A new program from Button Factory Arts in Waterloo will give local nurses a safe place to heal through art.
Starting in January, a free virtual art therapy program will be offered to give nurses a chance to explore art mediums and connect outside the workplace.
“Nurses need an incredible amount of support that is very difficult for them to get because of the realities of their jobs and the way in which their shifts are divided,” Cathering Millinger, an art therapist with Button Factory Arts, told CBC News.
Millinger will be leading the nine-week program. She said like many frontline workers, nurses are still dealing with the effects of stress and burn out.
“Just the expectations that are placed on nurses right now to provide care and to constantly be present and we wanted to do something that specifically looked at dealing with that particular form of burn out and within a space that they could be safe and understood,” she said.
Each week, Millinger said the group will explore different mediums that include watercolours, clay and collage. Millinger said art therapy taps into people’s curiosity and imagination.
“It’s allowing art to be a tool for exploration,” she said. “Fostering people’s curiosity toward a material and what it can do and toward how you’re feeling about the thing you’re creating.”
Those feelings could be tied to memories or a story and exploring those feelings while creating something can help people relax and heal, she said.
“It’s more than just creating a watercolour of a landscape. It’s about entering the use of watercolour in a different way that’s more exploratory and based on imagination,” Millinger explained.
She also said giving nurses the space to connect with one another outside the workplace with support goes a long way to help them heal. Millinger hopes nurses feel heard and appreciated.
Registration for the program quickly filled, which Millinger said speaks volumes about the need for similar programs to be offered to frontline workers. She hopes to bring back a similar program later in 2022.
The program is part of the Art Through the Generations program at Button Factory Arts and was funded by New Horizons grant from the federal government.
