FIND YOUR ART STYLE | Mental Health | Heidi Larew | Episode 107

FIND YOUR ART STYLE | Mental Health | Heidi Larew | Episode 107
Ready to challenge your perspective on art and mental health? Join us in a captivating conversation with Heidi Larew, an esteemed art therapist, supervising counselor, and chemical dependency counselor. Heidi, with her extensive experience working with Alta Behavioral Healthcare and Laura Hofstetter and Counseling Association, shares her passion for art therapy and the transformative power it possesses.

In this candid talk, Heidi and I delve into the incredible potency of imagination in therapy. We discuss how art and creativity can bridge gaps between disparate ideas and serve as powerful therapeutic tools. We take cues from classic literature, shedding light on how art can foster rejuvenation and healing. Together, we explore the fascinating project known as the connector hall, a venture that marries practicality with the celebration of individuality. We also delve into various creative projects and their therapeutic potency. With its perfect blend of creativity and therapeutic insights, this episode is an enlightening journey for therapists seeking fresh perspectives and anyone intrigued by the intersection of art and mental health.

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Chapters
0:01
Art Therapy and Community Projects
10:04
The Power of Creativity and Connection
17:39
Creative Projects

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Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 0:01

Welcome to the Voices for Voices podcast. Thank you for joining us today. I am Justin Alan Hayes, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, host and humanitarian. You can learn more about Voices for Voices on our Instagram, facebook and YouTube channel at Voices for Voices, and on our website at Voicesforvoices. org. Voices for Voices is a 501c3 nonprofit charity organization that survives solely on donations. So, if you are able to, please consider heading over to Voicesforvoicesorg to help us continue our mission and the goal and dream to help 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. Or you can also send a donation to the mailing address of Voicesforvoices at 2388-BECKETT-CIRCLE-STOW-OHIO-44224, where you can also make a donation on the cash app at Voicesforvoices. Are you or somebody you know, looking for a volunteer opportunity? If so, please reach out to us today via email at president at Voicesforvoicesorg. Now I've found the Voices for Voices to provide a platform for folks that share their stories with others as we work to break the stigma around mental health, accessibility and disabilities, while also helping people get the help they need and helping them prepare and or transition into the workforce with the Voicesforvoices Career Center, where we connect talent with opportunity for both job seekers and employers alike, from coast to coast and in every job industry and job level.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 2:10

And who can forget about merchandise? The Voicesforvoices merchandise shop is up and running at Voicesforvoices. org forward slash shop, where shipping is always free. Again, all donations are 100% tax deductible. Today, please join me in welcoming our guest. She is a supervising counselor, art therapist and chemical dependency counselor. She works for Alta Behavioral Healthcare and Laura Hofstetter and Counseling Association, and we're also grateful to have her on our board for Voices for Voices. On our board of directors. Today's guest is Heidi Larew. Thank you for joining me today, Heidi.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 3:00

Thank you for having me, yeah absolutely so far, our viewers and our listeners. I became aware and to note Heidi through my group therapy after my five day inpatient Akron General Hospital and at that time the specialty that I interacted with Heidi was around art therapy. But Heidi, I've learned, does more than just art therapy. She supervises teams to be able to share her knowledge and experience of two to three decades of experience with others and once we, I guess, reconnected a couple years after my stay, she's been a big supporter of the organization which started out as just the voices for voices a brand new day event at our infancy and her experience and knowledge has been very helpful and it continues to be helpful with everything that we're doing now and into the future. So just very grateful to have Heidi with us today. So let's just start on. Where do you work at?

Heidi Larew: 4:25

I work for Alta Care Group, also called Alta Behavioral Health Care. That's in Youngstown, ohio, and we serve Mahoning County and Trumbull County, the Mahoning Valley. We're an organization for children and families. And then I also work for Laura Hofstetter and Counseling Associates in Hudson, ohio, and I provide some supervision outside of those places of employment and do some presentations.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 4:53

Great. So your experience, not just in the fields that you work in, but just being able to converse with your patients. Where did that come from in your career and maybe personally, to be able to have those connections, because oftentimes people are interacting with you for maybe the first time or only a couple of times, don't really know you, oh yeah, and so being able to just have a conversation as well as work through the challenges, how'd that come about in your life?

