Integrity House, a Newark-based not-for-profit provider of comprehensive substance use disorder and mental health services, recently celebrated the one-year mark in its new Creative Arts Initiative, and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. Funded through the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, the Creative Arts Initiative encourages positive and productive channels for creative expression that provide pathways to improved mental health and recovery.
Integrity House’s Creative Arts Initiative began in July 2023 to provide emotional relief to individuals receiving care for substance use disorder and mental health conditions.
Integrity House offers programs in Kearny, Newark, Secaucus, Toms River, Morris Plains and Paramus. Services include bibliotherapy (e.g., guided reading activities), visual art workshops, creative writing workshops and community arts programs designed to increase social connection, improve mindfulness and support recovery from drug/alcohol dependency. Numerous studies find art therapy to be an effective method of treating mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which individuals with substance use disorder often simultaneously experience.
Since beginning the program, Integrity has facilitated over 230 bibliotherapy and creative arts workshops and reached 200 individuals in under six months. When surveyed on the effectiveness of the CAI program, 65% of clients reported decreased feelings of depression, 51% reported a decrease in feelings of loneliness and 56% reported an increase in mindfulness. As this is a pilot program, Integrity House anticipates these outcomes only continue to improve.
To commemorate the first anniversary of the Creative Arts Initiative, Integrity House will soon publish Migrations: The Artistic and Literary Journal of Integrity House. The inaugural publication contains original poetry, prose, painting and photography created by Integrity clients while in the program.
“Integrity’s Creative Arts Initiative is an extension of our efforts to provide whole-person care and enhance traditional treatment by using innovative, evidence-based modalities,” Creative Arts Coordinator Evan Weiss said. “In our Newark and Secaucus residential programs, we’ve seen firsthand the positive effects of the creative arts on our clients’ recovery. None of this would be possible without the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey and their support and funding, for which we are enormously grateful.”
