YOUNGSTOWN — The Ryan Giambattista HELMS Foundation will be expanding significantly its Ryan Giambattista Art Therapy Program thanks to an outpouring of $127,500 in grants from several local organizations.

With the increase in funding, chairwoman Terri DiGennaro is looking to expand the culture of art therapy servicing adults, seniors and youths throughout Youngstown.

The grants will go toward hiring more therapists and staying stocked on resources needed for the increased service.

“We’re stepping into something that started from nothing,” DiGennaro said. “All of this funding gives us what the foundation needs to provide therapy.”

The foundation, based in Boardman, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to honor the life and vision of the late artist. Its mission is to provide community-based art therapy services in collaboration and partnership with groups, individuals, social service organizations, learning institutions, and providers of services in the area of mental health, developmental and physical disabilities, according to its website.

DiGennaro’s son, Giambattista, 23, died in Struthers in July 2015.

“You could see when times were rougher how it showed through his art,” she said. “I knew when he was going to be creating something.”

She added: “Artists have a totally different mindset; they function differently. They tap into a creative side that most people don’t.”

Art therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses the creative process as a form of communication — where instead of talking to a counselor, clients are able to draw their feelings and from there are analyzed by trained therapists.

The grants were provided by Western Reserve Health Foundation, Trumbull Memorial Health Foundation, The Mahoning County Mental Health & Recovery Board, Arnett Family Fund, The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Frances Schermer Charitable Trust, William Swanston Charitable Fund and The Youngstown Foundation.

WHO BENEFITS

The organizations that will adapt art therapy programs are: Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center; YWCA of Youngstown and Warren; Yellow Brick Place; Casa Madre; ACLD Learning Center; Potential Development School for Autism; Meridian Healthcare; Easterseals; and Compass Family and Community Services.

The types of therapies offered will be dependent on the development treatment plans of each organization participating.

This could mean helping reunite families dealing with the trauma, and physical or mental health needs in adults and juveniles, among many areas of treatment.

“There’s not a single area where art therapy can’t be used. We’ll work with dementia, high-functioning or lower-functioning autism patients. Art therapy encompasses everything,” DiGennaro said.

She said the majority of services offered will start in hourlong group therapy sessions with about six to eight people per group.

WHO TEACHES

An estimated 1,065 group sessions will be conducted by art therapists who have all graduated from a master’s program in art therapy, along with additional certifications.

One of the art therapists will be Cleveland native Sara Stein, 25, a fine arts graduate of Kent State University with a minor in psychology. She also got her master’s in art therapy at Ursuline College.

Describing the initial sessions, Stein said therapists will work to build a “therapeutic bond” with the client similar to a consultation, where it’s gauged where the client is in their healing.

Starting with a 30- to 40-minute art task, the therapist pays close attention to what their client is drawing and how they go about drawing it.

Art therapists will watch to see how the clients are interacting with the art — looking for insight into who the individual is.

“Color is huge, line shape and variations,” Stein said. “There’s alot of assessment on the modes of doing art therapy, looking for different elements of the art are important.”

The final 20 minutes will allow for the groups to reflect and share their work — if they’re willing to do so — which in turn helps inform the therapist of the group’s needs.

For the therapist, part of the sessions is about making adjustments.

“If the group comes to me about something that works best for them, I’ll cater toward what would work for them,” Stein said.