Heidi Larew: 5:29

I think you might be asking what was my interest originally and then how I connect with people when I get started.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 5:35

Yes.

Heidi Larew: 5:35

And my interest originally was that I just I love art and I love ideas and talking about the mind, thinking about how I think and how other people think, how that's similar and different, and then sort of like a Venn diagram, how you would bring that together and think of, like where do we both think in a similar way that we could connect with each other. And then when I initially meet people, I let them know what some of my backgrounds are so that I can be helpful. But I really try to think about that person who's right in front of me, whether it's someone I'm supervising or a colleague, or if it's direct client care, just that person that's right in front of me, what might help them. That's kind of where I come from.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 6:20

Right, so you have a pretty packed schedule, some would say, of working in multiple areas organizations. Is there something particular that you're working on at the current time?

Heidi Larew: 6:37

So one of the groups that I'm connected with is the Helms Foundation in Youngstown and they are supportive of art therapy program development and they provide supplies and equipment and then they promote art therapy. So I'm very fortunate to be involved with them and that is the biggest program that I'm supporting right now. Like project that I'm supporting right now is the Helms Foundation. I'm so fortunate that I can do it through auto behavioral health care and I also have some support from the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board for that project. So that's it. That's where my heart is is with getting art therapy out into the community more.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 7:28

Yeah, and I know for me and probably multiple listeners and viewers, art can take many different forms. It's not just maybe visually, it could have a form of music, it could have a form of communication and body movement and different areas that people might not think that also apply Not that you're a musician per se, but in the whole sense of art can take many, many different forms. So when you talk about being creative, what do you mean about that?

Heidi Larew: 8:11

So when I talk about being creative, I think about bringing ideas together from two different worlds, ideas that might seem really different from one another, and then finding out how those ideas might work together to make something that's productive, maybe novel. There's lots of different definitions of creativity, so for me, I immediately think of where I work at Ulta Behavioral Health Care. I'm so fortunate to work there and I think of some of the projects that we've done. So, for example, we have this art right in front of us and it's visual. And then there was this one project that we did. Well, I kind of want to talk about a few of them, but okay, but it has to do with not the visual but how we brought the people together. So the visual is so important. I mean, that's right there at the core of art therapy. But for me, the creativity is like I was saying, it's bringing together novel ideas from different backgrounds. So like the first thing that we did was repainted a picnic table out at our camp program and a lot of the children put their hands on it and it just took something that was old and needed some cleaning up and made it into a beautiful community experience, and then it's there for good. And then the next one we did was the core aired fence, which, so like I actually had very little to do with putting paint on that core aired fence, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't creative in the project, because I helped organize the different interns that contributed to that and some clients and that core aired fence. That was called the secret garden and we started it in 2020.

Heidi Larew: 10:04

And I cannot think of the author of the classic book right now, but this classic book was written in the early 1900s and it was about people following a epidemic of cholera, some outbreak of cholera. So in the story the little girl lives, I believe, in British India and she awakens to her parents being dead and she's sort of like hauled off to some place in England where she lives with her uncle and he has this garden that she's not allowed to go to. She's a grumpy little girl and he's kind of emotionally unavailable. I think his wife had died and it had been her garden. So it was really interesting that we were doing the secret. We were calling this the secret garden.

Heidi Larew: 10:58

Myself and the art therapy interns had referenced the book. We also talked about Tom Sawyer's fence and some metaphors with that, and so, anyway, we painted it and in the secret garden in the book she brings the garden back to life and the man's not as grumpy anymore and she's not as grumpy anymore and there's some other children that are involved and it's about like rebirth and rejuvenation. So that was our second big creative project, but it was about bringing the people together and it was about the idea that we're going to make it through this really hard time. So it appears as though it's about the visual art, but that's not all there is to it. Does that make sense?

