The Anderson Museum of Art is introducing art therapy to its offerings, beginning this week.  IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports on how museum officials believe this new program will address mounting mental health problems in the area.

Lauren Daugherty is a mental health counselor from the Heron School of Art and Design.  She is serving as the lead counselor for the AMOA’s Artistic Wellness Outreach Program. She believes that art as therapy can reach certain areas where traditional therapy falls short.

“People who have a really hard time engaging verbally, this can help them organize their thoughts. This can help them get something out on a page that they don’t even necessarily have to talk through,” she said. “It gets out of their brain onto a piece of paper. So, anybody who kind of struggles in that more verbal processing, this is going to be a really great modality for them to use.”

The art as therapy sessions can accommodate groups as big as 10 people and aims at addressing the mental health needs of attendees through various art forms such as drawing and painting.

Daugherty wants to make sure people know that art as therapy isn’t just for children. She says the techniques can work for anyone, so long as they are willing to engage in some childlike play.

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AMA executive director Mandee Spano says that the Artistic Wellness Outreach program was three years in the making.

“We were looking at where we wanted to go as an organization and we kept coming back to looking at what our specific community needs,” said Spano. “Time and time again, no matter whoever’s doing surveys, it all comes back to mental health.”

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Officials see the Artistic Wellness Outreach Program as a way to extend the AMOA’s impact beyond the walls of the museum. They hope that the program’s success paves the way for future mental health projects in Anderson.

Counselors like Daugherty are also pushing for art as therapy to be covered by Medicaid.

CORRECTION: The Anderson Museum of Art abbreviates its name as AMOA, not AMA as we previously reported.

Thomas Ouellette is our reporter and producer.  Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu.