The room was lined with dozens of paintings, some on easels, some mounted on the walls and some on the floor, but all of them told a story or depicted emotions that were unique to the artist.
The art was part of an exhibit held by Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune’s art therapy program at the Virgina Dare Annex, Thursday.
“I get all of my frustrations out through art,” said a rifleman who takes part in art therapy. “You get so focused on painting that time flies by. Sometimes you’re literally sweating. Your hands and arms get tired. It becomes labor intensive because you really want to put that image there. But it’s a lot of fun to see it finally done, to get to see people’s reactions and impressions of your work.”
Some of the art spoke to the military experience, showing fields, homes and Marines walking through smoke in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few spoke of the artists’ homes such as one with a cowboy on a bucking steer with twinkling stars overhead. Others spoke to the psyche with a leering face rising from a bright red backdrop or a smiling doll with a knife protruding through her cotton stomach.
“At Camp Lejeune, art is used to combat the common symptoms of anxiety, depression, loss of identity, grief and post traumatic stress that many serive members experience,” said Gayla Elliott, the art therapist with NHCL.
The naval hospital’s art therapy program has been in place since 2009, and has taken various forms since its inception. Currently, it has open studio groups, structured expressive groups and individual sessions.
“Art therapy gives you a chance to get out of the military environment while you’re still with other service members who understand,” said a special communications signals collection operator who takes part in the open studio group. “It gives you a chance to really express what’s wrong so that you don’t have to carry it around with you all day.”
The group is open to all skill levels, said Elliott.
“(When I started) I didn’t have any art training,” said the rifleman. “I still don’t. It became a really positive thing in my life when I didn’t have any positive things going on at the time. It really took my energy and pent up frustrations, put it on canvas and turned it into something positive. Instead of drinking and giving in to depression I made art and it really saved my life. I deeply feel that way.”
Elliott said she feels that art therapy is more about expressing yourself in a visual form than it is about creating impeccable art.
“If they happen to like it at the end, that’s just icing on the cake,” she said.
The visual method allows for communication that isn’t jumbled by words. Misunderstood, mixed up feelings may present themselves more clearly on a canvas or through a sculpture. Elliot said the process of making visual art uses a different part of your brain than general communication and she finds that through sculpting or drawing people can access their feelings and thoughts on a subject in a different way.
“There are days when I want to scream,” said a helicopter airframe mechanic. “But, when I come to art therapy I’m able to get that out without aggression. It helps me cope.”
The benefits of art therapy have been measured in various studies. It has improved depression, fatigue levels and quality of life in cancer patients, strengthened and alleviated distress and helped clarify spiritual and existential crises within bone marrow transplant patients, according to the 2009 State of the Field Report for Arts in Healthcare.
“I’m not one to fully express myself,” said the special communications signals collection operator. “Most Marines don’t like using words, but a picture is worth 1,000 words. When I paint, everything comes out.”
The exhibit was the first, in what Elliot hopes, is a long line of art exhibits for her groups. She said she plans to do exhibits annually.
For more information about Art Therapy, e-mail gayla.elliott@med.navy.mil.