EDWARD KORBER, PhD
It has often been said that a picture is worth a thousand words and the image of surprise and positive affect, which occurs during a moment of hard earned insight, can sear itself in ones memory. When I am involved in therapy with my patients, my goal is to help them free themselves from whatever negative affective states, via collaborative works, that have brought them to me and stalled their journey forward towards peace and sense of purpose in life.
Our collaborative drawing efforts can help them to embrace life and recognize that joining others in creative effort as an affirming path they need not wander from. As I work with them I am drawn to the idea that we are not creating something that had not existed before but liberating our our hidden strengths and joy in the moment which may have been hidden by misdirected rumination... which can blind us from the beauty that exists within and around us. When I explore, with my patients, their problems I also come to share the reality of my perceptions of the change in quality of their existence as it emerges into a graphic form that can be shared with them and others. For me, this is one of the major functions of both Art and the Art of Care
Progress
(Drawing on “Official” Progress Note Form, 8.5” x 11”)
This piece symbolizes the moment of breakthrough joy and surprise manifested in a moment deep insight resolving a long standing problem which held the subjects psyche from its efforts / attempt to gain liberation from past hardship. I often chose discarded government forms to draw on as a reminder that progress can be documented by means other than the technical / professional statements I often encounter in hospital documentation.