Art Therapy for Diabetes

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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".

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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?

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

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

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Male patient drawing to mood music.

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

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

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Male patient dealing with coping skills session.

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Female patient dealing with coping skills session.

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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.

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Example of food collage work.

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AFLAC! Ducks in art therapy.

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Animal drawings in art therapy. Men enjoy this activity.

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

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

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This is an example of glass work done a visually impaired diabetic patient and her husband. New craft skill. They enrolled in an adult education to learn about the activity in a more in depth way.

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For some patients simple stained glass drawing sheets were submitted during the summer months. Each patient would mail in a monthly art project with their walking log and glucose monitoring results. It also addressed their mental outlook on food, diet and quality of life.

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Scapbooking is a popular activity in our area.

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Exercise was encouraged and part of the summer project. Each patient and their partner was given a pedometer to record their weekly activity. Daily walks of 20 minutes was the goal. One patient walked over 350 miles during the summer months. Another lost over 75 lbs. Two quit smoking.

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Photography of nature was an exercise that took place during the summer session. Patients were encouraged to document various places they visited during the summer. Several art projects resulted. Scapbooks on vacation travel, drawings, paintings, crafts and writing in personal journals.

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Soothing Shapes and Landscapes by Linda Mannes Wildes is an excellent source of color and the working of palative effects on one's soul.

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Art therapy for men needs to be open to personal interest. Flytying is an activity chosen by one of our patients who found peaceful art in this handmade craft.

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Clowing around. One session of art therapy was based on positive thoughts. When is the last time diabetes patients were told to embrace their disease in a positive and happy light?

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Many of the art therapy exercises involved music with 1-4 minute drawing exercises. The very first session involved drawing a straight or curved line to music and thoughts (emotions) about diabetes and its impact on the patients quality of life.

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Art therapy patients worked with a support partner during all class activities. Most of the diabetic patients had their spouse attend with them and take part in the six months of activities. All of the spouses respond with great support. Each spouse of a diabetic patient said that they learned new "things about diabetes and about their loved one."

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Art therapy can be simple drawings with color that create a mood. Relaxation with chronic disease for just a few moments during a day can create a different outlook for hours to come.

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This drawing was done from a photo of Bar Harbor, Maine. esgreen 204

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This is a drawing done from a photographic taken in Italy during a vacation trip. Photos are a great source of drawing, painting and model work. dlgreen 2004

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Drawing from photographers is a process that helps patients view the outside world and the environment. Way to many diabetes patients become house-bound and lose touch with nature and natural things in the environment.

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In art therapy for diabetes patients we also encouraged patients to develop new craft skills. Several patients started new projects in knitting, stained glass, mosaics, painting, drawing, scrapbooking, flyfishing tying, and more that will be see here in various photos.

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Mandalas exercises from "Explore Yourself through ART" by Vicky Barber were very helpful for patients to be able to see their diabetes and its relationship to chronic disease. Mandala exercises help patients re-gain control over various aspects of diabetes self management plans.

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Art Therapy group working in with their partner on "diabetic food thoughts"... and trying to find ways to rid themselves of negative emotions surrounding food and eating.

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Diabetes Art Therapy Group 2004 working on moods and feelings that deal with chronic disease issues..

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Art Therapy Class 2004 (First Quilt ever made)

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clip art thoughts on diabetes and the life cycle

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Diabetes Art Therapy class April 2004

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Dana Green, PA-C

I-DEAL Project 2004: Art Therapy with Diabetes Patient

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I-DEAL Project 2004 was educational project fund by Aventis Pharm. My initial plan of the project was to enroll 20-24 of my diabetes patients who had experienced various degrees of anxiety, stress or depression in their lives on a regular basis. My goal is to find out how effective art therapy and the use of social support systems can help diabetes patient change behaviors to help them better understand the emotional needs of their illness. I have found over the years that my diabetes patient and other patients with chronic diseases have high levels of self imposed stressors or have multiple episodes of depression.

