Clay Play
A new form of therapy for both kids and adults
by Shelley Kanther

The encyclopedia list four basic steps to creating pottery: preparing the clay mixture, shaping the clay, decorating and glazing the item, and firing it for hardening. Abbie Gray or Hollis Citron add one more crucial step in making a finished work of art. It's called Sharing.

Gray and Citron own the House of Clay, a Collingswood-based pottery studio, offering a variety of group classes, staff retreats, birthday parties and special workshops. At the end of each class, students proudly show off their finished pieces and talk about their experience. Why did they choose to make this piece? What is special about it? How does it make them feel?

"We give everybody a chance to talk, and it's all volunteer, but people are into it and sometimes they are literally in tears, because their guards are down and they have the ability and comfort level to open up through the practice of creating," says Gray."They don't even realize the level of relaxation they've achieved. It ends up being something they want more and more of."

This emotional expression is all part of the magic of clay therapy, a unique form of art therapy championed by Citron and Gray. Students of all ages, backgrounds and ability levels get lost in a world of creativity, which allows them to express their feelings, connect with others and reduce their stress through art. While working with this threedimensional object – clay – which you can touch, feel and shape, students forget their worries as they squeeze, squish, pinch and press. Over the course of a few weeks, the budding artist ends up with a functional, solid, finished product.

"Here you get to go from start to finish," says Citron, "You have your idea, you mold it, you form it, you shape it, you paint it, you do everything." "The ownership and confidence and self esteem that comes with that process is amazing," says Gray. "That physical, hands-on creativity – it's invaluable!" Lisa Schmidt, mother of nine-yearold Adam, wholeheartedly agrees. Adam has not yet been diagnosed with any particular condition, but he has nervous tendencies and becomes easily distracted, as though there are a million things going on inside his head. But since he began working with Abbie Gray, Adam has found a way to focus his energy.

"It's so therapeutic for him… there's a wonderful calming effect," says Schmidt. "He loves to go to clay. It's a place for him to shine. He's really in his element.He gets to take this picture in his head and then complete a finished product, which is so important." That finished product? A whole world of clay figurines, about an inch or so in height, which Adam quite proudly calls "The Adventures of Toadsly the Mushroom."

"You know what? They actually do look a little like mushrooms!" laughs Schmidt. "He's made about 50 of them so far."

Citron and Gray can spout off successful examples like Adam, having used art as therapy throughout their careers in education and social work. They graduated together from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, both earning degrees in Ceramics, while Gray double-majored in Art Therapy. They kept in close touch over the next 15 years: Citron got a Masters in Art Education and worked in the areas of special needs and general education while Gray pursued her career in social work.When Citron moved back into the area around the same time Gray and her husband bought the Collingswood property, they decided to partner and pursue their dream of using clay therapy to help people from all walks of life. "When Hollis came into the picture everything changed and we just went crazy brainstorming.We came up with a name and all these ideas," remembers Gray.

"It's been a phenomenal two years with what we've been able to accomplish," agrees Citron. "You should have seen the studio when we got started."

 

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