ART THERAPY IN SANATORIA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27493, 29 October 1954, Page 16

ART THERAPY IN SANATORIA

“DRAMATIC RESULTS” REPORTED ADDRESS BY LIVERPOOL GRADUATE Art therapy has proved that it can contribute to the welfare of the tuberculosis patient, and in some cases dramatic results have been reported, according to M.iss Frances Rutherford, a graduate of the Liverpool School of Occupational Therapy, and now an occupational therapist at the Masterton Hospital. In an address on art therapy in the sanatorium, read at the conference of the New Zealand Registered Occupational Therapists’ Association in Christchurch by Miss M. Bamford, Miss Rutherford, who was unable to attend the conference, made a plea to therapists to recognise the need of the tuberculosis patient to do creative work, and to keep art therapy within tne field of occupational therapy. Undertsanding of the illness, with dll its difficulties, combined with an art training, was the ideal basis for the art therapist to achieve her best results, Miss Rutherford said. In the treatment of tuberculosis patients, art therapy emphasised the emotional and creative aspect of living and helped in the readjustment of the patient, she said.

. “It should and will become a closer link in the work of rehabilitation,” said Miss Rutherford. “Art is something we all want and need; it is an adventure into the unknown, whereby we tap those inner springs of unlimited resources,” she said. “In a tuberculosis patient, the emotions are heightened, and the patient becomes more sensitive. It is therefore essential to use this energy, and to use it constructively. Some patients find study, crafts, games, or even gambling sufficient to satisfy their needs. Many need other interests to ward off the frustration of endless hours in bed, spent worrying and trying to solve their own problems.”

Encouragement was very important in the early stages of teaching art to these patients, but it must not take the place of constructive criticism, Miss Rutherford said. Annual exhibitions of painting and drawing could be a big incentive to work for —not exhibitions of best work done but displays of all efforts made by patients with the art therapist during the year.

In many cases, therapists were able to arrange further trainjng and possibly financial assistance for a natient after discharge. This could lead to a settled occupation later, Miss Rutherford said.