Her Caregivers Group blessed Alex on her last day as art-therapy intern at Emmanuel.

I want to thank you all for tuning in each week and allowing me this space to expand upon my learning experiences this year. I have truly loved interning here at Emmanuel in the common art, Boston Warm and Art & Spirituality programs. From my first week, I immediately felt welcome and a part of this amazing community, for which I am deeply grateful. It has been a gift to have been able to enter into the reciprocal love, care, and generosity that takes place in these programs.

By being a member of the common art and Boston Warm community, I have learned much about what it means to truly be IN community with others. I have learned that the purpose of having is to give. I have witnessed people being generous in their time, talents, compassion for others, knowledge of resources, and material goods. The members of this community have been an excellent model to demonstrate that where generosity and care abide, there is abundance to be found: abundance in the shared meals, art, stories, play performances, lighting of the prayer candles, and games of Uno (and most certainly in the draw-2s).

I have also learned so much about what it means to be unhoused in Boston. I have learned that homelessness is not one dimensional; it’s not one-sided, and it’s not what defines a person’s story. Each week, the members of common art and Boston Warm have shown me that what defines a person is their love, creativity, resilience, and strength in the face of adversity. I am grateful for the members who have shared with me the wisdom of their lived experiences.

Lastly, I have learned a lot about myself as an art-therapist-in-training over the course of this internship. I have come to understand that part of my therapeutic philosophy is that healing rarely takes place in a vacuum. So community healing is essential in the facilitation of restorative justice, reconciliation, and collective well-being. Systemic and societal problems necessitate community interventions, which is why programs that Emmanuel facilitates are so incredibly important.

As a second-year, art-therapy grad student, I am well-versed in the idea that “Art is therapy”.  I have read the scholarly articles and written the papers; and I know from my own personal practice that art is an objectively regulatory and self-exploratory act. In transparency, however, leading up to this internship I worried that facilitating arts-and-crafts might feel trivial when met with the reality of what a lot of the members of these programs are facing daily. Throughout my time in these art-making spaces here with Emmanuel, I have been able to see this idea of “art as therapy” proven in real time.

Each Monday at the Suffolk House of Correction, I have witnessed women enter our group anxious or on-edge and leave an hour later significantly lighter and relaxed. The energy shift is palpable. I also witnessed this energy shift in my Caretaker group on Wednesdays, in which some members reported that art activities helped them learn things about themselves they hadn’t thought of before. These moments have been meaningful in my training and served as an encouragement that creating accessible spaces for art-making can play an important role in therapeutic work, especially for individuals who may not experience many moments of calm or consistency in their living environments.

I am immensely grateful for my teachers here at common art, Boston Warm, and the Art & Spirituality group. Emmanuel Church is truly a special place. I will carry the lessons this community has taught me in my heart as I move forward to my next internship and beyond!