For some south-west palliative care patients a paintbrush provides a sense of control.
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A new therapy program at South West Healthcare is assisting palliative care and oncology patients to express themselves in a unique way.
Art therapy student Wendy Lever is undertaking the 12-month program at Warrnambool’s Base Hospital as part of her final year of university.
The one-on-one sessions are held at the hospital or in the patient’s home.
Ms Lever believes it is a very powerful tool in the expression and reflection of a person’s illness.
“Art therapy is like a purge on paper,” she said
“It’s not about the product, it’s about engaging in the process.
“You don’t have to be good at art.”
Ms Lever said art gave patients back power when they had lost control of most situations during their illness.
“There’s nobody that knows you like you and choosing your paper, tools and medium of art allows patients to explore these deeper emotions.”
“For one hour they don’t think about the pain and lose themselves in the process of expressing those challenging emotions.”
Ms Lever says the artworks are also images left behind for the family.
Killarney resident and palliative care patient Louise Hoy knows the rewards that art can bring.
“I ask myself ‘who is Louise outside of her diagnosis?’ I’ve been ill for so long now,” she said
“It is art that gives me a chance to put on paper how I feel about myself.”
Mrs Hoy has been ill with meningiomas since she was six-years-old.
The tumours are currently stable and she attributes art therapy to her calmer outlook.
Doctors said her life expectancy was limited. She has defied the odds and uses art to express her inner strength.
“When the hospital told me they could bring art therapy to me at home I said ‘art, yes please, I’m in’.”
“One of Wendy’s projects was to paint myself, life-size, to express how I feel about myself. I started with a teardrop enclosed with a photo of my daughter Teagan, the child doctor’s said I was never allowed to have.”
The Alfred hospital features prominently on her artwork as a place where she spends much of her time.
“There are hammers and ants (in the artwork) because that’s what I felt inside my skull.
“It’s cranky, like me, it’s not normal,” she said.
The painting also features positives including her doctors and Teagan’s birthdays she’s lived through.