Helping Kids Chill & Spill

| By: Committee for Children

This week’s Committee for Children blog post was written by Founder and Executive Director of Art with Heart, Steffanie Lorig.

As a child, I spent a great deal of time in the hospital because of asthma problems. Each visit was terrifying, but I found that doodling and coloring helped soothe my fears and manage the overwhelming stress I felt. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was using creativity to cope. As I got older, I realized that my feelings became evident in the colors I chose, in the smooth curves or angular lines that appeared on my canvas, in the way I shaped clay. Art gave me a physical way to gain clarity and help deal with life’s stresses.

After many years in the graphic design industry, I came to the realization that art could serve to help a great number of children dealing with difficult issues, so I founded a nonprofit organization called Art with Heart, which is dedicated to helping high-risk youth using therapeutic tools and programs that promote emotional wellbeing. Now, I get to hear stories from teachers, students, counselors, and others all around the world who use our books to help youth build social and emotional skills—all while doing something that comes naturally to them.

One of the stories I heard recently is about Austin, a middle school student whose mother struggles with meth addiction. Austin signed up for a “Chill & Spill” group that the school counselor hosted. When he started, he was reluctant to let on that things weren’t all perfect—he wanted his peers to think that everything was fine with him. Soon after starting to work in the Chill & Spill book, he began opening up about his past and his fears about the future. First by writing, then by sharing, Austin expressed that he was scared his mom was going to start using again. As he shared, others in the group followed suit, each supporting one another in their struggle to find their path in life.

Committee for Children has recently adopted Chill & Spill as a support to the Second Step middle school program, and I am thrilled. It is an honor to partner with an organization with similar values and mission to help youth make positive decisions. It’s gratifying to know that educators all over the world now have an easy way to use art and creative writing to promote emotional expression, identity development, and healthy choices.