Quincy What occurs when your tale cannot be adequately conveyed by words?
Where words finish with a paintbrush, a song, or even a karaoke machine, healing starts at Clarity Healthcare. The A.R.T.C. program from Clarity Healthcare gives adults and children who are battling substance abuse or mental health issues a voice.
Clinician Kasey Harlin founded A.R.T.C. in 2003 while working in St. Charles, Missouri, treating early adolescent substance misuse. Harlin was searching for a fresh approach to connect with her clients who were not improving with conventional behavioral health treatments. She looked to the arts.
According to Harlin, I began with simple supplies like sketchbooks, crayons, and a karaoke machine because that’s what we had. In order to get money for better supplies, I came up with a curriculum and gave A.R.T.C. a name. I believed our clients should have access to authentic content and a more comprehensive experience.
A.R.T.C. stands for using creativity to achieve recovery, responsibility, and resilience. A.R.T.C. is about more than just art, Harlin stressed. Every project is linked to a clinical goal, and every A.R.T.C. activity has a therapeutic purpose.
According to her, A.R.T.C. is a strengths-based, client-driven intervention. During their interaction with us, we want the customer to select the car they drive. It could be poetry, art, dance, athletics, music, or gardening. It involves using the client’s language throughout the entire therapeutic procedure.
Preferred Family Healthcare, the parent business of Clarity Healthcare, and Clarity Healthcare have expanded their offerings beyond adolescent substance misuse services to include adult and adolescent service lines.
Arriving in Quincy in 2015, A.R.T.C. provides behavioral health treatments, inpatient and outpatient programs for substance use disorders, and Thriving Minds, a collaboration with Quincy Public Schools and Clarity Healthcare, to 30 clients.
Substance abuse and mental health treatment might be difficult, but they don’t have to be intolerable. According to Harlin, clients can deal with that frightening stuff in a less frightening way by using interventions like A.R.T.C.
There will be an opportunity for Quincy and the neighborhood to witness the program’s effects directly. On August 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Clarity Healthcare will have a public A.R.T.C. demonstration at its clinic located in the senior center in downtown Quincy at 639 York St. Community members have the opportunity to learn more about resilience, recovery, and the effectiveness of creative healing at the event.
As an outpatient client, Alexis Covert takes part in A.R.T.C. Since its inception, A.R.T.C. has served thousands of people in Missouri and Illinois, including Covert.
According to Covert, A.R.T.C. helps me communicate my feelings and pain and allows me to let go of the pieces of my history that I can no longer bear.
In Quincy, painting is still the most popular creative expression, but A.R.T.C. is still adaptable. Mosaics, patchwork quilts, dream catchers, rock art, stained glass, and poetry with a recovery theme have all been employed in previous initiatives. Additionally, clients have taken part in cooperative group art projects that highlight belonging and community. In ways that language frequently cannot, Harling observes that artistic expression aids clients in processing trauma.
“There aren’t many common words that adequately describe what it’s like to experience trauma,” Harlin stated. However, metaphor, music, and art are strong enough to convey that message.
According to Harlin, she is frequently amazed by the depth of understanding and skill displayed by the artists who take part in A.R.T.C.
“I’ve met some of the most incredible, underappreciated people,” she stated of our clients. They are incredibly perceptive and creative in ways that even they find surprising.
The community is encouraged to support the A.R.T.C. initiative. Volunteers, musicians, and artists from the area are invited to lead events or showcase their skills.
In my opinion, it all comes down to demonstrating to our clients and the community that they are so much more than the actions that led them to us. Despite the fact that the things that were presented to us may have been gloomy, we should let them shine in a way that enables them to view themselves positively, Harlin stated.
On Wednesday, August 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., you can witness A.R.T.C. in action at 6639 York St. in downtown Quincy.
