Art Therapy Institute

Through the Newcomer Art Therapy Project, ATI contributes to the health and well-being of the growing population of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers (collectively "newcomers") relocating to the Triangle and Triad areas. The Newcomer Art Therapy Project (NATP) provides arts-based counseling group therapy services to newcomer children and adolescents in local schools and adults at local health clinics, resettlement agencies and community-based support groups. These group art therapy services help newcomers address issues from their past, succeed in their new school and work settings, acculturate to North Carolina, and build hopes for the future. In 2021, the NATP served over 250 child, adolescent, and adult refugees and immigrants hailing from over 20 countries worldwide. The majority of these clients fall below the poverty line, and lack adequate health insurance and access to resources, including mental healthcare. In addition, many of these clients have experienced tremendous challenges in their lives, including trauma, living in refugee camps, deaths in their families, and continued difficulties with acculturation, self-esteem, and language barriers. NATP group and individual art therapy sessions use strengths-based approaches to address the psychological needs of newcomers, including but not limited to directives that explore clients' past experiences, their current acculturation struggles, and their goals for the future. These art therapy services help clients build resilience and hope while reducing anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. This in turn helps them succeed in school, develop social skills, increase self-esteem and self-confidence, return to jobs and family life, maintain their cultural community ties, and also acculturate into their new host communities. ATI uses art shows, community events, and partnerships with other organizations to empower our clients and share their stories with the greater community. NATP is funded by community member donations and foundation grants, Medicaid and insurance billing and some school and partnering program based funding. ATI partnered with various agencies in 2021 to serve clients in the NATP program, including but not limited to Church World Services, the Refugee Community Partnership, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the Durham Public Schools, the Doris Henderson Newcomers School, Piedmont Health Services, UNC School of Social Work and Duke University.

Beyond the NATP and the EC program, ATI hosts various other smaller programs within the community. The Arts and Peer Support Group (APS) emerged in 2011 from the collaboration of an expressive art therapist from the Art Therapy Institute in Carrboro, NC, a social worker from the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill, and a group of artists from the Triangle Area who hoped for a space to come together in the community, create art and support each other in the process of mental health recovery. Groups consist of approximately 8-10 members and meet weekly for one hour per week. When the country went into lockdown in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ATI moved APS online. In 2021-22, the group continued to meet online however in 2022-23, the group will meet both in person and online. Over the course of a year, we work with approximately 40 APS group members. Together we have explored many art forms (painting, drawing, weaving, collage, sculpture, photography, poetry, music and more) and in doing so have come to know, care for, and heal each other. We have exhibited our art in the community, and have shared our work with students, professionals, and other partners. We are committed to maintaining our free, weekly group as a safe place for creative and reflective work and celebrating ourselves as artists rather than as damaged people, continually challenging the stigma that shapes our conversation about mental illness. In 2021, ATI continued its art therapy program with NC Start, offering weekly art therapy groups. During 2021-22, these groups were offered online due to the pandemic. This program serves adults living with developmental and intellectual disabilities. We serve approximately 40 people annually through this program. Using a variety of art materials and directives, ATI art therapists help with communication, social skills, emotion regulation, sensory integration and self-expression, as well as gross and fine motor skills. In 2021, ATI collaborated with Grow Your World, a nonprofit providing afterschool support to diverse grade school students. ATI student interns provided arts based groups which helped support social and emotional learning. ATI also collaborated with the Pediatric Hematology Oncology department of UNC hospitals. Every other month, an ATI art therapist provided an online art therapy workshop to help support the young patients and their families. ATI also continues to be a co-located mental health agency in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

The Art Therapy Institute has an annual contract with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to serve children in the Exceptional Children's (EC) program. This program serves all Exceptional Children's self-contained classrooms in the district, depending on teacher interest. In 2021, ATI served in 14 of these classes. EC program clients have a variety of life challenges including autism spectrum disorders, developmental disabilities, learning impairments, visual impairments, emotional and behavioral difficulties and other life challenges. Through the Exceptional Children's Program, ATI art therapists help with communication, social skills, emotion regulation, sensory integration and self-expression, as well as gross and fine motor skills. In addition, the program serves as s positive means for the student to gain mastery and success in school. In 2021, ATI also started an EC art therapy program at Voyager Academy, a charter school in Durham, NC. Through this program, ATI served middle and high school students in the exceptional children's program at Voyager Academy. In total, in 2021, ATI served approximately 135 children over the course of the year for 45 minutes per week. Many of our students are seen in small groups.