Achieving Recovery Through Creativity (A.R.T.C. -- pronounced "Artsy") began as a program to provide substance-abusing adolescents the opportunity to tap into creative talents and convey emotions through the arts. Having experienced great success providing this service to our adolescent substance abuse consumers, PFH has begun implementing A.R.T.C. within select adult substance abuse treatment programs, and recently initiating an independent A.R.T.C. program funded by the Franklin County Children and Families Community Resource Board and being provided to high risk youth in Franklin County in Missouri. Using a variety of artistic mediums, A.R.T.C. participants learn to lower their defenses and express feelings without the use of mood-altering substances, and in doing so, discover parts of their selves that were otherwise hidden by a multitude of negative coping strategies and life circumstances. Participants further explore feelings and expand communication skills by discussing their completed projects in group and individual counseling settings. As their strengths and talents are validated by others, the participants experience an increase in confidence and self-worth.

A.R.T.C. uses visual arts, music, and creative writing to encourage the expression of difficult emotions and provide consumers with an opportunity to explore activities that can serve as a means of healthy recreation as they strive to remain drug-free, let go of high risk behaviors and cope with difficult situations. Currently A.R.T.C. is offered within 15 PFH programs that serve youth and families across the state of Missouri and 5 PFH adult substance abuse treatment programs.
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A.R.T.C. currently consists of one to three groups per week focused on completion of group projects addressing issues pertinent to consumers who are struggling with substance abuse, high risk behaviors and a variety of related issues. Each group entails a pre-group or post-group discussion centered on the issue of choice (ie emotions, impact of substance abuse, family issues, past trauma, asking for help, coping strategies) coupled with the completion of a project that allows the issue of focus to be expressed in an alternative, creative manner. In addition creative expression is being utilized in individual therapy through the use of drawing journals, poetry journals, lyric analyses and various art projects and on a larger scale within our school-based prevention and early intervention programs. We have found many individuals tend to express themselves more openly through these unconventional means. A unique element of the A.R.T.C. program is community involvement. We provide consistent opportunities throughout the year for our consumers to display their talents to a larger community audience. Gallery showings, musical performances, poetry readings and festivals are just a few of the venues through which we enable participants to display their strengths and receive a wider range of accolades from the communities they belong to. Our consumers are discovering talents they never knew they had leading to an increase in overall feelings of self worth and the discovery of sober recreational outlets they can participate in following their completion of treatment.



Despite the tremendous growth of A.R.T.C. since its inception, we are far from reaching our goal. Our mission is for A.R.T.C. to become an even more centralized component of our comprehensive treatment programs and to continue to expand to offer A.R.T.C. to broader consumer base. Our goals also include acquisition of additional musical recording equipment, musical instruments, photography equipment, and videography equipment for all of our sites. The remarkable impact of creative expression on the consumers with whom we work becomes more and more evident every day. It is the aim of Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc. to always think outside of the box and consistently strive to provide the highest quality care to our consumers through the most innovative means possible.