UCLArts and Healing

UCLArts and Healing instructor, Rachel Ballon, PhD, MFT, shares her perspectives on the writer’s inner journey in this brief transcribed interview: Writers Inner Journey Interview.

Participants in UCLArts and Healing programs are co-creators in program planning. From the inception of UCLArts and Healing, participants have been asked to rate their experience of each program (and each session in a series) on a scale of 1 – 5, with 5 as the highest possible rating). In any given program, two-thirds of participants typically give the program a rating of “5″, and one-third will rate it a “4″. It is also not unusual for UCLArts and Healing programs to receive ratings of “10″ on a scale of 1 – 5, as an expression of extreme satisfaction. For example, one participant wrote:

Amazing! Tears opened my heart “10”.

UCLArts and Healing programs are uniquely effective at facilitating emotional expression, insight, and a sense of community among a diverse group of strangers. Participants consistently report that they have learned something that can be applied to their personal lives or work. Two such comments received during the most recent program on “Healing Back and Neck Pain through Movement: A Demonstration of 7 Approaches” included the following:

…I am pleased to report an immediately helpful physical response to the presentation Monday evening: the experiential exercise led by Leslie Peters to realign the spine has been of great help to relieve my lower back pain. I have been going to physical therapy for weeks trying with little gain to accomplish the same thing that in seconds this technique accomplishes. Thank you, Leslie, and to you and all the presenters for the hopefulness provided by this program. I plan to pursue further healing through the resources you provided.

…The program was incredible as always. You consistently design events that are empowering, informative and entertaining…

The “Healing Back and Neck Pain through Movement: A Demonstration of 7 Approaches ” program was filmed by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for future use as a teaching tool for medical students at UCLA and elsewhere. Another comment about the usefulness of the program was from a current medical student at UCLA:

I really enjoyed the Monday night program on alternative approaches to neck and back pain. Even though there was a limit to how in-depth each presenter could go in just the one program (due to the fairly large number of presenters), I was actually happy to get a brief overview of so many areas of practice. I had tried a few of these myself in the past - yoga, tai chi, physical therapy - but hadn’t had the chance to try pilates or alexander technique and had never even heard of dance therapy or feldenchreis (sp?). This was interesting, as I feel like I have always been on the high-end of medical students in terms of interest in and awareness of alternative practices for things like pain relief (having taken classes and rotations in CAM, Eastern medicine, etc). One of my favorite parts of the Monday program was the fact that every presenter made an effort to get us doing some of the techniques, so we could feel what some of the concepts felt like and also go home with some practical (easy) exercises to try. A doctoring session on these practices, especially one that incorporated some “practice” like the evening session did, would probably be very useful.

The following comments from the community writing programs were representative of others:

In this class, I found my voice to say the unspeakable.

I found a voice for feelings and memories that I never dreamed could transform myself let alone profoundly affect others.

It’s so healing to be with others and communicate below the surface of social superficiality.

Programmatic outcomes among medical center patients and families at UCLA Tiverton House have been similar to those of the community programs. This sample of post-program comments from these participants reflects the importance of sharing and emotional release:

I’ve never given a thought to poetry as an outlet or help. My Eyes have been opened. Thank you and Bless you!

Very enlightening! Makes you realize so many others have gone through so much and makes what you are going through seem so small.

Thank you! We need to talk and be heard.

This session was extremely helpful – much through provoking ideas. Thanks so much for the opportunity.

A wonderfull [sic] experience and a lot to take with me to think about.

Very emotional time for me, so much I could relate to – Thank you.

Excellent! Dr. Carroll was more than I expected. I was “moved” ~ Thank you!!

In 2007, UCLArts and Healing activities caught the attention of an independent film production company, FiddleHeadFern Productions, which sought to produce a film with positive social value in the arena of complementary and alternative medicine. They chose to capture the experience of fifth grade students participating in the drumming intervention aimed at social and emotional skill building in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It will be a central component of a story on the lives of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District and how the drumming intervention can help them. Filming of the intervention was done in Spring 2008 and will continue in 2009 as the filmmakers follow some of the featured students into middle school in order to document their experience there.