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 11:43

It does, and I think that ties also into supervising staff, of connecting with the staff what they'll be able to also share with their patients and their clients. That it doesn't always have to be about, like you said, the visual art, about bringing people together, getting people together to do things that might seem basic to some people, but the way it makes them feel they feel accomplished and that they're doing something.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 12:17

I know that that's how I felt, that I'm not a great artist, but being able to see a product at the end of a class or end of a couple of days, to be able to just see something that I did doesn't have to be the most lovely thing, but it's still something I was able to see, and I think there's some things in life that aren't like that, where we don't see a process all the way through, where we might just have a bit in peace. So, supervising others and sharing your knowledge with them, and knowing that you're having an impact on not just the staff but their patients, how does that just keep you going?

Heidi Larew: 12:55

Oh well, I'll touch back on this in a minute, but I think it has to do with the concept of flow, just being so in the moment of your experience. I think that's what keeps me going and I feel a little bit like that right now, like we're doing something creative and it's just like cool, this is good, like it's like during that time, except that I just mentioned it, during that time you usually like kind of lose track of time and you're just like right in it, you know. So there was this one other project that we did. So like right now I have one person that I'm supervising through ALTA and then three that I'm supervising outside of there as art therapists but I also do that with chemical dependency counselors and mental health counselors.

Heidi Larew: 13:42

But this one project we had, it was the connector hall. It connected two buildings. So in the beginning of it, myself and the art therapists and interns asked our colleagues what mattered to them, and one of the first things that was mentioned was the seasons of life and the seasons of change. So this connector hall I really don't know how long it is, but my guess is maybe 400 feet between the two ends of it, and I don't know, maybe less, maybe 200. It's really hard, I don't know.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 14:15

But anyway it's fun Some distance yeah.

Heidi Larew: 14:17

Yeah, and it connects these two buildings and it has the seasons it starts with fall, and then winter, and then spring and then summer, as it goes up, and each part of it is reflective of one of the different individuals that we asked what would they like.

Heidi Larew: 14:36

So the idea was to give honor to people, and so, as I picture the hall, I think of this one area that's done like a brick wall and that one is about hard work and that's like the symbolism of it. And then there's another section that is it has something that is supposed to appear like a wrought iron gate, and so it's supposed to look traditional and classy. And then, as you go up the hall, there's a section that is a field of daisies and that is it has like a ethereal haze to the background and that is symbolic of being present with people and just appreciating that person. And then, as you go up the last section of the hall, there's mountains that are done in the same ratio of height to our Alta logo. I think we tried to do that. And then there's a Sasquatch, and the little Sasquatch is representative of playfulness.

Heidi Larew: 15:41

Oh, and there's a squirrel that is representative of playfulness too so everything represents something somebody requested, something, we thought about them, and then it also serves a functional purpose. So I think some forms of creativity it's nice when it's novel brings ideas together from different worlds. One of the purposes is that the Sasquatch is there like it wasn't done this way on purpose, but it functions this way. When new employees come to the organization they are oriented about art, therapy and different programs and at the end of my presentation I asked them to look for the Sasquatch so it gets them connected with that whole piece of it. And then another aspect of the creativity was that when people were painting there were some that I knew.

Heidi Larew: 16:32

If I said would you get these cans and set these things up and do this piece, they would just do it. And then I knew there were some that I needed to sort of find out what they loved and then let them like and then me step back and just kind of monitor from a distance but let their passion happen. And so that was part of the creativity. And then also there might be an individual who was new to the group, like an employee new to the group, and another individual that was really good at helping people feel connected and that would help with like retention. So that's part of the creativity I mean. I love the art, but there's this other piece of it that really matters a lot to me.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 17:13

And you can just feel the passion when you're speaking. And that's something that when I see, when people see at home, because somebody's passionate about something that makes it resonate so much more with them.

Heidi Larew: 17:33

Yeah, it's passion, hyper-focus. Whatever, I'm glad for it.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 17:39

So what are some creative projects? You've touched on this a little bit, but are there any creative projects that you want to highlight, that you've worked on, that have been really special, that you want to showcase and share?

