Grandma Layton, art therapy adult student of her time. She found her cure from illness by completing over 1000 drawings and paintings. She never sold a single drawing in her life time because she found peace, relief and physical cure of her aliments in her art therapy work. Her drawings and paintings have been published and displayed in galleries around the world. 

Stained glass work and religious stained glass art are excellent works of art and skills that adult patients can learn and do at home. 

The Soul Support Book by Deb Koffman an excellent book of images that can help individual diabetes patients better understand their thoughts, emotions and opinions about having chronic illness. The book allows the patient to become involved with thinking about how they feel vs. how others might tell them they should feel about having a chronic illness. It supports the soul of the individual and gives them thoughts that can support them as adults with an illness. 

Journaling and writings of patients thoughts and emotions about having diabetes and its complications: family stressors to blindness. The writing of daily notes and journals can help individual patients deal with the ever changing disease and give them new reasons to accept and handle the daily problems of diabetes self care. 

Several text were used as resources for our art therapy work with the diabetic patient. Finding the proper resource for adults is a key factor in success. Soothing Shapes and Landscapes is a $12 book with numerous drawings that focus on color and the emotional effects that it has on the patient. A calming influence. 

During the Art Therapy for Diabetic course my assistant was Sheryl Spralin, RN who assisted with various duties: art therapy education, monitoring glucose log education, exercise walking therapy, diabetes patient education and insulin teaching and self management skills in the area of coping with chronic illness. 

Art Therapy Project: I-DEAL Class work April-October 2004

The work you see below is of various projects and art therapy activities completed by the 26 adults in our ART Therapy for Diabetes Patients 2004. In the future we hope to show you some of the various exercises that were given to the patients during the course of the four initial art therapy drawing lessons. Please note that all of the adult learners had no prior art education or craft skills prior to our first class in April of 2004. The I-DEAL project has provided several of the adult diabetes patients to find a new source for dealing with the stressors of chronic disease.

Cooking classes were part of the final sessions in the fall of 2004. Diabetes patients need to understand the skills of healthy eating, cooking for two (when your an older couple--no kids at home), and family gatherings and social event eating. 

Husband and wife team. The husband told of his understand of the problems of glucose monitoring. He never fully understood the effort it took to do it on a daily basis...until one night as he got in bed next to his wife..she asked, "Did you check you blood sugar before coming to bed tonight?"...He said he never fully understood the process and the self management it took until that question was asked of him that night. 

Art therapy patient sharing her story on closing night. She told all of us how much this experience changed her outlook toward the illness of diabetes. She lost over 75 lbs. during the course of 5 months. 

Art therapy summer project of a "type A" diabetic female patient. 

Copying exercise. Goal was to see if you could remain calm or to see if you are one that gets upset over trival things...like the "diabetic police". 

Example of a drawing activity. Each partner was told to draw several images that gives them good thoughts. Their partner was told to copy the drawing. During the activity we measured the mood changes of the individual being copied. Did they have coping skills to handle critics? 

Male patients moods to various key words on the complications of diabetes. 

Male patient's view of his place in this world with diabetes and its complications in his life. 

Male patient drawing to mood music. 

Art therapy early class. Drawing and coloring straight lines. Emotions for each line.  

Male patient trying to deal with coping skills session and depression symptoms. 

Male patient dealing with coping skills session. 

Female patient dealing with coping skills session. 

Stark images can result from art therapy patients. Thought of death are common. Living with a chronic illness gives one a feeling of doom. Thus over 40% of diabetes patients will experience thoughts of death and have bouts of depression that require medical care and support. 

Example of food collage work. 

AFLAC! Ducks in art therapy. 

Animal drawings in art therapy. Men enjoy this activity. 

Food as art. What can I eat with my diabetes? 

Collages are excellent method of encouraging the 'discouraged patient' to research new information on their illness and new approaches to cope with the disease.