As a nation, we have faced several grim statistics in the past few years. Suicide rates have increased more than 30% in half of the states in the U.S. since 1999, and the opioid crisis has become an epidemic. In addition, adverse childhood experiences will likely rise because of the increased isolation and lack of school support services during the COVID-19 pandemic. These statistics are further troubling considering that mental health and addiction issues often begin in adolescence and lead to long-term disability, failure to achieve one’s highest potential and premature death.

Thus, it’s paramount to reach young people using multivariate, systemic and effective outreach methods. Using social media and other online venues can be more effective in reaching larger audiences than using simple public awareness messages, and this method is particularly salient during times requiring social distancing. With grant funding from the Jackson County and North Carolina Arts Councils, the Western Carolina University (WCU) counseling program collaborated with local public schools throughout western North Carolina to create an online art and wellness magazine called Masterpeace. We invited K-12 students to submit art for consideration in this publication, which was designed to do the following:

• Create an engaging online (and print) magazine that celebrates local student art
• Build university-school partnerships
• Collaborate with counseling graduate students to provide mental health and wellness education to children, adolescents, parents, teachers and counselors
• Destigmatize mental health issues
• Increase conversation among parents, students, faculty and community members about the importance of seeking help for mental health needs

Healing through art

Coupling art with wellness information is particularly advantageous because research indicates that creating and appreciating art is therapeutic. Creating art elicits similar brainwave activity to what is observed in people while meditating. Art therapy is effective in helping clients who have experienced domestic violence, trauma, depression, personality disorders and schizophrenia.

Artists are visionaries who follow their hearts, not crowds, and are regularly at the forefront of societal change. Often it is music, paintings, graffiti or murals that bring much-needed awareness of inequality and oppression to the public. The aim of this art and wellness magazine is to encourage and nurture students’ creative genius to inspire others to instill a more collaborative and just society.

Expanding the reach

An online magazine can be an effective tool because 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, 89% of them are online multiple times every day and 40% say they prefer to receive health information online versus face-to-face medical visits. In addition, accurate online health information decreases anxiety and depression and increases stress management, healthy relationships and academic achievement. Evidence suggests that online health education is particularly salient for stigmatized topics that adolescents would typically avoid in face-to-face settings.

The WCU counseling program tested the efficacy of including art with mental health information on the university’s social media platform. First, we placed suicide prevention information on the counseling program’s Facebook page. Then, the next day we included student art with the same suicide information post. Adding art to the post increased the reach of the suicide prevention message: 46 more views (168 total), 152 more engagement (165) and 11 more likes (17).

Strengthening university, school and agency relationships

Masterpeace magazine enhances our university, agency and school partnerships by providing an engaging way for students, parents, counselors and teachers to interact during a period of social isolation. The teachers have told us how much they appreciate having the online magazine to discuss with their students and inspire them to create art. For instance, a middle school counselor was working with a student who was new to the school and struggling to fit in. He suggested she join the art club, so she did. And one of her artworks was published in Masterpeace. The counselor said it significantly improved her attitude and school engagement. Another art teacher told us that one of her talented high school student’s intermittent depression was visibly improved after their art was published in the magazine, and the teacher also believed that this publication would increase the student’s chances of receiving college scholarships. It may sound cliché but helping even one student thrive is well worth this publication.

Excitement for the magazine was evident from the number of students and schools that participated. There was a 100% increase in the number of students and a 27% increase in the number of schools that contributed art between the 2020 and 2021 editions. To date, the first two issues of Masterpeace have been viewed over 4,700 times, a reach that is significantly more than faculty could have accomplished by speaking to schools and community groups.

We hope that collaborating with community schools and agencies will also increase their involvement in counseling student field placements, service-learning opportunities, internships, practicums and other partnerships.

Another benefit of this project is that it involves counseling graduate students using what they learn in classes about mental health wellness and prevention to provide salient information throughout the magazine. In turn, this project benefits both graduate and K-12 students because it encourages counseling graduate students, who will become future counselors, to apply course material so that K-12 students will understand and use it in their lives.

Honoring the foundation of the counseling profession

We believe this magazine has a broader and more nuanced purpose. The counseling profession was founded on prevention and wellness principles, and it has increasingly been a leader in the behavioral health field on diversity, social justice and equality issues. The beauty and originality of art are emblematic of the counseling profession’s desire to honor the truth and uniqueness of everyone and allow them to express themselves in their own way. Much like the vision and imagination it takes to generate art, we believe this magazine speaks to the ethos of the counseling profession by honoring the varied and meaningful ways we all contribute to the world, creating an ever-evolving and highly complex beautiful tapestry of humanity.

 

Enjoy flipping through the 2020 issue and the 2021 issue of Masterpeace, and follow us on Instagram @masterpeace.artmag.

 

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Russ Curtis is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and a professor of counseling at Western Carolina University. Contact him at curtis@wcu.edu.

Lisen Roberts is the department head of human services and an associate professor of counseling at Western Carolina University, where she oversees 10 academic programs. She continues to be involved in school counseling, counseling ethics and social justice issues. Contact her at lroberts@wcu.edu.

Merry Leigh Dameron is a licensed school counselor and assistant professor of counseling at Western Carolina University. Her research interests include social justice in education, alternative education and school counselor cultural competence. Contact her at mdameron@wcu.edu.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.