Sometimes putting down your problems means picking up the paint brushes.
Marina Rachinski is an art therapist in Revelstoke and has been hosting sessions since the beginning of October. She’s helping her clients by creating a space where they can work through issues they’re having in a productive and creative way. Clients have art supplies available to them at sessions, where they can put pen, brush, or pencil to paper and try to heal. Rachinski’s practice is new to Revelstoke, but gives people several options for how they can heal.
The difference between art therapy and some other forms of therapy is how the clients are treated. Art therapy takes a holistic view of a person and their experiences, rather than just simply looking at the problems their experiencing.
“So, it’s looking at the person, not in a pathological way, not with like labeling and kind of like looking at a person with an issue, but just like a human—a human having an experience,” said Rachinski.
Rachinski said the change is meant to give people more control over their experience.
“I’m here listening to you, and you’re the master of your own experience,” said Rachinski.
Art therapy is unique for several reasons, but one of the biggest is the fact that it’s a non-verbal experience.
“You don’t have to talk about what’s going on in order to have an experience and to have, like a meaningful process,” said Rachinski.
Rachinski’s process also creates space for group sessions and can accommodate clients who may have a harder time communicating, like neurodivergent children and elderly patients with dementia.
One of the benefits to art therapy is that despite its name, clients don’t have to be artistically gifted.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s good. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. The process of it is the healing process,” said Rachinski.
Rachinski’s interest in art therapy came from a combination of her background in dance, and her own experience.
“There was like, specifically one session where there was like a felt sense of what we had done on the page had like shifted something inside my brain,” said Rachinski.
Rachinski’s work is affiliated with the Revelstoke Women’s Shelter while she finishes her school program, but Rachinski hopes to continue her work in the community. Over time, she has an interest in expanding her programming to include dance.
To get involved in group or individual sessions, prospective clients can email movingforward@telus.net.
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