Heidi Larew: 17:54

Maybe we could talk a little bit about these, like just because they're examples and they're right here, and then maybe about what I'd like to do next, if that's okay. So this one is just an example of something that can be used. Sometimes I will ask supervisors to decorate a bottle and think about if a bottle washed up on the shore and it had a message in it for you, what would be in it? And so this is like an art therapy, supervision intervention, and I just love that. So that's what that one is. And then this one is a little dish, that same kind of découpage, and you know, you can see that you don't have to be an artist to do these things. It's not hard, you know, and you can get in that flow state. But this one is about comfort, and I didn't bring my little candle but you can put the little LED candles in there, and that's about like different ways that you can find comfort or comfort others or comfort yourself. And then this journal is something that I worked on during the shutdown, and each of the pages, most of the pages have acrylic paint and some pen, and this is a Mandela. These are done where you draw a circle, draw another circle around it and then everything you do you do it the same, so that no matter what direction you look at it, it looks the same. And so just that repetition you can kind of get into the flow. And there's a lot of other history behind Mandela's, with the psychoanalyst Carl Jung, and there's like so much else you can do with that.

Heidi Larew: 19:38

But there's those kind of projects that are like in the moment either. This was myself, some of it was done, some of these were done on telehealth with clients. This I sometimes do with clients or with supervises. And then this one the message in the bottle is with supervises Also. Sometimes I'll have that if I'm teaching someone how to supervise, it'll be a genie in a bottle. And the genie comes out and the question is, if you had a wish for yourself, the person you're supervising and the client, what would the wishes be? And so it's just like so much more like where you really sit with it and no matter what you're struggling with professionally, you're sitting there making art with your supervisor and it just doesn't feel as stressful as if you weren't doing something with your hands. So those are some things that we work on all the time. Those are like little creativity, things that are like in the moment. They're not like big projects like the connector hall.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 20:45

So what would you like to do next? I know you mentioned so many different aspects and areas. Are there certain, or is there a certain area you want to focus more on or you want to learn?

Heidi Larew: 20:59

more about yes, okay, so I am not positive. I have the pronunciation on this. But Mahali, chikson, mahali, have you ever heard of him?

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 21:12

No, I haven't.

Heidi Larew: 21:12

Okay, so I'll give you a spelling leader, but the first name, I think, is M-I-H-A-L-Y-I. So he wrote this book Flow. And then there's a second line to that and it's about creativity, and he talks about five phases of creativity and they sort of remind me of the scientific method, which I think has four, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's really similar.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 21:33

Sounds very interesting.

Heidi Larew: 21:34

It has to do with like gathering information. That's like the preparation, where you've got your question and you're really immersing yourself in something. And that's where I am at in this one thing that I'm thinking about, which is this idea. We went from the picnic table to the courtyard fence, to the connector hallway, and now I would like to do art. My dream is to do murals, like on the outside of buildings, and again it has the visual component. But that isn't what it's about in my heart. It's that I would like these to be advocating for organizations that have a cause.

Heidi Larew: 22:12

So let's say, for example, you have people who receive services at a shelter and then you have like a big side of a building, and so this is where I'm just like gathering information and thinking about ideas. And what could we do? Like who would be the different people that might help me get a forklift Right, you know? Or what paints do I need to learn about? Like what paints actually absorb directly into the wall so that they don't chip off later? Like I need to figure all that out. And then, let's say, you've got this group of people who lives at a shelter or is staying at a shelter for a while. Maybe they could put the base coat on, if I had a projector and I could project something beautiful up onto the side of the wall. And then what's the little code? That's not a barcode, but it's that fuzzy looking little thing that people scan. Now it's like a little square.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 23:12

Yeah, that thing, that QR code.

Heidi Larew: 23:14

The QR code. So what if there was, like, a QR code or a website or a barcode or whatever it was, something that someone driving by could see this and then it could be connected to information people could find on the internet about a cause that was related to the people at the shelter? This is what I'm dreaming about.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 23:35

Yeah, I mean it sounds just fascinating, all the different layers and the way you describe it. The piece of art is not just a piece of art, that there's tons of meaning and it can go towards helping people. So not only helping the people through doing the art, so if they take their time and do that for that time, but then to get the community and organizations involved in that with the supplies and being able to sponsor. I think that that's pretty noble. That's big vision. I like it.

