UNTOLD STORIES: FIELD OF HOPE

5 Apr

2023

A pioneering arts project, lead by The Barn at Easington and artists Sharon Bailey and Nicola Balfour, designed to develop approaches to provide holistic, creative and therapeutic support to birth mothers and their children who have been severed by addiction.

Exhibition detail - documentary photography from the participants in and around The Barn at Easington

This separation of mother and child / children creates a unique set of challenges. Mothers often face stigma and shame, struggling to access the support they need while navigating the complex child welfare system. Children, on the other hand, first and foremost must be protected and supported, often experiencing grief, confusion, and a yearning for connection with their birth mother.

The workshops were delivered at the Barn at Easington, a beautiful, calm, safe, natural outdoor environment by arts practitioners highly experienced in trauma informed therapists, addiction recovery, and women’s self-empowerment.

The beneficiaries included mothers whose children have been removed/ (or at risk of) because of trauma-based addiction. Mothers involved in this project were in existing recovery support for their addictions.

The project worked with women under the care of Addictions UK, The Open Nest Charity, and Sue Robson, founder of Tina’s Haven, a peer-led, supportive, forward-thinking charity born out of one family’s own tragic personal experience of severance, trauma and loss.

Harnessing deeply challenging lived experiences with a determination to create something positive and hopeful and to bring about change, these initiatives are able to produce a replicable model of holistic and therapeutic support that is based on nature and art.

Art can offer a safe space for exploration, a bridge for communication, a path towards rebuilding connections, articulating deep emotions, making creativity a valuable addition to recovery programmes.

“Many children are permanently severed from their birthmothers and families through closed adoption because of untreated trauma-based addiction, resulting in lifelong trauma and attachment difficulties. It is these circumstances that Tina’s Haven is seeking to transform.” — Sue Robinson, Tina’s Haven.

Exhibition detail - participants and facilitators discuss their experiences at the exhibition launch at The Arts Cafe, Community House, 2023.

The project culminated with the creation of a film and an exhibition of photography work created by the women with artist Sharon Bailey titled ‘My Story Isn’t Over’. This artistic expression proved to be a powerful tool for the mothers to process their experiences, move towards healing from trauma, and find their voices.