On September 24, 2025 I facilitated the AWBW workshop “I Am Strong Because.” Both art workshop participants have had domestic violence experiences that left them dealing with trauma and have experienced housing insecurity.
With this workshop the idea is to create a puzzle. Each puzzle piece represents a quality you see as a strength of yours, something that helps you navigate your life and deal with adversity.
One of the participants has written a self-published book about growing up in a home with domestic violence. She is focused on telling her truth and in doing so processing the trauma she has experienced. This workshop helped her focus on the emotional puzzle pieces she deals with on a daily basis.
The other participant also did her own take on the idea of a puzzle. She feels she is genuine, intelligent, energetic, kind, free, loving and peaceful. She dove right into this project with enthusiasm, and felt good about what she created. In the end it was very self-affirming for her, and she really enjoyed herself. It was uplifting for her to identify all she’s got going on that’s positive.
I think we all process our lives through a filter of how we see the world, and it’s interesting to note how different these participants’ artwork and experiences were from each other.