Heidi Larew: 24:19

That's what I'm dreaming about.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 24:20

Yeah.

Heidi Larew: 24:21

I'm excited about it and the things that I'm doing right now. I'm happy with this, but this is something that I dream of.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 24:28

Yeah, and I mean I'm glad you share that, because part of what I like to project through the organization is being able to dream and to have, maybe bigger than life, goals and aspirations and wanting to do things and working towards them. We may get there and do it, we may do a piece of it, but to be able to have a big overarching vision and to be able to touch in this example, so many different people at so many spots along that process too, it's not just one. It's the beginning of OK, we need to get the supplies Now, we have to get the people.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 25:04

And what's the angle? We want to make people more aware, we want to educate them. We want maybe donations that cover food or shelter, different things, and so when you talk about it like that, it sounds which it is. It sounds huge and amazing. When people look at it, they might not get that, but when they look at the whole process, that art isn't just the art itself that there's a thought process that goes into it and that is just as important as the finished art itself.

Heidi Larew: 25:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, the outcomes of it in the end are measurable. You can figure it out, but along the way sometimes you can't know immediately what else is gonna come of it, and but I do really treasure those moments when you're right in it and I can picture being right in it and people working together on the project and just like seeing it come in, come in. You know just, I picture that part, yeah. So thank you.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 26:08

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Is there anything that we didn't touch on that you wanted to make sure you covered in this episode?

Heidi Larew: 26:16

No, no, I'm just grateful that we did this. Yeah, thank you, no this is great.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 26:21

So our followers may have listened to an episode with Heidi last year, but now that we've made this shift to be able to to be able to do the podcast on TV and then be able to incorporate it into our YouTube channel and then all the audio platforms as well as the transcripts that people can read, so we can touch people in different ways to get the message out. So that was the reason why I wanted to bring Heidi back, not just for being a member of the board, but be able to share, like, what are you working on? Because there's probably somebody listening or watching that may have an interest in some artistic thing in their life and I just want to thank you for your time.

Heidi Larew: 27:09

I also would like to say one other thing, and it's that if anyone has a mental health need, they can always reach out to me, and I'll do what I can to try to get them connected, whether it's counseling, chemical dependency, art therapy, or if they're interested in pursuing a career in that world, I would be glad to support them as well.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 27:27

Okay, Do you want to share the information or do you just want to include it in the show notes?

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 27:31

Just the show notes Okay yeah, so we'll have that information available. So check out the show notes or description, the paint on transcript Be able to get in touch with Heidi. Before we end just want to touch on two important days the organization coming up. One is on May 25th. That's going to be our Voices for Voices Day, or World Voices for Voices Day, which we're have the tagline of Celebrating the Voice in All of Us, and so what this is going to be is there's going to be a 24 hour marathon of the Voices for Voices podcast on our YouTube channel. We're going to have 24 posts, one on each hour of the day on May 25th, new content to share with our followers, and the goal is the next year to have a walk associated with the World Voices for Voices Day. So be on the lookout for that every May 25th, and it's from 2023 going forward.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 28:39

And then, lastly, our third annual a brand new day Gala fundraiser is going to be held on October 13th from 6.30 to 8.30. It's going to be held at the Leona Farris Lodge in the Stowe Silver Springs Park and that's at 5027 Stow Road in Stow, Ohio, 44224. Dan Flowers, the president, CEO of the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank, is going to be our keynote speaker and the Alison Breaux judge, is going to be receiving the 2023 Voices for Voices Ambassador of the Year Award. We're also going to have sign language interpretation for the entirety of the event. We're going to have music, we're going to have art and raffle items and you name it and all donations are tax deductible.

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 29:27

Tickets per person are going to be set at $150 per person or, if you would like a table of six, you can reserve that for $750. You can find all the ticket information at VoicesforVoices. org. And, again, all donations are tax deductible, as Voices for Voices is a 501c3 nonprofit charity organization. So I want to thank you for joining us in this episode of the Voices for Voices podcast, and I also want to thank our Heidi ,Larew, for spending some time with us today. So until next time, I am Justin Alan Hayes. Have a great day and be a voice for you or somebody in need. Thank you.