“Improving the health and well-being of our employees makes good business sense. As a leading provider of workplace health services, we see every day the difference it can make to a company’s bottom line and the impact it can have on employee morale and motivation. It offers a ”win-win” all round. Employees benefit from better support for their health. Companies benefit from less absence and improved productivity. And society benefits from improved public health.”
– Steve Flanagan, Commercial Director, Bupa
Employees are vital assets of any company and ensuring their outstanding mental and physical health sets them up to accomplish more. The health and wellness of its employees usually influences the productivity and profits of a company. It only makes sense for an organization to offer wellness strategies for retaining staff and motivating them to keep performing their best.
Expressive and Creative Arts can emerge as an effective tool for employee wellness programs
Therapeutic use of these can work towards the employees improving their communication skills and stress management while building and creating a healthy work environment. The benefits do not end here rather extend to facilitating smooth communication and fostering creativity and innovation in the organization. Today’s business environment is recognized with change and challenges, and Art-based therapies are a way out to motivate the workforce to accept change in a positive way.
What is Expressive Arts Therapy?
In expressive arts therapy, you use multiple senses to explore your inner and outer world through the experience and creation of different art forms. Creativity becomes the pathway to the expression of inner feelings, leading to a process of self-discovery and understanding. In other words, your creative process becomes your road to emotional health.
The process of self-expression and the resulting artwork help individuals understand their emotional conflicts, develop social skills, discover potential, improve self-esteem, manage addictions, reduce anxiety, and restore normal function to their lives.
Why are these sessions vital for a company?
The modern-day work environment- with its long periods of sitting, quick takeout meals, and computer screen eye strain- isn’t constructive to either the mental or the physical well-being of your employees, more so with the pandemic year and the ‘work from home’ situation. Wellness programs make employees feel appreciated and valued. They also play a vital role in employee retention, by aiding to keep the employees loyal. The interaction of co-workers during these sessions facilitates bonding that helps teams work better together.
Theme for these sessions: Personal growth, interpersonal relationships, team bonding, stress management and self-care in these uncertain times by creating a safe space.
How do these sessions benefit in the work environment?
There is a positive connection between employee wellness and the performance of a business. Generally, the benefits of implementing comprehensive employee wellness programs surpass the costs. Below are a few key takeaways:
- Higher Morale: Healthier employees tend to be more positive, outgoing and enthusiastic thus making the morale in the workplace go up.
- Less Stress: Stress among employees goes down considerably when they are in a healthy state.
- Lower Turnover Costs: 88% of surveyed employees claim access to corporate wellness programs weigh heavily in the decision to join and remain at a company.
- Increased Productivity: Wellbeing, in general, improves focus and productivity among employees.
Duration: The group sessions will be offered online, one session lasts 45-60 minutes, per week with a minimum of 6-8 sessions to see an overall change/transformation.
About the facilitator: Sammy Sahni is a certified Expressive Arts Therapy Practitioner, author (published an e book – Iridescence; poems reflecting her personal and spiritual growth journey).
She is pursuing Masters in Psychology and endeavours to combine narrative practices with expressive arts. Continuously updating by attending workshops on societal structures and mental health, queer affirmative mental health support, conducted by Mariwala Health Initiative, Dulwich Centre Australia, Narrative Practices India, and Blue Dawn respectively.
As an EXA therapy practitioner, she has undergone internship training of over 52+ supervised hours of client work with individual clients of different age groups and backgrounds. Also, under the aegis of Women and Child Welfare Department and the Education Department she has conducted workshops for UNICEF recognized NGO Rainbow Homes. She has also collaborated with SMArt Bengaluru and Greenpeace India to facilitate wellness workshops.
Previously, she has been a digital content creator and has done some considerable work with digital parenting platforms and as a brand consultant for various brands, businesses and organisations.
A few of the brands and organisations she has worked with:
- Momspresso
- KidEngage
- Pause for Perspective
- Sayfty NGO
- Panache Finishing School
- Stanza Apparels
- Vibrant Living by Sridevi Jasti
- Kishandas jewellery
- Tamanna makeup studio and academy
- Cerestra edu infra fund
- Olive tree lifestyle magazine
Today, she hopes to integrate her previous skills and create a therapeutic program using expressive arts for the corporate sector under her endeavour – ‘Social Dragonfly’
Social Dragonfly 