SELF-HELP EXERCISE #1

By James Shelley

As a young writer on a TV show in the 1980s, I encountered a “monster” boss who enjoyed flaunting his power by torturing his staff writers. My fear turned into self-loathing, and I quit the show and eventually left the entertainment business as a result of his taunting.

In this exercise suggested by Dr. Rachel Ballon, written almost 25 years later, I confront the monster and overcome my fear of failure. It has turned around my career - I am now pursuing a career in film and TV, which I hope to resume after the strike.

Bring on the monsters!!!

INT. STORY EDITOR’S OFFICE - 1983 MORNING

ARTHUR SCHMENDRICK, 60-something, bald with thin ring of hair left and even thinner pencil moustache, squints at a script from a small pile on his army-issue desk.

Office walls are cheap faux wood panels. An Elvis Presley movie poster for CLAMROAST looms over the office.

I sit down in a stiff chair opposite Arthur. He picks up a typewritten script.

ME
What do you think?

ARTHUR
(BEAT - then)
Jim. We hire young writers like yourself every once and awhile.

ME
I really appreciate the opp…

ARTHUR
We keep them around for six months or so. But you should not consider this permanent employment.

ME
(stunned - Oh, shit!)

ARTHUR
Rarely work out.

ME
Er, my script - ?

ARTHUR
It’s clear that you have a long way to go. But in this business there are just too many qualified candidates -

Arthur runs his fingers over his bald pate, strokes his 40s pencil moustache.

ME
But I really -

ARTHUR
(hand raised, ala salute)
So do a lot of young film school guys like you.

ME
(dazed)
I worked all night.

ARTHUR
Jim, to keep you around wouldn’t be fair to seasoned writers like Larry.

ME
Larry…

ARTHUR
Met him at Temple. Scripts are gold. Now we keep him busy with freelance.

ME
How do I get to -

ARTHUR
YOU aren’t Larry. You have to starve, suffer. Not just count on your college degree.

ME
You know, Arthur -

ARTHUR
YOU know what Elvis told me on the first day of shooting CLAMROAST?

ME
(Elvis accent)
“Momma, where be my Darvon”?

ARTHUR
“There’s no room in this business for amateurs.”

ME
I won’t let you intimidate me.

ARTHUR
The bottom line, Jim. We only keep an A-Team here.

ME
Arthur you’re right. I’m new. I didn’t direct Elvis films like you. I’m not a pro.

ARTHUR
That’s right.

ME
But I’m not a scrawny, alcoholic, bald, old Jew whose only claim to fame is directing a hillbilly truck driver.

ARTHUR
You have -

ME
(cont.)
And whose main skill seems to be torturing bright, young talent instead of helping them.

ARTHUR
(cont.)
- no respect for -

ME
For who - Larry?

ARTHUR
You couldn’t touch -

ME
Isn’t he the guy whose desk I took over?

ARTHUR
Er…

ME
The one with the empty bottles of Jack and the spliffs in the bottom drawer?

Now it is Arthur who is silent.

After long, silent stares, I stride out of the room.

FREEZE FRAME

Personal Reflections on Writing to Heal from Ping Ho, Founder and Director of UCLArts and Healing

After sitting in on 4 or 5 expressive writing workshops and 4 or 5 poetry workshops, I am starting to get it. The very first time I did stream of consciousness writing with Dr. Rachel Ballon, the ideas were all over the place - a veritable mess, but out of the three pages of ramble - there was an “aha” that was probably worth hundreds of hours of marital therapy. It is freeing to “let go” and let a piece evolve. Quite often after I write for about 10 minutes - the REAL issue emerges in the last minute. So, at least I know where I should begin next time.

