Class of 2024 Bachelor of Creative Arts grads Rojin Hamid and Krista Barr recently published their joint Yorkville University thesis project, Creative Catharsis: A Colouring Book Inspired by Art Therapy.
Described by Barr as a tool to promote healing through art therapy, the 43-page contemporary adult colouring book allows readers to “let go, take a pause, and focus on something very different from their daily stresses and responsibilities.”
“It is so incredible to share something that we are so passionate about with the world,” she said of Creative Catharsis, which comes complete with 30 illustrations, as well as a number of different wellness activities and original interviews with registered psychotherapists.
“Having faced mental hurdles and some pretty significant hardships, having art as an outlet was always what pulled me from the deepest lows…and helped me find calm, purpose and meaning in the chaos, allowing me to process these feelings in a way that also made me feel accomplished. We want others to be able to harness this magic.”
The idea behind Creative Catharsis originated with Hamid, a passionate lifelong learner with a background in graphic design, who was looking for ways to incorporate creative thinking and design into her work as a Learning Management System Administrator.
It wasn’t until she enrolled in the BCA program and began her thesis, however, that she found the right outlet through which to bring her ideas to fruition.
“Applying years of experience in the realm of creativity, I discovered that my passion to lead projects, people, and above all myself, into a better direction for success was within me,” said Hamid, who, as a refugee who came to Canada as a young child, struggled growing up in two worlds – the Canadian culture she was exposed to at school and the Middle Eastern roots that enveloped her at home.
“For years I felt I wasn’t smart enough, or capable of being valued at the same level, but through dedication and hard work, I learned to do these things in the BCA program at Yorkville. It was then that I started to think differently and see the various options for myself in my community.”
When Barr discovered Hamid was looking for a partner to work with her on a colouring book project inspired by art therapy, she was instantly on board and reached out to Hamid to explain her own passion for creativity in the healing process.
Upon connecting, the pair realized they both had spent much of their three years in the BCA program researching art therapy and the relationship between creativity and wellness.
What that research showed is that there is a gap in terms of affordable resources aimed at long-term results, and the sheer number of individuals afflicted by mental illness and trauma. It also revealed that there is a growing chasm in the mental health industry in terms of specialization in practice, broader conservative treatment modalities and the number of therapists who are trained in creative therapies such as art therapy, dance movement psychotherapy, dramatherapy, and music therapy, among others.
It was from this realization that Barr and Hamid said Creative Catharsis was born as their graduating project, with a hope that it would become much more.
“We had some discussions back and forth and determined we could turn this colouring book into an art therapy tool that could promote awareness on creative therapies and their incredible benefits…” said Barr, who works as a Graphic Designer (RGD) and Marketing Communications Manager.
“Both of us, being artists, have first-hand experienced the benefits of creativity in the healing process. Through this book – and future books – we really hope to continue promoting this cause.”
Click HERE for more information about Creative Catharsis, or you can purchase the book HERE.
