Arts in Healing: Transforming Lives Through the Therapeutic Power of Art and Music at MUSC

Art and music can be therapeutic for almost everyone in any given circumstance, but there’s evidence-based healing that happens when it’s made available for patients and their families. That’s why, in 2018, MUSC brought in licensed and registered art therapist Katie Hinson Sullivan to develop the Arts in Healing program. 

Sullivan’s first visit to MUSC was as a patient when, at age five, she underwent open-heart surgery. Growing up, she would use art as a tool for expression and healing, so it’s fitting that she’s returned to MUSC this time to build a program that helps with the healing of so many going through their own difficult times.

Arts in Healing works with patient-caregiver teams to provide access to the healing power of the arts, be it at a patient’s bedside or in group settings, throughout all of MUSC’s clinical spaces. It is available to all hospitalized patients and those who are with MUSC caregivers. The program is also available to family members and caregivers, aiming to help manage burnout and compassion fatigue often associated with patient care.

Extending the Reach: The Growth of Arts in Healing

Over the past two years, the program has grown to utilize contracted art therapists across the state to work with clients within diverse organizations and children struggling with emotional and behavioral issues in schools (from Charleston and Berkeley to Florence and Beaufort). Arts in Healing recently developed an outpatient program for individual therapy at the MUSC Health and Wellness Institute.

Now, the program encompasses a total of four credentialed music therapists and three art therapists working in the hospital, each with unique specializations. Together, they continue to develop the clinical aspects of the program while a troop of volunteers brings their talents to nonclinical spaces, such as lobbies.

“The time spent inside waiting rooms and hospital lobbies can be anxiety-ridden for patients and visitors,” Sullivan says. “Our volunteers play guitar or the ukulele or provide opportunities for artmaking to take their minds off the thoughts that come with waiting and treatment plans.”

Based on the foundation of creative art therapy, the program’s expansion goes across the state, from Charleston’s MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital to MUSC Health divisions in the Midlands; Florence, Marion, and Black River; and Lancaster and Chester.

Healing Aesthetics: The Impact of Art Collection in Health Care Environments

Sullivan and company also work to educate the community to help people understand the full extent of what it is that Arts in Healing can do.

“A lot of people look at art therapy and music therapy as something that’s fun and entertaining, but we’re actually an evidence-based practice providing therapy and support with treatment goals in mind,” Sullivan says.

In the hospital, specifically, one of Arts in Healing’s goals is centered around managing anxiety and stress, with a lot of stress management. For example, the team may focuse on helping those who are coming to terms with a long hospital stay and providing memory-making opportunities to help patients and family members navigate the end-of-life process.

The impact on patients is so great that when Arts in Healing was furloughed during COVID, the palliative care team noted an obvious gap in fulfilling patients’ emotional needs. The stress of a hospital stay and having little to no control, or say, over a treatment plan, for example, can be psychologically difficult for anyone, Sullivan notes.

“I think the beauty of art and music therapy is that we’re allowing our patients and families to have a choice, whether that’s within their treatment, within what they express, or within what materials or sounds they choose within their treatment process.”

Beyond Therapy

The impact of the program goes beyond live, interactive involvement with patients and families, with the inclusion of an art collection program that underlines the organic importance of healing aesthetics. Arts in Healing works across the state to ensure the art that’s placed on MUSC Health’s hospital walls speaks to consumers at large and comes from a place of healing and inclusion. The MUSC Health Ashley River Tower alone displays nearly 1,000 pieces of artwork, all created by South Carolina artists.

“It's the largest collection in the world of South Carolina art, which is something that people may not associate with a health care environment,” Sullivan says. “The works are a mix of sculptures, paintings, photography, quilts, sweetgrass baskets, and Catawba poetry.”

What’s next? Sullivan says they have multiple research projects going on right now. “We're making a lot of moves to assess the impact of what we do.”

As for Sullivan, she’s right where she belongs. Three decades after her relationship with MUSC began, that experience continues to help her identify with the people Arts in Healing reaches every day.

She says, “Just having that emotional connection and an outlet for the patients and families we serve has been really impactful to me personally because we didn't necessarily have that 30 years ago, you know?”

Learn more about or support Arts in Healing.

To schedule a personalized MUSC art walk, email artsinhealing@musc.edu.