I recently returned from China, where I decided to keep a journal in poetry format - in order to keep my entries pithy. What I discovered in this process was that all it took to write well was to take in life with all five senses, and my attempts at writing poetry revealed how much I was not taking in. This newfound awareness kept me in the present moment more often, which filled my day with more rich memories than blurs. Sometimes the pieces flowed forth freely; other times, they took a while to craft, yet all were immensely gratifying to read.

These classes in Writing to Heal are a genuine hybrid of art and therapy, which gives them a depth that is fascinating. A sense of community rapidly develops among an impressively diverse group of strangers. Emotions surface at unexpected times, usually when reading what one has written. Participants often report that they get more out of reading their work than writing it. Listening to others can be as enlightening, moving, and inspiring as reading what one has written oneself. Writing with authenticity, even by novices, can rival the work of the masters. With self-awareness comes the possibility for change.

Since writing is so powerful and accessible, it should be offered as a therapeutic tool in a multitude of settings.

by Linda Ralph

When I was going through a crisis, at about four years sober, my friend, quazi sponsor, told me to write a journal. I don’t remember if it was her idea or mine but I decided to write to God. So, every night I would get into bed and start, “Dear God.” At first it was a kind of laundry list of the day but then I think I started to write more about “stuff”. I always signed them, “love Linda.” I think around the same time I started calling God, Max. I wanted to personalize the vastness, the awesomeness. Now, back to why writing heals. It’s like purging. Getting out the poison, getting out the lies. Seeing your stuff in black and white. Concrete. It’s a relief. I remember before I got sober, over 20 years ago, writing a letter to my father. I had a big resentment that had festered. It was time to let it out. With a borrowed typewriter and my glass of wine (my drug of choice) I sat and typed. I typed over a four day period. Somehow I managed to slip in some good stuff. It was 8 pages long. Phew! I did it. I had tried to figure out how to get it to him as he can’t really read. But, the miracle was, at the end, when all was said and done, there was no need. The magic of pen to paper had worked. Freedom. It never got sent. It never got read. There was no need. Healing had happened.

[Note: In addition to the healing insight that comes from the writing exercises, part of what one learns in the Healing Power of Poetry class is how to express oneself authentically and effectively with words. Examples of evocative poetry are read and their effectiveness is explained. Inspired by the examples and the work of others in the class, novices begin sounding like seasoned professionals. To quote one regular participant: “In the class you learn to let it flow. You get better at getting out of your own way.” Poetry is just prose broken into lines for effectiveness, which is why poetry springs up prolifically in response to significant events like 9/11. Anyone can write poetry. A number of these poems were actually written by individuals who had rarely if ever written poetry before taking this class.]

Love Shredder by Angela Salgado

You pulled me apart
letter by letter

Each page of my heart
You put in the shredder

As I lay scattered in disarray
I found I had new things to say

The truth is that you set me free
To live my life more truthfully

After the prom I no longer go steady
I spread love around like New Year’s confetti.

Seeing My Mother by Steven Chee, MD, MPH

I walked into your office
and the couch which had become familiar like a pair of jeans waited for me I sat I took off my shoes removed my watch laid my wallet beside me and looked into your eyes you sat before me, waiting I spoke of my trip home of the moment I had seen my mother the moment she had picked me up from the airport she briefly questioned me about my flight and this time I saw her how her knuckles gripped the steering wheel her back rigid her chest 2 inches from the car horn her furrowed brow the oncoming traffic speeding past her the looks from the other drivers her myopic view I told and recounted this to the warm being in front of me I looked at her and I wept and wept and wept from a place no one had ever seen before and I knew that I had seen my mother

Stars by Steven Chee, MD, MPH (a transformational view of the previous piece)

The stars are my real parents
they are the ones to whom I belong
to whom I obey
to whom comfort me
they are the lap upon which I sit
they are the ones who rock me to sleep
they birthed me
they love me
and to them I will return
they tell me of their origins
of galaxies, super novas, distant solar systems, quasars, and all the such I do not understand them all but I listen like a child hearing Grandpa share that story one more time I know not my path I know not my next step but I know that back to them I will return for I am one of them

