Therapeutic Artwork

When building Haven House and Cloud Nine Studios, we started with the generally accepted principles of trauma-informed design and implemented best practices proven effective at other successful facilities. Going beyond these, we aimed to create an inherently therapeutic environment, i.e., one where people experience specific, measurable psychological changes, but instead of coming actively from interpersonal therapy, they would instead come more passively from living in the space.

Recognizing both the high power of traditional psychotherapy and the extreme limitations of environmental design, we did not attempt to replace any aspects of traditional therapeutic methods, but rather complement them by encouraging psychological changes that would enhance them. Specifically, we set out to identify the most prevalent barriers that could possibly be mediated through environmental changes and take steps in the home environment to help break down those barriers. Our goal is to affect residents in positive ways such that professional therapists can spend less of their time impeded by these obstacles and more time delivering more effective therapy, ultimately shortening recovery times and improving outcomes.

Overcoming Barriers to Therapy

Certain primary psychological barriers to therapy, such as depression, anxiety, difficulty regulating emotions, and various types of insecurity are already mitigated by existing measures. Some of the other barriers that research suggests can be combated with novel environmental interventions include:

• Hopelessness
  from feeling broken beyond repair or doubting the efficacy of treatment.

• Powerlessness
  from low self-efficacy, resulting in feeling unable to change or magnifying the perceived effort required to change, leading to unwillingness to take responsibility for life outcomes.

• Worthlessness
  from low self-esteem, internalized stigma, or self-blame, leading to people feeling like therapy is wasted on them.

• Shame & Fear
  of emotional intensity, failure, judgement, or discrimination, leading to avoidance, hesitance to fully express or experience emotions, or withholding of information from therapists.

• Detachment
  from social isolation and disconnection, leading to lack of participation in life and support mechanisms, dissatisfaction with living environment.

To that end, we designed several experimental modalities to attempt to mitigate these as well, focusing heavily on the therapeutic value of art and animals.