the lecture is a part of "Kunst aus dem Koffer" project in co-operation with Goethe-Institut

Creative Work with Mentally Ill Patients Through Drawings and Other Means of Visual Arts

lecture by Reinchild Gerum, Germany

Seventeen years ago, the artist Reinchild Gerum went for the first time in a pchychiatric clinique. It was the moment when she discovered the potential of arts applied in the field of mental disorder and she decided to find out how drawing can be of use for people suffering psychic crises. This was, according to Gerum, the only way energy to be unblocked and to find its way out. Drawing is an alternative way for people unable to communicate verbally to express emotions in a new active manner. At the same time this technique is applicable in the therapist practice enlighting the patient’s condition.

Reinhild has worked with different groups of people: susceptible to depressive states, chronical psyhosis, olygophrenia, men imprisoned for raping, etc. Every week she has regular sessions with two of the groups for 2-4 hours.

Reinchild Gerum strongly believes that those who deal with this specific type of therapy should have qualified education in arts. In her lecture Reinchild Gerum is going to pay attention to different case studies. She will also show drawings from her practice with mentally ill people defining the potential of arts as therapeutic method. Time for open discussion will follow.

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