Expect Miracles Foundation, Financial Services Against Cancer is hosting its Fourth Annual West Coast Charity Classic. The Foundation will be making a donation for a second year in a row to Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center (JJCCC) Art Therapy Program at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. Expect Miracles Foundation is one of the leading advocates in the fight against cancer within the financial services industry nation-wide. Their corporate donor base includes the top financial firms in the country.
Art therapy uses the creative process of creating art to improve the physical, mental and emotional well-being of patients during an often stressful and emotional hospitalization Children often have a hard time expressing their feelings and emotions of fear and pain. Miller Children’s uses art therapy to provide patients with a way to come to terms with emotional conflicts, increase self-awareness and express unspoken and often unconscious concerns about their illness and their lives. The patients are able to use the art as a creative outlet for their repressed emotions, confused feeling states, wishes and fantasies about their hospital experience that they are unable to verbally express.
The JJCCC Art Therapy Program at Miller Children’s is focused on inpatient hematology/oncology patients. Individual and group art therapy sessions are provided at bedside and in the playroom. Art therapy provides a feeling of autonomy and control to a patient diagnosed with cancer or a serious blood disorder. The patient is provided with a variety of art materials and is free to choose what she or he would like to create.
“We are honored to provide continued support to the Art Therapy Program at Miller Children’s Hospital,” says Christina E. Thirkell, Executive Director of Expect Miracles Foundation. “We are so proud or the Art Therapy Program and the amazing programs they provide. This program allows children a way to communicate and express their day to day struggles through their own creativity while lifting their spirits through empowerment.”
Members of the health care community are increasingly turning to alternative and complementary therapies to reduce patients’ symptoms, improve quality of life, and boost their ability to cope with stress. The JJCCC Art Therapy Program at Miller Children’s uses art and psychoanalysis to aid children and teens with cancer in their recovery, improving physical and emotional pain and fostering psychological growth during treatment. A wide range of tools and techniques are used to encourage children to relax, communicate and share their experiences in non-threatening ways.
“Research has shown that cancer patients experience many psychosocial and psychological stressors when dealing with the disease and its difficult treatment,” says Amanda Termuhlen, M.D., medical director of the Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. “We value the steps taken by Expect Miracles Foundation to make a significant and positive difference in the lives of cancer patients. Art is a powerful tool that can identify these stressors, empower the young patient in the fight against cancer and offer a complimentary treatment method to relieve symptoms and gain insights into thoughts, feelings and behaviors.”