The creativity-inducing aromas of freshly opened acrylic paint linger in the air as paintbrushes swirl in a kaleidoscope of colors in effort to release built-up anxiety and stress. A nearby table is lined with everything from air-drying clay to sketchbooks waiting to be filled with the inner workings of the mind. This marks the scene of the NC State Counseling Center’s Free Expression Session, a drop-in group that gives students the chance to bask in the healing power of art. 

NC State’s expressive arts therapist, Kelly McConkey, began her long-term relationship with art from a young age. Now, she leads one of the most popular drop-in groups at the university’s Counseling Center. Technician sat down with McConkey to learn more about the nature of expressive arts therapy.

What is your background with the arts?

I grew up doing theater from the time I was six. I actually attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and pursued drama. I was never one of those people who would practice their Oscar speech or wanted to be famous, I just really loved theatre and how it relates to people. I moved up to New York and I was doing shows and enjoying life, but I was also really intrigued by the people that I was meeting and working with there.  I volunteered with a GLBT youth shelter in Queens, and I worked at the oldest women’s theater in the country, the WOW cafe theater. I would hang out with homeless people and ask them their stories. I heard a lot of pretty amazing stories. Through all this and just meeting people I came to realize that I wanted to work with people. So I called my mom and said, ‘I want to go back to school, I want to be a counselor.’ My family was really supportive of this. I moved back to NC and did my undergrad here at NC State in psychology. As I was researching different graduate programs I came across expressive arts therapy, and what I really love about it is that it encompasses all of the arts. It’s very process-based instead of product-based. When you create something, whether it’s a dance or some kind of visual art piece or a song, it’s not about the product you’re creating; and me as a professional trying to determine what I can pull out of that product to explain you, it’s about your process, what comes to you while you create and how you grow or heal from that experience.

I went to Appalachian State and did my master’s in clinical mental health counseling and post-master’s certification in expressive arts therapy. I absolutely love watching how students are able to use art to express their emotions, to explore different pieces of themselves, and I think it’s a great way of expressing yourself in a way that doesn’t require talking. People can have a difficult time verbalizing their experiences, and art offers a different outlet. Here at the center I’ve held a smaller, more intimate expressive arts therapy group, but we wanted to open it up in a way that more students could be involved and included, and so we started this open drop-in group. This is our third semester doing it, and it’s been amazing. 

Have the free expression sessions been successful so far? What do they consist of?

We usually have anywhere from 6-26 students every week. Students are not required to sign up, they just walk in. It is a very open space, where you can come if you just want to create something or you can explore something very specific to your emotional needs. Say if you’ve had a long week and you just want to decompress and make some art, you’re welcome to do that. But we also give a prompt every week that allows students to explore different nuances of self.  We explore grief, stress, joy and invite them to think about and explore these elements of their lives and create pieces that reflect these elements.

This is a space for students to explore their emotions or just to relax, to have fun.  We have students that come and they’ll create something for someone as a gift, and even in this I think it’s empowering for them as it brings joy and helps build connections with other students. We have students that come together now having just met in the drop-in, they come almost every single week and it’s a good bonding experience for both new and old friends.

How have you personally benefited from expressive arts therapy?

I know there was a time when I was going through a really difficult breakup and I took one of those foam poster boards and I had red paint and I took an X-ACTO knife and I was just slicing the posterboard and then I threw red paint on it, and I started taking black paint and writing written narrative over it about how I was feeling, and it was this very cathartic way for me to get out my emotions in a way that wasn’t harmful for myself. That let me express exactly how I was feeling, and I remember to this day that was such a cool art project that I created. And I even ended up submitting it to what was called “Glow” at Appalachian, where students could submit art related to their own healing and self-care as an installation so people could come and we had a silent auction where people could give back to the university and mental health programs; so I submitted that.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your position?

The students. We usually have more than one counselor here in case something does come up for a student and they need to process. We can step out of the room and talk through things. I had a student that created this really beautiful canvas and asked me afterwards to talk. They spoke about what the piece they had created meant to them and I got to hold that space for that student, which meant a lot to me. So knowing there are students that are truly finding a benefit from this space, in their own growth and healing, that is what keeps me doing it every single day.

Next Wednesday will be the last Free Expression Session of the spring semester, and will be located in room 2301 of the Counseling Center. The session will run from 4 to 5:30 p.m.