Osler's Razor

I am lucky to be surrounded in this life by people who do things that I admire. One of them is my sister Kathy, who is a social worker in Chicago.

Specifically, she works with people who have mental illnesses and would be institutionalized (in prison or a mental ward) but for her work-- she goes to a client's home, works with him, and makes sure everything is ok.

Her advanced training is in art therapy. That is, she uses art to help her clients express and understand themselves and create something worthwhile. Earlier this year, she curated a remarkable exhibit of her clients' work at the ARC gallery in Chicago. The images are striking and real; the true images of how these clients see the world.

Here is part of the description of Kathy's work from the program of the exhibit:

Kathy Osler, ATR, LCPC, is the curator of this art exhibition and works as an art therapist at several Thresholds programs.  She has been working in the field of art therapy for 16 years, developing programs to integrate creative expression in the treatment of mental health.   In working with the artists in this program,  she has observed a transformation in some as they identified themselves as artists and how this empowers them to find their own strength in recovery.  The artwork stands on its’ own,  as objects of beauty and as authentic expressions by individuals who value the process as vital to their personal growth.

It is pretty incredible stuff.  I'm proud to be her brother, and always amazed at what she does.