Responding to the Crisis of Addiction: What Can Art Therapists Do? (NY-AS6268)
Papers
Holly Feen-Calligan, PhD, ATR-BC
Dr. Holly Feen-Calligan is Associate Professor of Art Education-Art Therapy, at Wayne State University (WSU), Detroit, MI. Holly completed her PhD in Higher Education at the University of Michigan, and her master’s degree in art therapy at Wright State University, Dayton, OH. Her research interests include the role of service-learning in higher education and using art therapy with individuals coping with addiction, poverty and homelessness. She co-founded ArtsCorpsDetroit, a community based university initiative aimed at strengthening volunteerism and community arts. In the last two years, Holly and her students participated in a pilot and a 12-week research study in conjunction with WSU’s School of Medicine exploring art therapy to address stress in Syrian refugee children living in Michigan. Holly is active in AATA and in 2018 served as Interim Editor for Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.
This paper draws from over 60 years of literature on art therapy with substance abuse, literary texts, and autoethnographic inquiry to formulate a philosophy and strategy for using art therapy with addictions from education and prevention, treatment of the whole person, and political advocacy.