Heather Spooner (00:34):
When people experience a traumatic event, oftentimes the parts of the brain, neurologically, that are responsible for visual or emotions are very active. And parts of the brain that are responsible for language tend to shut down.

Michael Schneider (00:53):
They found out I had damage to my right brain, which caused a non-epileptic seizure disorder, and my left brain is an epileptic seizure disorder. So the damage that was done on my left brain is controlled by medicine. And the only way you can control my right brain is by utilizing different forms of therapy. And music and art is that main output for me to control the seizures on my right brain.

Heather Spooner (01:20):
One of the things that people often experience when they're doing art is what people talk about as the flow state, and so it's very similar to what people may experience during meditation. There's physiological change that occurs in the body and it creates this relaxation state. People may forget about pain for a while, they may lose track of time. And for many people it's getting into that flow state that feels so beneficial about the art making, and that they really enjoy.

Michael Schneider (01:53):
One session with my music therapist, I went the next day almost seizure free. And it was an aha moment for me almost immediately of like, well, the only thing that changed was I went and she made me sing. That moment I knew the art was going to help me immensely.

Patrick Spiro (02:16):
For me with art, it's almost in a sense like going to the gun range where I'm focused through a scope and I'm looking at crosshairs, then I'm firing shots. And I'm going down and I'm looking at the target and I'm able to go, all right, I processed all this with my mind clear. With art, I'm like, you're getting a natural high off of what you're doing, not a fake high off a bottle of alcohol that's going to come with extreme lows or crazy side effects.

Danielle Braxton (02:41):
One of the things I do talk about during my intake is the state of flow, and how they're going to come in and we're going to get them set up. I might go over some materials. I will explain a directive that I have for them, and then I tell them, you're just going to work. I'm going to sit over there and look like I'm not working, and you are going to work.

Glema Gordon (03:02):
Keep your hands busy so your mind won't go where it shouldn't go. When I use my hands, I have to pay attention to what my hands are doing. That means that I don't give my mind a chance to have intrusive thoughts.

Heather Spooner (03:20):
And the ability to be able to start doing that on their own, while there's many things that, as a therapist, I need to guide them through, getting into that flow state once they've experienced it is often something that they continue even between and outside of our sessions together.

Michael Rodriguez (03:36):
It's very taxing, but when I'm in those moments, being emotional for that length of time; it allows me to face and focus on a lot of the shadows that I carry around. I get in the flow state, hours will fly by, but it provides me an opportunity to heal. I just feel free.

Michael Schneider (04:03):
Music therapy was the first aha moment that said, stop, look, listen, and see what's around you. The music was the outlet for me that brought me to the next day.

Michael Rodriguez (04:20):
My sons, it allowed me to talk with them and share with them not only how I really feel, still being that strong male figure that they still need in their lives, but it allowed me to maybe say things that I probably wouldn't have said, or say things differently. It took the fear away from me. It allowed me to move forward.

Glema Gordon (04:47):
Making that quilt was a positive, positive thing. And now that I can reflect back on that, I could give myself some advice and say, it's going to be okay. You're going to go through some things, but you're not by yourself.

Michael Rodriguez (05:07):
This mask is just representation of the open dialogue that I have with myself that I never had up until that point in my life. My experience in the military made me the person that's sitting right here and I'm proud of it. The experiences and traumas that happen to you, they're going to affect you, but it's what you choose to do with those experiences to those around you. I don't bottle them up and stick them on a shelf in the closet. I identify them and help those experiences make me a better man.