Dr. Nadia Collette鈥檚 art therapy practice encompasses the nature of whole person care well鈥攈er background in art therapy, bereavement, biology, and spiritual care makes her well equipped to approach palliative care from a holistic perspective. In her upcoming lecture, "Art therapy at the end of life: When the intangible becomes tangible,鈥� Dr. Collette explains how through the relationship between art, science, and spirituality, palliative care patients can create some peace and comfort for themselves. She shares some of her thoughts with us here.
Lexa Frail (LF): First, could you tell us a little bit about your work as an art therapist?
My approach is personalized according to therapeutic objectives, which depend on the general condition, needs, and preferences of the individual. The patient鈥檚 creations are meant to explore and express one's inner world through colors, shapes, textures, or compositions. They have the freedom to interpret their artistic vision. My role is to guide them with respect and accompany them in this task.
LF:聽How have you seen art therapy make a difference in the experience of end-of-life patients?
狈颁:听During my art therapy training more than 20 years ago, I noticed that patients at the end of their lives were very receptive to this form of therapy and this encouraged me to continue. People were surprised to discover their creative abilities regardless of any technical skills, which are absolutely not required. As a professional art therapist at the unit, I gradually developed investigation protocols with the healthcare team, which allowed us to scientifically evaluate the effects of my intervention.
Through investigation, we observed a significant reduction in anxiety, sadness, and pain, alongside an improvement in well-being. Patients felt highly satisfied with our programming, in which they create and interpret art under the guidance of a trusted art therapist. These artistic processes can help the person make sense of their end-of-life situation.
LF: What are the challenges of integrating art therapy into palliative care services?
狈颁:听A major challenge in hospitals is related to the length of patients' stays. There is pressure from management to discharge patients as quickly as possible. The biomedical perspective often dominates, with its main objective being to relieve physical symptoms. This makes it more difficult to deepen the art therapy process in its emotional and spiritual exploration at each person's own pace.
Another challenge is getting the interdisciplinary team to fully understand the discipline. Sometimes, art therapy is reduced to occupying free time with manual work and escapism to regain a somewhat artificial good mood. This view, while well intentioned, tends toward constant positivity, can be infantilizing, and does not consider the possibility of using artistic expression to work through painful emotions.
Finally, a concrete difficulty in my country, Spain, is obtaining funding for art therapy professionals to work in palliative care services.
LF:聽In your ideal world, what would the collaboration between art therapy, clinicians, and the rest of the interdisciplinary team look like?
狈颁:听Ideally, we would be able to collaborate with the team on a full-time basis, and all team members would have the clearest possible understanding of the discipline. This means that art therapy would be perceived as an integrative therapy that encompasses different levels of depth in working with each person's perceptions, emotions, and reflections, according to their therapeutic needs. From this perspective, clinicians would ask patients and families more frequently about their satisfaction and perception of the specific usefulness of the intervention during their visits. This would have a positive impact on the value attributed to the sessions. It could also result in healthcare colleagues considering art therapy as a form of spiritual intervention, which is sometimes difficult to address in palliative care.
Since working together as a team, we have overcome some of these challenges and I believe that art therapy is now fairly well integrated into our team.
LF:聽Is there anything else you鈥檇 like to add?
狈颁:听Despite certain difficulties, I consider it a great privilege to be able to work in palliative care within the public health system.
Dr. Collette will present on February 18, from 12-1 PM. Her lecture will be held in-person at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence or on Zoom through the National Grand Rounds registration link. This lecture will be presented in French.