Healing with the Arts: A 12-Week Program to Heal Yourself and Your Community

by Michael Samuels, Mary Rockwood Lane

Heal yourself and your community with this proven 12-week program that uses the arts to awaken your innate healing abilities.

From musicians in hospitals to quilts on the National Mall—art is already healing people all over the world. It is helping veterans recover, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, and bringing communities together to improve their neighborhoods. Now it’s your turn.

Through art projects, including visual arts, dance, writing, and music, along with spiritual practices and guided imagery, Healing with the Arts gives you the tools to address what you need to heal in your life—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

An acclaimed twelve-week program lauded by hospitals and caretakers from around the world, Healing with the Arts gives you the ability to heal your family and your friends, as well as communities where you’ve always wanted to make a difference. Internationally known leaders in the arts in medicine movement, Michael Samuels, MD, and Mary Rockwood Lane, RN, PhD, show you how to use creativity and self-expression to pave the artist’s path to healing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Self Help, Mental Health, Health, Personal Growth, Education

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Michael Samuels, MD, is the co-founder and director of Arts as a Healing Force. He teaches at San Francisco State University's Institute of Holistic Studies and is the author of 22 books including the bestsellers The Well Body Book, Seeing with the Mind's Eye, and The Well Baby Book.

Reviews

[Jennifer Ingley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took a University of Florida online course (free unless you want to pay for a certificate saying you passed) from the Coursera web site, featuring these authors, that follows the ideas in this book. The class was fun and creative. And it looks like an interesting field! Samuels draws upon his experiences as a surgeon and caregiver to a seriously ill spouse. His co-author, Mary Rockwood Lane, also has a background in health care. The authors encourage people to explore creativity in visual arts, music, drama, writing, dance and movement, to overcome negativity resulting from illness, and for those who are faced with a terminal illness diagnosis to perhaps make peace with any mental unfinished business. The authors encourage forming community groups to provide in-person compassionate service to people who are close to home.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I figured this book would be right up my alley. I'm an artist and former psych major with a deep interest in learning new healing modalities. Unfortunately, "Healing With The Arts" was not the book I was hoping it would be. While both authors have numerous credentials that make them well-suited for writing and teaching, the book itself falls short in many ways.

I found the text to be too woo-woo (and I LOVE me some woo!), repetitive, and filled with examples I couldn't relate to. The biggest problem was the writing style - the language was dry and unengaging, making it difficult to stay focused while reading.

This book may offer some insights for readers interested in learning about how art can be used for healing purposes but ultimately fell short of my expectations.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing with the Arts is an introduction to the practice of freeing one's inner healer using art as the catalyst. The book is based upon two university programs aimed at awakening artists and healing professionals to the potential within the various arts to bring about healing in people's lives. The book contains a twelve week course to develop a relationship between one's creative energies and the inner healer. The text also includes media links to You Tube videos that demonstrate various techniques. A web site, www.healingwiththearts.com, has been set up to supplement the information in the book. As an artist, poet, and practitioner of Chi Gong, as well as someone who has lived with chronic illness for several decades, I am excited to experiment with the techniques the book offers.

I found working with Healing with the Arts to be a liberating experience. The art exercises with which I experimented allowed me to change focus from dealing with illness to playing with well-being. I created a Medicine Art book of images and symbols that delights me every time I flip through it. Well worth the effort to engage with this uplifting material.

[Shannon McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Healing With The Arts is a is a creative art therapy book that spans over weeks. Each week ends with an overview of the weekly art project shared in each chapter.

Having been in a few places that have art therapy classes, I think this book is a treasure. The projects were not too hard and fun to do. I love the idea of creating art from visualized mediation. I feel that so much good can come from any form of art therapy, therefore this book has something special. I may not have done every project but I read them and visualized what it would be like to do them or teach them. Healing With The Arts is a rare book because I don’t feel there are many based on arts healing people.

Since what I read was an advanced readers copy in ebook format there were errors and such. I only assume they will be fixed in the actual copy that should be out now.

Healing With The Arts is great book for those looking to become more creative and is somewhat similar to books like, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It is also useful for art therapists that help those heal in hospitals or classes.

[Kim Rodeffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book as it provides a sound reference for using art in your community to help individuals and their neighbors. Written by a physician and an academic their work is grounded in not only their own research, but observing the results of putting their work into place.

As an artist, I understand clearly the power of art to heal on many levels, however getting communities, schools, healthcare professionals and governments to embrace this practice is a different story. This book, because it gives a step-by-step process may just be part of the answer for gaining acceptance of moving art into the community.

Michael Samuels, MD and Mary Rockwood Lane, RN, PhD have every opportunity to encourage the medical professions to push this idea forward and begin to require art to be a part of our lives and our health plans. Thank you for writing this book, as it has the possibility for being the first step to a healthier, happier world.

To be clear, I received this book from the publisher for free.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won/received this book through Goodreads.

Read through it, but realize that it will take some time to get to trying it out. I look forward to getting to that as soon as possible.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book a lot of very interesting ideas that can be applied to a family, individual or community. A good reference book.

[Tasha Turner]

Received eArc from netgalley and publisher in exchange for honest review

[Deanna]

I just downloaded the ebook version, as it has videos included. I am an artist who is afraid to create (from over-coercion in childhood).

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grand Rapids Public Library owns it 616.891656 Sa 49h. I'm pretty sure I just couldn't get into it.