Create What Words Cannot Say — Art and Healing in Action at the Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Survivor's Support Group by Holly Gage
Art Gives Shape to Experiences that are Difficult to Explain.
Deeply rooted emotions and experiences are often hard to reach, hard to understand, and hard to articulate. Creating art can be such a powerful part of traumatic recovery for burn survivors. It can become a time to make and work through your inner thoughts and feelings without using words.
The Warrior Scar Jewelry workshop by Healing Phoenix Arts brings together activities including sharing, story-telling, and creating. Creativity helps us turn survival into strength and transform pain into meaning. But how?
Post Traumatic Growth is a concept Healing Phoenix Arts discusses in our program; in part, it is about telling your story. We do that with the jewelry we create by first looking at our scars and finding meaning in them.
See: “Explore Post Traumatic Growth through Healing Phoenix Arts workshops” for the 5 key concepts of PTG, graphic below.
Maybe it looks like mountains, as in the piece Kelsay Parrot made, who came to us just weeks after several painful operations and a scar release surgery meant to improve mobility. We were happy to see her, wondering if she would make the workshop, but Kelsay wasn’t letting anything stop her. The spot she chose was the first place they performed surgery to save her life and allow her to breath easier. How meaningful!
Maybe you end up making an arrowhead like Jason Percival serendipitously made. Arrowheads symbolize strength, protection, and courage, and represent direction, clarity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. — This was particularly fitting for Jason, who is only 6 months from his accident and he is already participating in support groups and healing workshops such as ours. What a courageous step for him to take.
Burn Survivor's Support Happens When You Telling
Your Story
A burn survivor goes through an extremely rigorous healing regimen of surgeries, possible skin grafts, stretching and bleeding through pain, learning to walk, and possibly living without a limb. It takes fortitude and incredible will to heal, and those scars undoubtedly represent a Warrior’s journey.
Burn Survivors with trauma often create narratives in their heads about the accident; some of those stories are true, and some are self-deprecating “bully in your head” stories of shame, especially for those who blame themselves in some way. Maybe they were at fault, maybe it was self-harm, maybe they think they deserved it on some level. We need to stop for a moment and ask: is this story conflated, leading to confusion or a misunderstanding about the event, or is it true?
In the workshop, we take a deeper look into the narrative we tell ourselves and try on a new perspective. Yes, the scars represent a burn survivor’s accident, but they also tell a story about your rehabiliation experiences, symbolizing your strength and survival. Growth from your accident comes when you realize that no matter what happened in the past, you have the opportunity to start fresh, open yourself to new experiences, and challenge an old mindset.
From our very worst, most devastating moments, we learn lessons that we don’t realize at the time are in front of us, and from those, we grow unexpectedly. We often become more compassionate, more grateful, and sometimes take what we have learned and help others.
The story you tell yourself, and others, can open up these pathways to a new perspective. Sharing in a safe group setting allows you to unburden yourself and release levels of anxiety that only opening up can do.In our Hearts and Sequins Discussion Circle, we open the circle for conversation with beautiful fused glass hearts made especially for this occasion by Healing Phoenix Arts volunteer, Sherry Viktora. Each heart’s gift wrapping features beautiful sayings that jump-start the conversation.
Jennifer Roche shared that a police official told her she shouldn’t have kicked a Molotov cocktail burning on her front porch, which caught her pant leg on fire, resulting in 4th-degree burns. She alluded to blaming herself. Any of us would have tried to prevent a house fire by quickly kicking the firebomb away. Christopher and Jennifer talked about the incident, and Jennifer revealed that the police officer’s powerful comment stuck with her. This is when evaluating the narrative of shame and blame is appropriate and necessary for healing and when burn survivor's support is really needed
Lacy Roblin is an artist who puts a lot of her feelings into her work, using symbolic imagery in her drawings and paintings to express them. Butterflies symbolize transformation, renewal, and rebirth and hearts symbolize love. Both are very true for a young burn survivor navigating the changes healing brings. Lacy said, “This workshop meant a lot to me because burn survivors coming together to create a community is truly the best thing to ever experience! It helps the bad feel less bad and brings more positivity in an inviting experience.” This kind of connection among survivors is crucial, and we are so glad she felt this way.
When in the Hearts and Sequins Circle, each person gets a chance to speak only if they want to. A sparkly hat is passed around, and when wearing the hat, you can say anything that moves you with no judgements.
Heather Herron, the social worker who runs the Lehigh Valley Support group, joined the workshop. This is the support group Chris and I also belong to, and Heather joined several months ago and has been an excellent addition. She borrowed Lacy’s scar for her jewelry, creating a bond between them.
Connecting burn survivors is an important part of Heather’s role. She said she really enjoyed “being creative and making scars beautiful.” She also participated in the discussion circle and remarked about, “sharing laughter, tears, and hugs.” These moments are so precious and beautiful.
Jolene Blasser seemed quiet and reserved for much of the workshop. When she nailed her design in the final stages, a huge smile of accomplishment spread across her face, and she seemed so proud of her necklace. We usually celebrate what the Warriors in the workshop create with a sequin toss over our heads and cheering that could be heard down the hallway. Jolen remarked after the workshop that she felt “inner peace” and that it “was a great, meaningful opportunity to come together and celebrate our scars.”
Post Traumatic Growth Takeaway Your Warrior Scar Jewelry Can Tell Your Story.
Your jewelry is beautiful, and now it can tell your story. You can keep the meaning to yourself or share it with others. Either way, the story you tell is one of perseverance, of beating the odds and overcoming insurmountable challenges. By telling your story, you open yourself up to new perspectives and narratives that are expressive and real.
As you work on your jewelry, you start discovering another way to express yourself, allowing you to release trapped emotions and experiences that are difficult to articulate in words. The act of creating itself stimulates healing and self-discovery, and can uncover hidden feelings that you may not have been consciously aware of.
Making art, and in particular Warrior Scar Jewelry with our Post Traumatic Growth focus, can help reduce stress, improve emotional resilience, and enhance self-esteem. And don’t forget about the endorphins. These are the body’s natural pain-relieving and mood-supporting chemicals that improve your overall mood.
When the workshop room goes silent as folks put the finishing touches on their jewelry, we can see that the burn survivors’ enjoyment, focused attention, concentration, and a sense of accomplishment are activated.
Creating jewelry with a replica of the scars in pure Fine Silver offers a new perspective and ways to experience your scars, seen and unseen. Through art, it allows for a healthy release that brings peace to the soul.
What Can You Create that Helps You Express Your Story
Before and After Collage: Cut out magazine images and words, and use glue and materials to represent life before your accident, during your healing, and what your life might/does look like after.
Reflection on Emotions: Outline a figure representing your body. Use colored pencils, markers, or crayons to represent your feelings of fear, anxiety, tightness, anger, or peace and calm to help you identify them.
Safe Places: Create or imagine the places that make you feel safe and protected. Draw, paint, sculpt, or photograph these places, and display them.
We’d like to thank Lehigh Valley Hospital for hosting us. Although there is no cost to burn survivors, we know how hard the Heather Herron worked behind the scenes to make this event happen. I’d also like to give a shout-out to Rio Grande Jewelry Supply and Loretta Hackman for helping with some of the materials our warriors need and supporting them as they heal through this valuable program. We couldn’t do this without you! If you would like to help a burn survivor heal and move forward with confidence and pride, consider donating or contributing to the wishlist at HealingPhoenixArts.org.
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