In the Spotlight: Art Therapy Camp in Springfield

By Marisa Tesoro

Photos courtesy of IISMO's Facebook

IISMO partnered with Beyond Healing’s Silvia Espinosa to produce a transformative, healing Art Therapy camp experience.

Rebekah Thomas, Site Director at the International Institute’s Southwest Missouri Branch (IISMO), recently partnered with Silvia Espinosa, Ed.S, LPC, to facilitate a two-week art therapy camp for American-born and refugee children alike.

While working fulltime at Springfield Public Schools, Espinosa is also a psychotherapist at Beyond Healing. From their website: “Beyond Healing Center is a therapy group committed to helping people find safety in connection through embodied healing practices.”

From June 6-17, Thomas would drop off and pick up a bus full of kids at Beyond Healing’s therapeutic camp in Downtown Springfield where Espinosa focused on creating a safe space for kids that have experienced trauma. Thomas said:

“She allowed them to find ways to express themselves and define themselves… It allowed them to communicate some of the trauma they’re experiencing just from being here. I think that will benefit all refugee kids… They’re all in a new space where it may feel difficult having a voice, voicing who they are and where they come from, feeling that sense of, ‘Am I allowed to be proud of who I am and where I come from?’ And I think Sylvia kind of gives them that space.”

Next up: making it a sustainable, long-term program.

“My biggest thing that I want to do is build a sustainable program with her because I think what she did with these kids more than anything else was start using that language they’re going to use inside the classroom,” Thomas said. “Paying attention to the teacher, sitting at a desk, having a structured, safe space.”

Many refugee children have no reference for that kind of education setting, and Espinosa seems to be the perfect person to help prepare them for success. She grew up in New York but is originally from the Dominican Republic and is used to being in multicultural spaces.

“I was trying not to cry when I was literally in the space with the kids, ya know? She just hit all the nails on the head,” Thomas said. “It’s a passion project, and I found a partner, and we’ll figure it out. One way or another, we’ll figure it out.”