Dr. Patricia Isis, a South Florida native and art therapist for 45 years, approaches her sessions gently, assessing her patients’ personality and willingness to express themselves first. For this, Dr. Isis gave her patient agency on what to paint first.
A patient was instructed to paint what was going on in her head every session.
She notes the patient’s order of choosing what to illustrate which showed her progress in improving self-image through their sessions, and organizing her emotions and thoughts into a productive medium.
Through various sessions the progress behind expressing feelings through art becomes apparent to even untrained eyes. Interpretation, she explains, is not exclusive to the training, but understanding a patient’s background shows intention, and internal scars become evident, which creates touching pieces.
“When you make art, you’re accessing your heart,” Dr. Isis says about letting her patients ease their way into the medium.
This deep emotional connection began at an early age.
Every Saturday morning, from the ages of 4 to 11, Patricia Isis would go to art classes at a unitarian church in Miami, where a “funny-looking hunchback with big, black horned rim glasses,” art teacher Mr. Rudolph Valentino Adams, transformed his passion for the subject into artistic inspiration for Isis and her classmates.
One day, Mr. Adams did not come to class. He was killed in an automobile accident.
It was 1969, just a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and Mr. Adams was Black. In the wake of ongoing civil rights riots, Patricia Isis’s parents believed it was too dangerous for her to attend his funeral to express her condolences and grieve.
She was devastated.
Now, Dr. Patricia Isis, uses creative processes including drawing, painting and collaging to help people explore their emotions. This is art therapy- a practice she says benefits people who may be overwhelmed by traditional counseling.
Dr. Isis, comes across cases in the community about domestic and sexual abuse, eating disorders and self-harm. Her expertise has helped countless people, extending to schools, hospitals, day treatment programs, substance abuse and residential settings. Currently, offers clinical art therapy services in public schools, while maintaining a part-time private practice.
“People think it’s arts and crafts, and they don’t understand the depth of it and how helpful it can be,” Dr. Isis attests.
Dr. Isis recounts the self-portrait of an 11-year-old student, battling with self-image. She says the student had just gotten braces and was struggling to feel comfortable with her temporary look. Dr. Isis notes that, subconsciously, the patient centered her braces in the middle of the canvas, which highlights a growing sense of acceptance towards her new image.
“You can see the patient’s changes through the process,” she recalls.
Dr. Isis completed her PhD in expressive therapy in 2003 from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio, noting that this was unfortunately one of the few programs offering art therapy because of practice’s underappreciated.
“Resistance is big, but that’s part of the training,” said Dr. Patricia Isis, who emphasizes the importance of being properly trained, as patients coping with sensitive situations may be emotionally impacted and experience further distress. “You want to have an array of choices for people, and observe their body language too.”
Dr. Isis, who is a long-time member of Florida Art Therapy Association, aims to serve the Miami-Dade community with these goals in mind, focusing on the school system and exposing kids to art and its benefits for mental health.
Craig Siegel, the chairperson of Miami-Dade County public schools’ clinical art therapy department, has also dedicated his life to bringing this form of therapy to children. Working alongside Dr. Isis for 29 years, he has seen first-hand the care that goes into the doctor’s work.
“She’s one of the pioneers bringing art therapy to South Florida,” Siegel explains. “Dr. Isis just has a passion- she finds the beauty and the strength in everything around her.”
Young people are often the ones most drawn to this type of therapy, especially those with learning impediments, it can still be beneficial to everyone. Dr. Isis works and treats every age, different dynamics and backgrounds, stressing that no prior artistic experience is required.
The painting above depicts a self-portrait of one of Dr. Isis’s younger patients.
“This girl was torn up over her efforts to manage her strong emotions,” explains Dr. Isis.
The self portrait gave her more empowerment in making the invisible challenges visible. It reflected the pain she felt and helped her visualize it.
In collaboration with the non-profit organization Mindful Kids Miami, Dr. Isis offers free lessons on mindful self-compassion for adults, believing that the key to self-loving, mentally healthy kids is through understanding parental figures.
Although all cases differ, Dr. Isis’s care and attention to detail remain the same.
“You can’t save the world,” Dr. Isis says. “But you can do the best you can.”
Correction: An earlier version misstated the name of the Florida Art Therapy Association.
