Art Therapy for Adults

“I’m a big believer in bringing creativity to the medical setting,” says Sydney Siegel, a clinical oncology social worker at the Simms/Mann UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology who helped patients create Jackson Pollock inspired art. “I think art therapy workshops, as an alternative to support groups, can help patients cope in different ways to process their experience with cancer. The arts, creativity and mindfulness can be really effective tools. My hope is to bring more and more of these creative programs to the hospital setting, because you don’t see enough of them, especially for adults. In pediatrics you see so many creative programs, but I think adults benefit from creativity as well. It’s a great additional component to a patients’ medical experience.”