ART THERAPY FIRST AID FUNDRAISING PD WORKSHOPS

Firstly, my heart felt condolences for the losses suffered by so many people, animals, plants and places.

Like many others, my first reaction, on hearing that a place I love has been burned, was shock and disbelief. This was soon followed by tears and grief. I had been camping in Croajingalong right up until a few days before the fires. The encounters with wallabies, goannas, wombats, lyre birds and eagles were vivid in my minds eye, and the memory of how precious and beautiful this natural haven is was still fresh in my soul. I was in Inverloch, further down the coast in South Gippsland, when my son rang to tell me the fire had burned through Thurra River where we camp. As the week unfolded, the smoke came, and the enormity of the fires became apparent.

I was staying at my partner’s place, and his daughter, who is a ballet dancer, volunteered to run a workshop in a fundraising dance day put on by the local ballet school. Online, the Australian Psychological Society had generously made their Psychological First Aid guidelines manual available to the general public because of the fire crisis. My friends were making donations to fire relief causes, and I was compelled to wonder what I could do too.

Back in 2016, I had been in Nepal after their devastating earthquakes facilitating ‘Psychological First Aid’ training from an art therapy perspective. I remember how meaningful and useful this was for the community of people who attended.

These factors all combined and gestated inside me, and, in a moment of creative inspiration, I decided I could run a fundraiser too – and offer something useful and supportive for art therapists at the same time!

I booked a space and started to put the word out that I would be running an Art Therapy First Aid fundraiser on 19th January in Brunswick. I had 20 places and the training booked out in the first two days.

The Art Therapy First Aid Professional Development workshop is suitable for qualified Art Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Play Therapists who already, or plan to, work or volunteer in communities affected by bush fires.

The training covered:

• Psychological First Aid principles as outlined in the APS Australian guidelines for supporting people affected by disaster.
• Clarify what Psychological First Aid is and what it is not.
• Practice sessions to build confidence in offering Psychological First Aid.
• Adapting Psychological First Aid principles into Art Therapeutic responses.

Participants gained confidence and skills in practical art-based ways to promote:

• Safety
• Calm
• Connectedness
• Self-efficacy
• Hope.

100% of all proceeds were donated to Victorian Bushfire relief, with $1000 donated to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal and $1000 donated to Wildlife Victoria.

The event itself was incredibly moving – the energy of 20 art therapists coming together in one space to create together with the intention of easing suffering and supporting healing is not to be under-estimated!

We have started compiling a resource of activities appropriate to art therapy first aid, and this will continue to grow and evolve over the coming months, and be shared with all attendees.

Interest has been so strong for more Art Therapy First Aid professional development training, that a second workshop is scheduled for Friday 21st February in Geelong.

ANZACATA have asked me to take this training to Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane so that more art therapists can participate, and this is being planned for early March.

My thanks go out to all of the attendees for your generous spirits and loving support. I am proud to be part of this caring community, and so very proud of the amazing work you all do in making this troublesome world a better place. Thank you.