In addition to the weekly
journal reflections, each student
was asked to design a creative
project depicting what it was like
for the student’s client to live
with a mental illness. All of the
students acknowledged that this
assignment helped them understand
how to better care for clients
with mental illness by being
sensitive to the struggles their
clients face daily. Students created
shadow boxes, paintings,
poetry, drawings, papier-mâché,
and a variety of other media.
One student identified her client’s
feelings of powerlessness as
she described her client’s depression
in terms of “being caught in
the circle of depression and unable
to escape.” She depicted this
with a circle made of four different
colored arrows, each representing
a different stage of illness.
In the center, the student placed
bars to indicate the entrapment
(Figure 1).
Another student created a
spider web to demonstrate her
client’s feelings of vulnerability.
She told the group that her client
explained to her that sometimes
he feels like a spider “wanting to
be in control and punish those
who made him angry,” and other
times, he feels like a fly “trapped
in his surroundings.” She stated,
“The web is large, because the
feeling of being trapped consumes
a great part of my client’s
life” (Figure 2).
“Swimming like fish in a fish
bowl with nowhere to go” was
the theme of a project by one student
who used a fish bowl to show
her client’s current situation and
future goals with the inside of
the bowl representing his present
situation. She stated, “Inside
the bowl is his life now. He feels
trapped in a vicious cycle swimming
around and around and seeing
no way out” (Figure 3).
A student who used poetry to
show her understanding of her
client’s illness stated, “In this
poem, I show my understanding
of his suffering, his relationship
with friends and family, and how
he copes with the painful reality
of not being like other individuals
his age.” As she wrote about
her client’s isolation from others
she said, “He sees no meaning in
life.” She explored the impact
of having mental illness and
feelings of powerlessness on her
client’s self-esteem: “He is stuck
in his miserable situation and being
there for so long with no way
out.”
To illustrate a “look into” her
client’s life, one student used a
picture frame to design a window
in which she placed curtains “to
convey the idea of covering up
situations or feelings” due to stigma.
In each of the four windowpanes,
the student showcased a
different aspect of her client’s
illness, including schizoaffective
disorder, anxiety, depression, and
worry (Figure 4). In one of the
windowpanes, the student described
how she had “included
a picture of a hand reaching out
to represent my client’s feelings
of helplessness and desperation
caused by her mental illness and
her family’s attempts to help her
in the past.” This student further
described that the family’s “feelings
of hopelessness and failure
in trying to make things better
for their daughter have probably
been prominent throughout her
life.” To show that mental illness
should not be stigmatized and that it could affect anyone,
the student included a picture of
a brain and graduation cap with
a diploma and stressed, “Even
those who are intelligent like my
client can be affected by mental
illness.” Another picture inside
this window was that of a person
looking out with their hands and
face pressed against the window.
The student explained, “The
most prominent picture I wanted
to point out is the one that
shows the person trapped. Not
only does it apply to my client in
particular, but the majority of the
mentally ill.” In describing her
client’s complex mental diagnoses,
the student said:
I believe my client genuinely
feels trapped in her mental illness.
She can see through the glass
window and observe other people
interacting and doing/having
things she wishes she could, including
socialization, friendships,
and love. However, she feels as
though she can not reach these
things due to her mental illness
that has trapped her.
Another student told his peers
that he “decided on a journal that
was written from the perspective
of my client that spanned different
points in his life” as his creative
project. Each page of the
scrapbook-like journal shows “a
key point” in the client’s life, using
both written words and pictures,
the student explained, “to
seem like they were added by the
client himself to go along with
what was just written, just like
when some people may doodle
in their own journal” (Figure 5).
The student described how he
tried to “depict the feelings and
emotions of the event through
the eyes of the client.” On one
page of the journal, he placed a
picture of a person sitting alone
and wrote:
Things sure have been rough
since moving in with my grandparents.
Mom and Dad don’t
have time for me and sis anymore;
I don’t think they even love us
anymore. Being here isn’t much
better; no one pays attention to
me. I feel so alone!
On another page of the journal,
he wrote about his client’s
feelings of powerlessness with his
addictions, noting, “There has
got to be a better way, but this
is the only thing I know works.”
He also wrote, “My emotions and
feelings are taking over my body
and I can’t even work anymore.
I really enjoyed my job, but I
can’t continue working this way.
Where will my money come from
now?” to represent his client’s
struggle with mental illness and
addiction.
One student described how
she used a painted glass fishbowl
to represent her client’s mental
illness (Figure 6), stating that
she used the glass to symbolize
things “broken in harsh and
violent circumstances, which
follow the past history of violence
during the client’s mental
illness.” The outside of the
bowl was painted yellow to show
how “he presents as positive and
happy on the outside.” The inside
was painted black, “which
represents his dark past.” The
top was covered with duct tape,
which the student described as
“one of the strongest adhesive
tapes and relates to the difficulty
of getting him to open up about
his past.” She further explained
that once the tape is removed,
one can look in and “better understand”
the client’s mental
illness. She further described
how this was similar to the development
of her therapeutic relationship
with the client. This
student placed the word stigma
inside the bowl and positioned it
at the top to signify the client’s
statements that “the most difficult
part of his mental illness
was dealing with the associated
stigma.”
Another student made a
papier-mâché hot air balloon and
described the sandbags around
the balloon basket as “challenges”
(Figure 7). On the sandbags, she
painted the words mental illness,
financial issues, health problems, unemployment,
social issues, and legal
issues. She described that “just as
the sandbags weigh down a hot
air balloon, the issues my client
deals with on a daily basis weigh
her life down.” The balloon represented
the client’s family since
“like the gas inside the balloon,
she cannot always see them” and
that she “knows with their support
and understanding she can overcome
challenges in her life.” The
student described that the fire that
heats the gas and lifts the balloon
“represents my client; the stronger
the flame, the higher the balloon
will go” and “the stronger my client
can be, the easier it is for her to
overcome the challenges she faces.”
Describing how a hot air balloon
works, the student explained: