Arts & Life, Events

Art and Soul boosts mental health

To put it simply, creating something makes us feel good – this is why the Art and Soul fair is back by popular demand from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on the friendship walk.

The Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs program, as part of the Cal State Long Beach Student Health Services, is once again providing a healthy outlet for students to unwind by crafting their own original works of art.

“We will have various booths set up with different artistic activities for them. It’s an opportunity for them to take some time out of their day to relax and be creative,” health education assistant Allison Borwell said. “People can expect some really fun stations.”

Students can visit booths dedicated to painting, jewelry making, button making, coloring and collaging.

“Really the idea is to give them the time — any student is welcome, of any artistic level — just to destress and express [their] art,” Borwell said. “They can expect a very low key environment where they can come just create something and take it with them; all supplies will be provided.”

Those who aren’t able to make it down to the fair will also miss out on some information being circulated by the Health Resource Center about other free programs it offers students, like an acupuncture clinic Wednesdays.

There are stress management workshops, like Koru mindfulness, which “teaches techniques for busy college students, what they can do for just two minutes a day [to help reduce stress].” It also offers two types of yoga: one specific to help with different types of moods and one to assist survivors of trauma.

“Specifically, [we are spreading the word about] our Beach Recovery program, which supports students who are in recovery from addiction,” Borwell said. “One thing that we really talk to our students about who are in recovery from any kind of addiction is to find ways to reduce their stress levels, and art therapy is a really great way to do that.”

The Art and Soul Fair is made possible because of a grant from Transforming Youth Recovery for creating a collegiate recovery program, which spawned Beach Recovery. Borwell said the goal of the program is to spread awareness about recovery, to assist those in need in getting help and to help get rid of the stigma associated with addiction.

The fair today will be a venue for Beach Recovery to spread its message and to give students a sober way to relieve some stress.

“Often times on a college campus people have this idea that everybody drinks… but that’s actually not true,” Borwell said. “We have done studies that show the majority of students choose not to drink, so we try to do a lot of social norming to change that idea so students don’t think they should be drinking because that’s what everybody else is doing.”

Instead, SHS invites you to take a break from academia for an hour or two and reconnect with your creative side.

“We like to use art therapy as a way to help students de stress especially during this end of semester time where some students may be feeling some added pressure,” Borwell said. “There is research that shows art therapy drastically helps with stress relief.”

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