Imaginings by Anita Sircar, MD, MPH

The world offers itself to my imagination,
If I allow it to,
So allow it.
In the dark crevices of a hollowed vacancy,
Where the frailty of my own mortality lays framed,
Shines a tinkerbell,
Lays a looking glass,
Lives a wonderland,
Sails a pirate ship,
Stands a magic castle,
Echoes a fairy tale,
Told by myself,
For myself,
Waiting to unfurl,
Like a magic carpet ride,
Flying high above the landscape of my doubts down below,
Releasing the infinite possibility of where my reality can take me,
If I would only let my imagination lead the way.

Walking in a Park by John Seeman

When I hear birds calling to one another
on a warm spring morning
when the air is extra clear and clean
and light shines on flowers and trees and grass
in a way that makes everything appear brand new
my heart opens a little

And I wonder if
maybe today
I will meet you
and my heart will
be open enough
and brave enough
to say hello

My Father by Nancy Weiss

Darling Father,
you no longer know what I love
and how I live
(although you ask, “how are things in California?”).
Nor do you know
the challenges
and joys
of my days:
these matter no more.
But your heart
–pure and full–
trusts itself,
wraps itself around me,
and I crawl inside
my Daddy’s chest.
And your eyes twinkle when they look at me;
bid me enter,
and I soar inside
my Daddy’s gaze.
You, old man,
encased in silences
beyond context:
you ask nothing
but the presence of family
and the love of family
and your eye on the Good Lord.
A simple life, yours:
few questions pondered,
and always the march forward–
always forward;
you never looked back
nor wondered why;
progress, you sought,
one slow step at a time,
as day became night,
and work defined life.
Old man,
you may not remember me
sitting by your side
the moment I turn my back,
but still,
you wrinkle you nose
and curl your lips into smooch,
blowing I love you’s
everywhere.

Untitled by Bhalin Singh

I meet the stranger in a dark wood.
I am afraid.

His silhouette portends unknowing.
I approach because I must.

I sense, I see
more animal than man.

My heart pounds. Breath heaves.
I am near.

One more step, and
IT is gone.

I read that natives here worship
the Gorilla.

Now, I, too.

Untitled Poem of Healing by AnnElaine Cipriano

…the instructor asked that we find a poem that spoke to us and, using a line or two, create a poem of healing for ourselves. I had noted at the beginning of class that Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese was included in the poetry handouts. Using the first four lines of this poem, I wrote my prayer:

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

Tell me about despair, yours,
and I will sing you a song about life, yours.
Tell me about sorrows and darkness, yours,
and I will weave you a tapestry of laughter and light, yours.
Tell me how you have failed
and I will show you the miracle you are.
Tell me how your life is not worth living,
and I will tell you you have so much
left to do.

Tell me how you are lonely and tired,
and I will sit by your side, hold your hand, put your
head upon my shoulder, and let you rest.

What Struck Me Was…Mrs. Fixit! by Marjoyrie Kunzle

What struck me was
Mrs Fixit
The poem Mrs fixit
By James Cavanagh
I’ve been diagnosed
A Mrs fixit
And I know that
She - Mrs fixit
Really does
Only
Want someone to really love her
And yes
To tell her now
I love you and
What can I do for you
Rather than you do for me.

You can STOP.
You can rest
You can STOP fixing it
Fixing everything
Fixing the pain
Fixing the world
Fixing the endless
Cries of pain
You can STOP it because
Guess what?
They have to fix it themselves!

You were misdirected
You were misinformed
You were wrongly trained
Guided as a child
To take on all those duties -
None of them had your name on
You knew your name but
Santa Claus called out Margaret
And not Marjorie
And so you didn’t go
Forward to get your gift.

Something was wrong
But what?
Better fix everything
Fix the lot.

Years later the effort
And the pain is too much
And bewilderment
Figures big
Why if I’m doing
And giving so much
Why?
Don’t I get loving
approval and thanks
and understanding back?