Plan of the (I-DEAL Project 2004) was to use our group art therapy project in a six month long course for a group of diabetes patients who were willing to try new approaches to gain a better understanding of their behaviors and to assist them in adapting new coping skills for daily living. Our goals were to improve their self management/education skills for their individual needs; assist them in developing life long coping skills; provide up to date diet, exercise and weight management education; provide them with educational information that can be gained by proper use of daily glucose monitoring; and allow them to complete self assessment of their disease by using group and individual art therapy exercises. Their will be also be completing a series of self assessments for improving their individual mental outlook and psychosocial approaches to having to live with a chronic disease on a daily basis.

I-DEAL Project 2004: Project Information on Art Therapy for Diabetes Patients at St. Joseph Healthcare Diabetes Center, Bangor, Maine

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I-DEAL Project 2004 (Background data/information)
Several studies have suggested that patients with diabetes can benefit significantly by learning coping strategies that they can apply to help them with the mental stresses of having a chronic illness. Our project took the approach of teaching our patients “coping skills training” and “problem-solving skills training” during group art therapy sessions. The group education sessions consisted of 26 adults from ages 28-76. The patient group had several common bonds: symptoms of stress resulting from complications of chronic disease; high levels of anxiety and depression; and multiply complications of chronic disease with type 1 and 2 diabetes.

The I-DEAL Project was designed to promote and improve: I-Individual learning experience; D-diabetes decision making; E-Education in behavioral and coping skills; A-Self Assessment; L-Quality of Life.

We accomplished our goals by teaching the group coping skills through art therapy projects and group education sessions. Our course consisted of four group adult diabetes educations sessions that covered advance diabetes care in the areas of: social problem solving, communication skills training, cognitive behavioral modification and conflict resolution. The various topics included: werewolf syndrome; enjoying your food and diet; good physical activities for the diabetic family; glucose testing for promoting improved health; coping skills for diabetes patients lifestyle and art therapy for behavioral change and problem solving,

The first four educational sessions consisted of adult learning and group sharing on the diabetes complication for sixty minutes, then one additional hour of art therapy for behavioral change. Our goal was to change the approach diabetes patient are taught diabetes self care in order to make successful behavioral change. By using group art therapy projects we helped the patients with their personal struggles with life stressors, anxiety and depression.

The I-DEAL Project 2004 format:
April & May 2004: two monthly one-hour group adult learning sessions on diabetes self care with and additional hour of art therapy that reinforced the principals of behavioral medicine.

Summer sessions: weekly exercise education on nature trails; diabetic cooking and herbs and alternative medical approaches for diabetes patients; individual monthly art therapy exercises for anxiety and depression treatment; group art projects; glucose monitoring studies on health improvement and personal health assessments. (Monthly mailings and group activities.)

Closing education session and presentation of group behavioral changes through art therapy was conducted in September 21, 2004. The class produced over 500 different art projects such as: color pencils and line drawings, scrap booking projects, paintings, soothing landscapes, writing samples, photographic images, craft projects, poster presentations, family history studies and home landscaping projects. All projects were document in various art styles for presentation to the group. We produced a PowerPoint presentation of the group’s projects.

All this information about or project (adult diabetes class sessions and behavioral art therapy projects) for each session (all four class sessions are now in a power point presentation). We also have a special power point presentation and art images that recorded the various projects completed by the group.

We have also documented the psycho-social changes, glucose control (reduced A1C), cholesterol, blood pressures reading, weight loss, smoking cessation, exercise education and anxiety/depression improvement of our group. These finding will be part of the new art therapy presentation.

Goal of the web posting is to share our I-DEAL Project with other medical providers who have an interest in helping diabetes patients that are in need of behavioral change for depression and anxiety disorders.

Goals for 2005 are as follows:
1. Make available in the near future a graphic and visual presentation of our 2004 Arts in Medicine course: I-D-E-A-L Project (Art Therapy for Diabetes patients with stress, anxiety and depression disorders.)

2. Provider examples of patient art projects, clinical data outcomes and documentation of diabetes patient improvements during a six-month I-D-E-A-L Project 2004 study.

3. Network with arts in medicine clinicians about chronic disease, community health and healing arts.

4. Share and promote the wellness our diabetes patients gained through self-expression during the I-D-E-A-L Project 2004: Art Therapy for Diabetes Patients.

Art Therapy for diabetes patients with depression

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This website is being designed as a clearhouse and collection site for the various uses of art therapy in the treatment of anxiety, stress and depression related disorders for patients with diabetes.