Alumni Portraits
Voices of ISIS Graduates
~ Celebrating 20 years of Expressive Arts Therapy Training in Toronto ~
Edited by Nicole Arends, this book features the stories of ISIS graduates where they share their learning, experiences, triumphs and trials and express the impact that the expressive arts have had on their lives and careers. Click here to read the book. Click here to read about Samantha Sherer Click here to read about Terri Roberton |
My Journey with Expressive Arts in Palliative Care at Alliance Hospice
By Valerey Lavergne
Expressive Arts Coordinator
Alliance Hospice
Expressive Arts Coordinator
Alliance Hospice
" I can hear my
own voice. When you are in palliative care it is very lonely. All the people
around you need to continue on with their lives. Then you become the white
elephant in the room. It is very lonely. By engaging in the
Expressive Arts I am reconnected with who I was.. or am. I can say what I want."
Carol B.
Carol B.
If you had told me when I first started my training at ISIS that I would eventually end up working in palliative care I would have said “No way” and probably would have been very scared. You see some of my own deep wounds come from early childhood loss and abandonment. My adoptive father died of cancer when I was thirteen years old. I would have told you that I didn’t have the strength to do such work. But strange as it seems I have now come to see this work as some of the most sacred and fulfilling things I do in my life.
When I enter the home of a new and eager client I see the zest of life coming through their weary and pain ridden bodies. I know that this in itself may sound like a challenge but when we enter the liminal space together we are no longer bone and flesh. I think one of the greatest advantages of working in palliative care is that they are in the process of learning to let go of their bodies. I am also a Taoist at heart and I find this experience to enrich my own feelings of non-attachment and acceptance of what is.
When I first started as an ISIS intern under the supervision of fellow alumni Sheila Berry I really didn’t know how to “do this.” I had worked in the HIV/AIDS field several years before but art making with clients who were dealing with end of life issues? How? Then I really reflected on what would I want in my end of days. I have been a singer, performer, writer and spiritualist all my life and what would I want to be doing if I was bed ridden and facing my entry into the Spirit world. In that place of stillness I found my answers.. Hell I want to go out singing.. I want to write some of my greatest poems and maybe an albums worth of songs..Oh and make pieces of art that I could post all around my room, so late at night when I felt afraid I knew I wasn’t really all alone with all these wonderful creations surrounding me. Yes I did know how to do this work and I believe I knew it all along.
So with that vision I have brought this vigor to our clients at Alliance and they pretty much have the type of response I had imagined. When we work together in either a group or in a one on one session we are no longer a disease, we are no longer someone with a dooming expiry date. We are souls engaged in creation.. we are very much alive. My clients always tell me how much the Expressive Arts brings to them and they thank me for my work but in the end it is I who gratefully thank them for truly teaching me what it means to be alive.
In my bereavement work I have come to see how the act of creation once again brings life to a soul that may have given up. As one of my clients has said “I died the day my husband did.” The sanctity of sharing the arts can memorialize loved ones and bring them to a sacred alter through our creative self. In many world religions we have kept the spirits alive of our saviors, prophets and saints through paintings and mosaics. Our loved ones deserve that honour too.
I am so proud and honoured to be the Expressive Arts Coordinator at Alliance Hospice. The program continues to flourish and now includes a Legacy program that has peeked interest from many different agencies. I use written and audio recordings to document stories from clients whose wish is to leave something tangible behind. To date one of the most touching experiences I had is when I audio recorded a grandmother’s storytelling of her children's favourite books. This recording shall be shared with the future generations of their family. The use of technology greatly assists and preserves this work.
As I initially stated, did I ever see myself doing this work ? No. But I am so grateful to the Creator for bringing me here. My Aboriginal roots remind me that death is not an end but merely an entry into the Spirit World. It is a time when we are done our earth walk. And I get to share some time with these beautiful souls before they complete this part a ever so mysterious journey. This place of life and of death.. the bridge.. the passing.
When I enter the home of a new and eager client I see the zest of life coming through their weary and pain ridden bodies. I know that this in itself may sound like a challenge but when we enter the liminal space together we are no longer bone and flesh. I think one of the greatest advantages of working in palliative care is that they are in the process of learning to let go of their bodies. I am also a Taoist at heart and I find this experience to enrich my own feelings of non-attachment and acceptance of what is.
When I first started as an ISIS intern under the supervision of fellow alumni Sheila Berry I really didn’t know how to “do this.” I had worked in the HIV/AIDS field several years before but art making with clients who were dealing with end of life issues? How? Then I really reflected on what would I want in my end of days. I have been a singer, performer, writer and spiritualist all my life and what would I want to be doing if I was bed ridden and facing my entry into the Spirit world. In that place of stillness I found my answers.. Hell I want to go out singing.. I want to write some of my greatest poems and maybe an albums worth of songs..Oh and make pieces of art that I could post all around my room, so late at night when I felt afraid I knew I wasn’t really all alone with all these wonderful creations surrounding me. Yes I did know how to do this work and I believe I knew it all along.
So with that vision I have brought this vigor to our clients at Alliance and they pretty much have the type of response I had imagined. When we work together in either a group or in a one on one session we are no longer a disease, we are no longer someone with a dooming expiry date. We are souls engaged in creation.. we are very much alive. My clients always tell me how much the Expressive Arts brings to them and they thank me for my work but in the end it is I who gratefully thank them for truly teaching me what it means to be alive.
In my bereavement work I have come to see how the act of creation once again brings life to a soul that may have given up. As one of my clients has said “I died the day my husband did.” The sanctity of sharing the arts can memorialize loved ones and bring them to a sacred alter through our creative self. In many world religions we have kept the spirits alive of our saviors, prophets and saints through paintings and mosaics. Our loved ones deserve that honour too.
I am so proud and honoured to be the Expressive Arts Coordinator at Alliance Hospice. The program continues to flourish and now includes a Legacy program that has peeked interest from many different agencies. I use written and audio recordings to document stories from clients whose wish is to leave something tangible behind. To date one of the most touching experiences I had is when I audio recorded a grandmother’s storytelling of her children's favourite books. This recording shall be shared with the future generations of their family. The use of technology greatly assists and preserves this work.
As I initially stated, did I ever see myself doing this work ? No. But I am so grateful to the Creator for bringing me here. My Aboriginal roots remind me that death is not an end but merely an entry into the Spirit World. It is a time when we are done our earth walk. And I get to share some time with these beautiful souls before they complete this part a ever so mysterious journey. This place of life and of death.. the bridge.. the passing.
" When you have
a disability some people make you feel useless, they treat you as useless.
Valerey and her work makes me feel like I have meaning and purpose."
Monique (lives with ALS)
Monique (lives with ALS)
"Expressive Arts
has intrigued me from a self-imposed prison. I come from a family of artists.
Expressive Arts has allowed me to see that I also have creative gifts. I have
now become more outspoken as a result of working with Valerey. I am not sure if
it is a fault or a virtue .. Ha..ha.
Vicki (cancer survivor)
Vicki (cancer survivor)