Why am I blamed and
Accused?
Why does it not work out?
Why are people always
telling me I’ve done
the wrong thing
and I try again,
to fix it
fixit fixit
fix it fix it

What if it does not
need fixing?
And I was just fed the wrong information
The wrong co-ordinates?
What if I’ve wasted 64 years
Fixing it
And it was all wrong?

Oh that’s another one!
I mustn’t get it wrong
I mustn’t do the wrong thing
I must get it right
And perfect too
All of that is teamed up with
Being loved
Or not being loved.
Rejected, ridiculed,
Spurned -
Made to feel a total disaster
Totally unacceptable and unloved

So that’s why James Cavanagh’s poem,
Mrs Fixit
Strikes a bell, a big note with me
But thanks to therapy
I know about wanting to
Be loved so much as a
Child and
Terrified of the punishment
of rejection and the
punishment of withdrawal of love—–

(Wait a moment, that behaviour)
I did that, I remember
To my sister Jen
6 years younger than me
I was probably 10 years or 11
And she 5 or 6
And I tell her
I’m dead
And lie dead on the floor
I tell her this to get her to do what I want.

That is the same, an enactment
Of the parent, my mother’s behaviour
towards me
withdrawal of love until I did what she wanted.

And then I spent the next 55 years
Fixing it for her and everyone
Just to be acceptable,
Just to be seen
Just to be loved
Just to be counted
Just to be included
Just to be acknowledged
Just to be counted.

The good news is I’ve been
Helped to find out
About my training
The ruthless destructive
Childhood training and that
I’ve spent the past 20 years with
A kind although not very
conscious but kind
and loving man
to enable me to find
who I really am
and to ask for the love I want
and to get to know
what it is I want -

I want to write
I want to be loved
I want to love others
I want to be nurtured
I want to fill in the gaping
Holes of non nourishment of
My childhood
And at this poetry workshop
I’m starting that infilling.

To build support for the drumming study at Napa Street Elementary School, we held a luncheon and drumming experience for the entire staff of the school at Remo Recreation Center in North Hollywood. Karen Stafford, Literacy Coach at Napa Street Elementary School, responded with the following feedback:

I wanted to tell you how wonderful the drumming was. I had a blast. I really felt energized when I usually feel tired! It was fabulous. I also wanted to share a wonderful experience that I had had during my college years. I was in my final semester of student teaching, taking 21 units, and terribly stressed. That goes without saying. I had to take a 1 unit art class—so I took a pottery clay class one day per week. Because the good potters hogged the wheels, I was left to work with the clay making objects, sculpture, etc. I forget the required time that I had to put in for the one unit; however, I remember staying 3 hours extra each time because it was so relaxing. It was an unbelievable experience for me. I would walk out of there like a limp noodle. I know it works—from experience.

A UCLA study citing the benefits of tai chi for those who suffer from tension headaches was highlighted April 28 by the Hindustan Times (India) and April 27 by United Press International. Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, was quoted in the UPI story.

“Tai Chi Helps with Tension Headaches”

http://www.upi.com/Consumer_Health_Daily/Briefing/2007/04/27/tai_chi_helps_with_tension_headaches/

Chinese exercise - Tai Chi - may relieve tension headache in adults
Buy Zithromax Online Without Prescription

Channel 7 Spotlights Art Therapy Group

KABC-Channel 7 aired a May 2 story on the Healing Through Art Therapy group at UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center. An exhibit will feature the works of 16 cancer patients and survivors who took part in the group, which is offered as part of the integrative oncology program at the Ted Mann Family Resource Center. The piece quoted Anne Coscarelli, Mann center director; art therapist Esther Dreifuss-Kattan; and a cancer survivor. The future art exhibit was also cited April 29 in the Los Angeles Daily News.

“Art Therapy Helps Patients Cope with Cancer”

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=health&id=5267626

“Survivors Testimony is Beyond Words”

http://www.dailynews.com/pulse/ci_5780076