Finding Meaning in Art from Jessica Harbin on Vimeo.
Four years ago, Sara Bennett-Steele made a decision to transform her life. After years of photography, a change of heart sent Bennett-Steele to The Art Institute of Chicago to study art therapy.
“I was an artist to begin with, and I also did a lot of volunteer work. I just loved to be in people’s lives,” Bennett Steele explained. “And I thought the two need to marry: the idea of art and people and the healing component.”
Bennett-Steele began a program at the CJE SeniorLife Center for Healthy Living two years ago encouraging older adults to express themselves through art. Her work at the Center for Healthy Living has taken art therapy out of a clinical setting and into a community environment.
In addition to the satisfaction that Bennett-Steele finds in reclaiming the artistic side of seniors, she is also very aware of the benefits her work can provide for her clients.
In older adults, art and art therapy encourages greater communication, self-expression, reduces isolation, and provides cognitive stimulation and memory support. Bennett-Steele says these benefits only scratch the surface.
“[Art] raises self esteem through mastery of skill…it feels good to know a new skill,” she said, adding, “It encourages a sense of accomplishment, a sense of purpose and it can be used as a tool to gain knowledge.”
Aside from encouraging her seniors to have some fun, Bennett-Steele says her work requires many of the same skills of a traditional psychologist.
“As a therapist I want to be right where they are at. And if they want to go deeper into an issue, whether it’s a past or present issue, they are going to guide me and I am going to be right there alongside them.”
In her therapy, Bennett-Steele helps individuals see their life in a new way.
“I always like to say that they’re reinventing themselves,” she said. “ They’re counteracting what can happen when you get older, which is thinking ‘Ok. This is it. I’m at the end of my life. I have nothing left to give back.”
But after a moment of reflection, she emphasized, “But they have so much to give.”
So Sara Bennett-Steele continues to give herself to the seniors at the CJE SeniorLife Center for Healthy Living.
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