Empathy through Art Therapy with Mentally Ill Inmates

I recently started an Empathy through Art Therapy group with our small population of mentally ill inmates at the hospital. In our first group, I asked them to create a picture of what empathy means. Some didn't really know, so first we discussed what empathy is, and gave some examples. We also talked about the difference between empathy and sympathy. Some still had some difficulty with the concept, but they were all willing to give the directive a try. One man drew several faces of a person trying to have empathy for another person.  Other patients drew about their own experience of feeling empathy for someone else. I hope this group can help these patients understand better what empathy is, and help them practice feeling empathy for others, in an effort to help them to not re-offend.

Patient Discharge

Once, in supervision, we discussed one patient who would be discharged soon. There was some media about it, so I read an article about him to the group. Then, we all created an image about the situation based on our own impressions. The responses were varied, from a large eye representing him being under constant scrutiny, to an image about the public not wanting him in their neighborhoods, yet harboring their own secrets about the abuse that goes on in their own homes.  One image was about the stress the patient has to deal with, another about how controlled the patient is in his art work, perhaps to counterbalance all the things that are out of his control or his dislike for feeling out of control. The exercise helped staff feel empathy for the patient and illuminated ways to be supportive of him during this transitional time. 

Empathy for Patient

During a recent supervision, I asked the Art Therapists to draw a patient they felt sympathetic or empathetic towards. We often complain about patients since sex offenders are difficult to work with, so this was a change from our usual venting. This directive also helped explore transference and counter transference. The hospital frequently has staff who have inappropriate relationships with the patients, so it was also important to see how something like that can get started and discuss how to prevent that from happening.

Empathy Directive: A Time I Felt Loved

In order to help the sex offenders get more in touch with their feelings, I would ask them to create an image about their feelings. The theory being that these patients need to be able to identify their own feelings before we can expect them to feel for others. In one Art Therapy session, I asked the group to portray a time they felt loved. One patient painted some flowers to represent his sister who had loved him despite his crimes. Several weeks later he reported to the group that this directive motivated him to try to make amends with his sisters and improve his relationship with them. With empathy, it's good when the offender can feel for another, and it's even better when their empathy enables them to have positive behavior or actions. So, in this instance, the patient felt for his sisters who had gone through a lot due to his sex offenses, and he was able to try to talk to them about the impact of his offenses on them.

Directive--A Time You Felt Threatened

Once during my Empathy through Art Therapy group, I asked the group members to depict a time they had felt threatened. One patient drew about the first time he was in prison. There had been a riot and the correctional officers were firing shots. The patient was afraid and feared for his life. He was then able to relate his feelings to the feelings that his victims had. This directive helps the sex offender identify his own feelings, so he can better understand the feelings of others in similar situations. It is important for the patients to be in touch with their own feelings if we expect them to be able to feel for other people. This exercise helped them practice exploring their own feelings and experiencing empathy for others.