New art therapy support group offered for Hollings cancer survivors

A new support group offered by the MUSC Arts in Healing program is designed especially for cancer survivors at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

The art therapy group is an eight-week cohort that will use art to help cancer survivors process their emotions.

No art experience is necessary, because the art itself is not the point, said Marie Doll, a board-certified art therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist who will lead the group. “The goal of art therapy is not to produce a beautiful work of art. It's really about the creative process and having the therapist help guide you through that,” she said.

Doll has worked in medical art therapy since 2009. She said that for cancer survivors in particular, the enormity of what they’ve been through often doesn’t hit until after they’ve completed active treatment. They’re no longer engaged in a “fight” with a defined enemy, but the anxiety and stress are still there.

“The art-making process adds an extra layer of therapy because a lot of times we don't have words for how we're feeling. It can be hard to verbalize our emotions, and the art-making process can unlock those feelings. It can help us confront our fears. It can help us process our stressors,” she said.

The group is designed for people to attend the entire eight weeks so that participants can delve deeper into their feelings as they get more comfortable as well as build relationships with their fellow cancer survivors.

“A big part of art therapy is sharing the work that you've made, so participants will do the art-making on their own in the beginning and then a portion of the hour-long session is saved for participants to have the option to share what their artwork means to them and what that process was like. It can open up conversations,” Doll said.

She added that a variety of media will be used, including watercolors, clay, paper and more.

The support group will also incorporate instruction on meditation and deep breathing – skills that participants can use on their own at home when they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Art therapy will be offered 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursdays, beginning Jan. 16, at Synchronicity, 1523 Mathis Ferry Road in Mount Pleasant.

The group is free, but registration is required. Contact Anne Puckett at hanleya@musc.edu for more information.

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