作者:大卫·辛普森
“When I saw my emotions on the page looking back at me, it transformed my connection with those feelings," said the 44-year-old Virginia Beach woman.
Her art, she saw, was more than a hobby. 这是一个
这是揭露真相的好方法，也是疗伤的好方法.
“I realized how powerful it was, and it made me realize that I wanted to help other people have an experience like that,”她说。.
That insight eventually led her to leave a solid job as associate director of development for the Virginia 艺术 Festival and pursue a newfound dream: becoming an art therapist.
She set her sights on gaining acceptance into Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Master of Science in Art Therapy and 咨询 program. 但首先, she needed to pick up prerequisites to supplement her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Colorado. For the art credits, she chose 最靠谱的网赌软件.
“I could have gone to a bunch of different places,麦考伊说, “but ODU’s visual art program is very strong.”
She found the faculty especially so. Associate Professor John 罗斯 and Adjunct Instructor Mark Miltz had a profound effect on her art, attracting her to sculpture and oil painting, 分别.
“The teachers pushed us with their directives and also helped cultivate ideas that we had instead of trying to make us conform to what their ideas were,麦考伊说.
罗斯 challenged her to make a big sculptural installation – much bigger than she had envisioned. The result, “Patterns of Love,” occupies a vast space in the 学习 Commons at Perry Library. Inspired by the types of love we experience, the colorful work consists of metal chair springs, 钢, 马尼拉绳, reclaimed acrylic and cotton textiles, 还有将近7英里长的线.
罗斯, the chair of the Art Department, said he is “continuously amazed at Kim’s indefatigable curiosity for process and materials. This has made her a joy to work with and reinforces the reasons I love teaching.”
Another work by McCoy was exhibited in the Slover Library in downtown Norfolk and in the Barry 艺术 Building rotunda. 题为“倾听他们的声音”,” the assemblage constitutes “a prayer for victims of human trafficking,这是她的激情.
Her first ODU classes made her want to be an artist, 她说. And though she has finished her 21-credit-hour undergraduate art requirement, 麦考伊仍然在雕刻和绘画.
“我没有停下来，”她说. “Being an artist isn’t just about talent. 这是关于毅力的.”
去年秋天, McCoy took her first step toward becoming a licensed professional counselor and registered art therapist, starting her master’s degree studies at EVMS.
"It’s a great program,”她说。. “People come from all over the country.”
One reason is that it prepares students to be counselors as well as art therapists. Another reason: It covers not just one theory of art therapy but all current accepted theories, 她说. 现在, 她专注于格式塔, 荣格和存在主义, “and then I’m going to also incorporate cognitive behavioral processes when needed, depending on the dynamic of clients I’m working with.”
That mix could change, 她说, as she goes through the program. Along the way, she’ll spend three required internships with local organizations. Each stint will serve a different population: young children, adolescents or older adults. She’ll use art to help her clients heal mentally, emotionally and physically.
The master’s program has been immersive and intriguing, 她说.
“There’s so much to theories and counseling and the neurobiology that happens between the mind and art. It’s really incredible to see how different visual art expressions can really impact the mind in different ways. 这让我着迷. 我学到了很多东西.”
Just as at ODU, 她说, EVMS professors help students find their own path.
"Our faculty is excellent in cultivating our identities of how we see ourselves becoming therapists and also in training us to be ethical through the process. 我真的很喜欢.”