Through my work at a domestic violence emergency shelter, I had the pleasure of incorporating the AWBW framework via monthly Art of Healing workshops with participants who were actively fleeing the person who caused them harm. One of the workshops that I conducted was The Monster in Me. This is a workshop focused on depicting a side of you that others may not ever see whether it be positive or negative. An opportunity to reveal your true self, if willing.

One of the participants, the mother of a teenage boy, became blocked on what to do when it came to this activity. Nothing was coming to mind or it was simply not the time, at that moment, to express the monster inside her just yet. After thinking for a while, she asked if she could draw me, the advocate. I said yes, of course.

In previous conversations she had shared with me that one of her past hobbies, prior to being with the person who caused her harm, was drawing. In fact, she had studied for it. As I saw her sketch me, I could see the joy in her face in doing something that was the norm for her so long ago. 

When she shared the final product, she was proud of her piece. She might have felt that it wasn’t perfect, but it brought her back to who she was on the inside. When I saw it, I felt truly blessed to have been chosen by her to be drawn. I felt, in that moment, that I’d had a real impact on her life because for her to draw me, meant I had become a meaningful part of her story while she and her son were with us at the emergency shelter.