Warrior Scar Jewelry Discussion Program
“Art Can Be An Outlet For Trauma,
and Deliver You From It At the Same Time”
The Warrior Scar Jewelry and Discussion Program is a dynamic combination centered around providing a Post Traumatic Growth experience by introducing a new perspective for healing from a traumatic event. It allows group participants to open up to a unique experience opportunity.
Through initial group discussion, participants will be encouraged to share their stories. Sharing will foster trust and relationships between attendees with similar traumatic experiences through discussion with program hosts Christopher and Holly Gage. Chris, a burn survivor, will present his survivor’s journey through trauma, healing, and Post Traumatic Growth. Group members can see new possibilities when they realize they are strong survivors.
During the Warrior Scar Jewelry activity of this program, participants will be able to express themselves by making a precious Fine Silver jewelry keepsake. By replicating a healed scar from their traumatic experience, we combine art with discussion as a healing modality.
Creating art can be such a powerful part of traumatic recovery. It can become a time of making and working out your inner thoughts and feelings without using words. The workshop activities include sharing, storytelling, and creating. Attendees will leave with a beautifully finished necklace or bracelet with a centerpiece of their design in pure silver. We offer new perspectives and ways to experience your Warrior Scars, seen and unseen.
We help students recognize the growth they have made in their healing and toward their future. The five areas of Post Traumatic Growth that group participants may experience through this program are:
TALK
1.
Telling
your story during group discussion and creating jewelry.
2.
SUPPORT
Understanding the value of support from others and learning to seek it out.
3.
EXPRESS
Expressing yourself through conversation, art, and creativity.
4.
POSITIVITY
Looking for the positive from your newfound strengths by reflecting on your present achievements.
5.
HEALING
Opening
up to new experiences as a step toward ideas of healing and turning struggle into strength.
At the commencement of each program series, group facilitators Holly and Christopher Gage will engage the participants in a group discussion. Group discussion allows people suffering from various challenges to seek help in the company of others they can relate to. Chris, a burn survivor himself, will begin the discussion by talking about his real-life experience as a burn survivor as it relates to the makeup of the attendees within the context of Post Traumatic Growth.
Open and honest discussion among members of an empathetic group will allow attendees to feel more comfortable telling their stories and realizing personal growth they have achieved from their experience – ultimately translating that experience into a beautiful piece of jewelry.
Through group talk, participants will realize the value of having a network of supportive relationships, being open to accepting them, and learning how to seek them out. A sound support system includes a variety of types of individuals and is not just limited to family members.
In preparation for the activity portion of the program (Jewelry creation), we will discuss how powerful art can be as an outlet for trauma by expressing oneself through creativity and making aware that growth can happen when one opens oneself up to new experiences and possibilities.
Five essential guidelines that will be carefully adhered to during the group discussion portion of the Healing
Phoenix Arts Program are:
1. The group setting will be calm and safe. Many people, particularly those with social or self-esteem issues, will shut down when confronted with antagonizing behavior, making the group less than optimal.
2. Make the group fun. With children, games and activities can help break the ice to begin addressing the group’s challenges. It can be as simple as coffee and doughnuts for adults before discussion.
3. Participant’s privacy. It is with the understanding that no personal or private information is owed to the group. Participants will never be required to divulge any particular piece of information at any time. Although ultimately one makes oneself vulnerable by opening up, avoiding a sense of vulnerability and obligation is needed to help resolve challenges. The group facilitators will actively protect participants from this.
4. Encourage, but do not force participation. It is essential to realize that by choosing to attend this program, a person has already taken the first step to help themselves face their challenges head-on.
5. Be straightforward and direct. The group facilitators will be open and straightforward about the group’s purpose: what it intends to do, how, and what challenges we hope to help others in attendance overcome.* This will not come across to make any one individual feel singled out. One of the crucial aspects of group discussion is that the participants who come together feel they are part of an empathetic circle.
*In our past programs, we have experienced several examples of participants redefining how they see their scars – a fundamental change happens – when observing their beautiful piece of jewelry side-by-side with their injury.
