Social Work and The Arts David Roach
What does it mean to you to be a Social Worker? Who supports you in your work? What do you read about Social Work practice? Who inspires you in your work?
During the intensive Beyond Words: The Place of the Arts in Social Work Therapeutic Practice it became clear to me that the arts are very pertinent to social work practice, social workers, clients, therapy and as a fundamental way of communication, expression and healing. I believe all of the various arts have something to offer and that creativity can be utilised as a great tool. Alex Alexiou May, 2014
From time immemorial, the arts have been therapeutic in the broadest sense of the word. Simply making contact with an art form can provide escape, soothing, or clarity. (Judith A. Rubin (2005) Artful Therapy pg. 204)
If music be the food of love, play on. Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 1, 1
Healing/sacred space
The soul never thinks without an image Socrates On the Soul 4th century B.C. Roman Marble Louvre Museum
If music be the food of love, play on. Twelfth Night Act 1, scene 1, 1
To Kill a Mockingbird
We humans are a musical species no less than a linguistic one. This takes many different forms. All of us (with very few exceptions) can perceive tones, timbre pitch, intervals, melodic contours, harmony, and (perhaps most elementally) rhythm. Oliver Sacks (2007) Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Music and song were intimate parts of the rites and ceremonies in which the meaning of group life was consummated. John Dewey (1934) Art As Experience p 7
But when I listen to it (music) those words that someone else is saying at no risk to me, are expressing what I m feeling. And that is wonderful, wonderful therapy for anybody, whether you re dying, whether you re in a depression whether you ve just had a tough day. (Turner, 2000, pg 22)
Suddenly, I understood that the emotional content of a movie is driven largely by your ears. Your eyes can tell you what s going on in a scene, but it s hard to feel through your eyes. David Owen The New Yorker, April 10, 2006
Working Definition of Music Therapy Music therapy is a systematic process of intervention wherein the therapist helps the client to promote health, using music experiences and the relationships that develop through them as dynamic forces of change. Kenneth E. Bruscia (1998) Defining Music Therapy
There are different approaches to the use of music in therapy. Fundamental to all approaches, however, is the development of a relationship between the client and therapist. Music making forms the basis for communication in the relationship. British Society for Music Therapy, 2004
A case study: Tim A 67 year old man whose wife had died two months previously in a hospice. Referred by a community outreach nurse who found him in tears during a routine bereavement visit. I went through the usual establishment of rapport and bereavement enquiry during which Tim told me of his deep love for his wife, and how she loved his music. He was a jazz clarinetist, who had not been able to play his instrument for months. It was just too painful. Tim told me that he had recordings of his band. I asked him if he would mind playing them for me. He was reluctant, but, when I assured him that it might be hard for him to listen, but it might help him, he agreed. He played the tape, cried copiously, but said that he was glad he could do it. On subsequent visits a major feature of our work was to listen to more tapes. He eventually got together with some of his old band and had private jam sessions, which he said he really enjoyed. I enjoyed listening to his music.
Music changes lives Harmony and hope
Healing/sacred space
King s College Chapel Cambridge, England 1515
Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire in England at 404 feet
The Gawdawpalin Temple, Bagan, Burma (Myanmar) Built 1174-1211 A.D.
The Gawdawpalin Temple, Bagan, Burma (Myanmar) Built 1174-1211 A.D.
The impact of physical environment on emotional and physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing Esther Sternberg (2009) Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being
Perhaps the most important thing a window does is provide a portal an escape from the frightening, painful reality of disease, or a way of accessing memories of a better time and place. Sternberg (2009) p. 9
Sam Wanamaker 1919-1993 Sam and Zoë
The soul never thinks without an image Socrates On the Soul 4th century B.C. Roman Marble Louvre Museum
Art goes on in an environment; not merely in it but because of it, through interaction with it. The career and destiny of a living being is bound up with its interchanges with its environment, not externally but in the most intimate way. (John Dewey, 1934, Art as Experience pg. 13)
Rock Art 11,000 years old Dampier W.A.
Minimini Mamarika The Malay Prau, 1948 Joseph Backler Captain Cook on the coast of New South Wales 1865
Luca Ferrari (Luca da Reggio) Venus preventing Aeneas from killing Helen c.1650, oil on canvas AGSA
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Death of the Virgin 1605-6, Rome Oil on canvas
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Death of the Virgin (detail) Rome 1605-6 Oil on canvas
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Conversion of Saul 1601 Rome (Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome)
Berlinde de Bruyckere We are all flesh 2012
Alex Seton Somebody died trying to have a life like mine, 2012
Krishna and Radha Walking by the Jumna In the Moonlight Having Exchanged Clothes From the Bhagavata Purana
Claude Monet Water lilies, green harmony Paris, 1883 Oil on canvas
Frederick McCubbin The Pioneer 1902 Oil on canvas
Old Walter Tjampitjinpa Water Dreaming 1971 The wavy lines represent the Rainbow Serpent The concentric circle is a water hole
Art explores our senses, and it is through our senses that we connect to the world and to human experience and feel empathy for one another. Journal of the National Medical Association, 2003
Making visual art The act of creation Observing the creation Finding meaning
By interacting with paint and canvas the student expresses feelings and engages the mind in a creative process helping to relieve the pain. Journal of the National Medical Association, 2003
Do you have enough time for your family? Do you have time to do nothing?
The role of the arts in Social Work practice Do you have time to: Read novels? Go to the cinema and live theatre? See exhibitions in art galleries? Go to music concerts? Paint, sculpt, write, sing, make pots, cook, knit?