Breaking into tears, she explained how the partially obscured
red tissue-paper heart symbolized how the love between her and her
brother in the Philippines had been pushed into the background.
White tissue paper, colored blue to represent the oceans between
the U.S. and the Philippines, covered half the heart. But she said
it was the green tissue paper, in the shape of a devil-figure to
represent jealousy, that was behind the emotional distance between
her and her brother, not the ocean.
As Perla Batan-Ruff explained her broken family relationship,
the other members of the Ted Mann Family Resource Center’s
“Healing Through Art” therapy group for cancer patients
listened, some beginning to well up with tears themselves.
The art therapy group is one of those offered by the Mann Center
as part of its comprehensive healing program.
Each Wednesday, in a session led by Dr. Esther Dreifuss-Kattan,
psycho-oncologist and art therapist, cancer patients gather in a
makeshift art studio ““ a conference room with a sheet of
paint-splattered plastic covering a long table ““ and use art
to express the struggles and joys they are experiencing in their
daily lives as they try to cope with cancer.
Each session gives patients the opportunity to express
themselves artistically, as well as have a forum to discuss what
they’re going through with fellow cancer patients.
Batan-Ruff’s tissue paper heart was her artistic
interpretation of the week’s theme: creating a letter, with
or without words, to anyone, alive, dead or even fantasy.
Early in the session, she talked about her need for support
because of the way her brain tumor had impaired her functioning
related to motivation and initiating activities. She said the group
gave her the outside stimulus needed to get her started on an
activity ““ in this case, art ““ to help her cope with
the vertigo and depression she has been dealing with.
“I’m not really deliriously happy, but at least
I’m not depressed,” she said.
She also said the art is a way for subconscious feelings to be
expressed.
“You express something you’re not even aware of.
Other people find it or discover it,” she said.
As patients are creating and sharing their art and the feelings
behind it, other patients chip in their thoughts as well, on the
art and on the situations they are going through.
While one of the patients, Judy Walker, focused on the bright
colors in a collage she had done as a sign of positivity, another
patient pointed out her persistent use of black in her works and
wondered if maybe the black was a sign of sadness.
Dreifuss-Kattan, the session leader, said the interaction
between the patients at these sessions is one of the main purposes
of the session. She said having cancer can take a toll on patients,
psychologically as well as physically, causing depression and
loneliness.
The session is a way for them to express their feelings with
people who can understand what they’re going through, as well
as give insight into the hidden feelings that patients themselves
may not even be aware that they have.
“Often you’re not aware of the feeling before you do
something. The rage comes out, but (channeled) into creative
production. We do art. You can transform the intangible experience
into concrete experience, and looking at it you can get insight you
wouldn’t have gotten otherwise,” she said.
Dreifuss-Kattan said the art can also make it easier for
patients to talk about what they’re dealing with because they
can point to images in their art and talk about that without having
to refer to themselves.
Dr. Anna Coscarelli, the founding director and psychologist for
the center, which is part of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive
Cancer Center, said patients need more than medicine to heal.
“The main purpose of (the center) is to complement the
medical care that is provided to patients with cancer and to help
improve the quality of life at all phases,” she said.
The center offers individual counseling for UCLA Medical Center
patients and their families, as well as group sessions, such as art
therapy, for the patients and the public.
This week’s art therapy session was the final one before
an exhibition of the pieces to be held March 7.
The exhibition is the final project of Nishan Tchekmedyian, a
fifth-year molecular, cell and development biology and
business/economics student, who said it has been a fun experience
to interact with the patients and talk to some of them who have
been using treatments that he learned about in lab.
The exhibit, titled “The Healing Arts: Visual Insights
into the Cancer Experience,” will be held on March 7 from 6
p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the Jules Stein Auditorium and Conference
Center at UCLA.