilities and everyone was welcome. This drop-in group was developed to serve a need: to build community and connection for individuals who are isolated, and who may have difficulties making friends and a lack of opportunities to do so; to bring people together to make art, to sing, to act, to share, to laugh, to cry; and to experience what it means to be human at the intersection of disabilities and the arts. The arts continue to serve as a holding space for all participants, a fertile ground for authentic expression. Our goal was to facilitate and foster a safe-enough group for each person to see and be seen, to hear and be heard.

Within the group we saw the community grows and flourishes, during the group and even outside of it. People who had a hard time making friends, who were isolated, were developing natural friendships. They were independently connecting: exchanging numbers, making plans, going out, and having fun.

Through this process of group development, some people were also faced with boundary-setting, such as declining invitations and the sharing of personal information. We took time to discuss this in group and recognized the difficulties and importance of the word “no”. The act of setting boundaries helped with recognizing one’s emotions and feelings as well as the right to make our own decisions, and, ultimately, assisting in helping us find our own ‘voice’ within the group dynamic.

We nourished a safe space where everyone was welcome. There was a core group of regular attendees, but new people came and were welcomed in warmly. When difficulties came up, we addressed them as a group, as a community. The Studio was an important part of the week, it was a place to go, a place to be accepted for oneself.

When the pandemic was announced we realized that we needed to temporarily shut down the group because it was no longer safe to bring people together in a group setting. We were sad to make this decision, but it was the safest choice. We were conflicted with this decision because we valued the in-person experience and witnessed the benefits of physical connection. We were also obligated to follow physical distancing regulations, as our priority has always been the health and safety of the people we support.

We started to think about how we could take all of our treatments online. How could we still provide the service and create community for people within our organization but also for the people outside the organization who would come to group every week and who flourished in that setting?

We adapted our delivery style from in-person to a virtual group through an online platform that was easy to connect. We then came to a decision to offer The Studio: Online twice a week. The decision to offer the group twice a week versus once a week came from the need for more connection during the pandemic. The Studio: Online began and the first participants were many of the core group who attended weekly in person. Group member Cintya shares with us, “meeting two times a week makes me happier. It’s nice to see my friends. I love doing my artwork at home. I feel much happier now. Some people do art, some people just don't. It's alright, anyone can do what they want.”

Many of the core group still attend and we’ve had many new people join. Group members started to share the link and invite friends. Additionally, we reached out to our partners and other organization to offer The Studio: Online as an artful resource to the people they support.  We have had people join from distant communities, people who, if this was not a virtual group, would not have been able to attend. This adaptation has helped us reach a further and wider group of participants.

At the beginning of our virtual transition, technology was a bit of a hurdle, both therapists and participants had to learn and adapt. People join through computers, tablets, phones, and smart TVs, working with what they have. The same goes for art supplies. We used to provide supplies at the in-person drop-in, but we mostly operated in an open studio style. Typically, we had an opening, a closing, and sometimes a theme but participants were free to choose what they wanted to work on and with. The online group offers the same format.

The pandemic has created more isolation for people who are already isolated. We wanted to creatively respond to this situation by continuing to offer our drop-in arts group. By moving online, we were able to continue building a consistent, safe, and artful space. The community continues to grow and support each other in ways we couldn’t have imagined. It is helping us all through this uncertain time. By being together we are reminded that we are not alone, even if it may sometimes feel that way.

Reference:

CBC News. (2016, April 17). Court approves $36M for ex-residents in class action against Ontario institutions. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-class-action-settlement-adult-mental-disabilities-1.3555337