Waitaki Creative Wellbeing is about offering possibilities and hope, peer support worker and facilitator Toni Huls says. (4-minute read)

Together, with Kakanui artist Natalie Carpenter, she runs the weekly creative sessions in Palmerston, Kurow and Ōamaru for people struggling with “mental distress”, loneliness and isolation.

The programme was an outreach of Dunedin-based Artsenta (an art studio for people with mental health and addiction issues), but was “completely and utterly different”, she said.

Toni had her own experiences of mental distress, and had worked in the industry for a long time.

“Mental distress is a continuum, but what’s really fabulous about this programme, and also in particular my role, it’s called a lived experience role - so I’m using, in every area I can, I’m using my training, and my lived experience to connect with people and normalise. Because nobody gets through life without having some sort of trauma and actually having experienced mental distress.” 

Natalie said the art was a “vehicle for connection”. She also had experience with mental distress, and art was a tool which helped her through difficult times.

“It’s a place that I can jump in, start, and all of that kind of noise disappears, and it’s just me creating - and I can get into the flow that way, and I feel like it is a really powerful tool - especially when you’re struggling - to be able to unlock those things.” 

A variety of creative outlets were on offer in the sessions, and Natalie hoped participants would find something they loved doing, and maybe continue with at home. 

“Then that gives them that incentive, and can help you through those really tough times,” she said.

To take part in the programme, people were referred from mental health services, psychologists, and social workers, but they could also self-refer.

Toni would have a phone conversation with each participant first, to ensure the classes were the right fit, get a sense of what their needs were, and so they were well-supported coming in.

She was “really really proud” of what she and Natalie were offering.

While doing the art, people had the opportunity to talk about their experiences.

“We talk about using tools such as breathing, you know, ‘this too shall pass’. There’s all those sorts of things.

“Actually for me, I was on medication for years . . . I’ve been through the system. But actually, when the silence comes, is when I started doing art.”

While Natalie was working and talking about art during the classes, she might make a mistake, Toni said.

“So there’s even a much deeper thing . . . that that’s actually OK - this is now a possibility. 

“So, in that, we’re actually mirroring and modelling all the time. I model living with mental distress, but also that’s OK. So, that statement, about ‘this is a possibility’, then it becomes something I actually hear people within our group actually saying. 

“There’s a real subtle thing going on there, and that’s actually about possibility and that we have the power to change.”

Artwork from the Kurow Waitaki Creative Wellbeing group on display at the Information Centre. PHOTO: Supplied

It was also about celebrating the successes, no matter how small, Natalie said.

“Success might just be that you’ve turned up that day, and you’ve talked to someone, and you’ve made a connection, and that’s where that kind of mitigates that isolation and loneliness.”

Working at home as an artist could be lonely, but chatting to people with similar experiences, or other commonalities, and maybe sharing a coffee, refreshed people and helped “fill them up”.

A lot of people in mental distress, or who are isolated, or have depression were out there in the community with a mask on, saying “I’m OK”. Creative Wellbeing offered a structured opportunity to connect with people in a safe environment, Toni said.

The beauty of the classes was that if somebody was really struggling, they knew they only had to “hang on” until Wednesday, whereas previously they may have had to wait a month or more to access other mental health services.

“They know if they get there, there’s Nat and Toni.”

Toni was also trained in one-on-one support in the community for the Otago Mental Health Trust, and could refer people to the different services.

The sessions were about empowering people, and them knowing the answers were within themselves, but also providing “connection and mutuality” and helping them move forward, but at their own pace, she said.

“What’s important about that, and the most important thing in anyone’s recovery, is hope. 

“We know that, so we’re creating and making something. So some of that is suddenly you’ve got something to look forward to, weekly. 

“You’ve got a sense of purpose. When you make something, even something small, it gives you a sense that you’ve completed something. I’m not accomplishing anything in life - but I’ve completed that.’’

Speaking on her own experiences, Toni said she was “always parking”, by finding something that needed doing at home, like the housework, before she could create.

Natalie said it was common for people to struggle to find the space and make the time, if they were attempting to do art at home.

“You’ve got that environment where everything is too much, too big, but you can come to us and sit with something . . . and then something might just spark.

“Suddenly . . . I’m starting to do art, it may have no end or finish, and that’s where my pause comes, that’s where the quiet is, that’s where the joy is. And then it goes deeper and that’s self-care and love and holding ourselves,” Toni added.

Some of the unexpected ripple effects from the class were those taking part, now looking after each other outside of class - calling each other, and meeting up for coffee.

Also, Toni and Natalie talked about other things they did outside of class, which provided an awareness of other possibilities.

“It’s giving people that knowledge that there are things they could be interested in too, that they can seek. And we’re kind of constantly presenting them with ideas.”

The Kurow group of Waitaki Creative Wellbeing currently had work on display at the Kurow Information Centre, as part of the year-long Within Reach exhibition being run by local photographer Chloe Lodge.