How is Therapy Clay Used for Our Clients?

Irrespective of its innovative uses in post-acute rehabilitation, which we will discuss, therapy clay and clay therapy were immortalized in music almost 55 years ago. In 1961, the great singer, Gene McDaniels had a tremendous hit with a song entitled, A Hundred Pounds of Clay. The song reached number three on the Billboard chart and number 11 on the rhythm & blues chart that year. Here are some of the opening lyrics:

He took a hundred pounds of clay
And then He said “Hey, listen”
“I’m gonna fix this-a world today”
“Because I know what’s missin’ “
Then He rolled his big sleeves up
And a brand-new world began

That could be the theme song for NeuLife Rehab in Mount Dora, Florida. Especially the part that says,

“I’m gonna fix this-a world today”
“Because I know what’s missin’ “
Then He rolled his big sleeves up
And a brand-new world began

The reason is that the interdisciplinary team of professionals at NeuLife Rehab do know what’s missin(g). There may be aspects of an individual’s life that have drastically changed because of a catastrophic injury of one or more of the following kinds, or others:

• A traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• A mild brain injury (MBI)
• Multiple trauma
• Neurologic injury
• A traumatic amputation
• A spinal cord injury (SCI)

NeuLife Rehab in Mount Dora, Florida starts new worlds for its Clients.

What might at first seem unusual is that one of the special rehabilitation modalities used by NeuLife Rehab is clay therapy. It involves the use of therapy clay to achieve specific therapeutic goals that are important alone, or in conjunction with other therapies, to achieve our Client’s goal of independence consistent with his or her physical and mental capabilities.

The use of therapy clay by NeuLife Rehab falls within the milieu of Occupational Therapy in that it can strengthen the hands by molding and forming the clay, by providing resistance.

It can also be used in art therapy which is a mental health profession in which Clients use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. One of its major goals is the improvement or restoration of a Client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being. The occurrence of a catastrophic injury often shatters an individual’s sense of independence and well-being, thus the need for its rehabilitation in an innovative post-acute setting such as NeuLife Rehab in Mount Dora, Florida.

Within the broader area of art therapy which can be used by a Licensed Mental Health Counselor is the specific field of clay work. As it turns out, clay work has specific psychiatric implications beyond its inclusion within art therapy generally. These include:

• Procedural expression through the experience of touch, movement, and the three-dimensional aspect of clay work. Touch in clay work also requires body movements in endless opportunities for touching and modeling. Thus clay-work makes possible an entire non-verbal language or communication for the creator, through which his or her mental realm, emotional life, and primary object relations can be expressed.
• The constructing and deconstructing processes of a clay formation by our Client facilitates a meaningful experience of creating something out of nothing, and transforming the clay into different forms. Simply by lightly touching the lump of clay, the NeuLife Rehab Client leaves the imprint of his or her fingers on it and thus becomes absorbed in his or her ability to transform, in the impact of his or her existence and presence in the here and now. These imprints may be interpreted as his or her personal signs in the real world, something of which he or she may have lost sight of. This experience is most evident in a Client who comes to therapy with feelings of loss and grief, and in many cases with feelings of helplessness. The individual may respond tactilely to the texture, and the moldable clay changes shape. He or she can experience immediately how the clay responds to his or her touch and feelings. Through this type of movement experience, our Client can quickly realize his or her own efficacy. The opportunity to make a concrete thing out of the piece of clay, which is a symbol and a metaphor of one’s inner world, is immanent to the therapeutic process. It is an alchemy-like process: transforming the pain into meaningful expression. The unformed chunk of clay and the new clay sculpture itself can be manipulated and changed during the therapeutic process. Furthermore, clay has the capacity to be done and undone multiple times, providing the opportunity to smash down or remake a clay sculpture.” Clay-work enables the Client to encounter the constructive and destructive aspects of the self, in processes of psychic change and identity formation, or in becoming himself or herself.

That’s what a hundred pounds of clay can do.

When an individual becomes a Client of NeuLife Rehab in Mount Dora, Florida, he or she undergoes an independent functional evaluation administered by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals that may consist of:

• Board Certified Neurologist
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst
• Board Certified Physiatrist
• Neuropsychologist
• Psychologist
• Board Certified Psychiatrist
• Speech Language Pathologist/Cognitive Therapist
• Physical Therapist
• Occupational Therapist
• Nurses
• Licensed Mental Health Counselor

From the results of the independent functional evaluation, the professionals of NeuLife Rehab formulate a Client Goal Plan. The Client Goal Plan guides the clinically relevant services delivered by NeuLife Rehab. The Client Goal Plan guides the cognitive, psychiatric, neurologic, psychological and neuropsychological therapy of the Client. The goal of NeuLife Rehab’s innovative post-acute rehabilitation is the attainment for our Clients of independence to the fullest extent that his or her physical and mental abilities permit.

NeuLife Rehab in Mount Dora, Florida consistently provides the highest standard of care in the delivery of clinically relevant services to achieve successful, sustained outcomes and exceed the expectations of all persons served.

Proper and timely post-acute rehabilitation that may determine the difference between disability and independence is what NeuLife refers to as the “platinum post-acute period” —  the crucial window following acute care that is needed to nurture the whole person to health with specialized, clinically relevant services.

NeuLife, in Mount Dora, Florida, is an accessible residential post-acute program providing specialized rehabilitation to individuals diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Amputations, Burns and other Catastrophic Injuries and Challenging Diagnoses.

2725 Robie Avenue

Mount Dora, Florida 32757