Melting Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder/ Premenstrual Exacerbation Symptoms with Metalsmithing: A Group Process

Abstract

People experiencing Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder/Premenstrual Exacerbation, PMDD/PME, frequently live with debilitating symptoms that can arrest their daily life functions (Barker-Smith, 2020). Finding art to process and transform painful emotions that align with PMDD/PME hormonal depression/anxiety, may assist in supporting people to keep choosing life, especially when these art practices involve group settings and community artmaking (Phillips & Rosal, 1989; Robb, 2022). Metalsmithing requires significant cognitive awareness and promotes mind/body connections in its elemental art form (Carlson, 2015). This proposal outlines a group process involving 8-12 people who will receive a beginner’s metalsmithing, 12-week studio art program at Hyde Park Arts Center in Chicago, IL. The total cost (including the final film: $2,500) =$27,797. Video documentation and artist journals will collect data from group participants. A final film edited by the researcher will be shared with a broader online community, to inspire hope for people with PMDD/PME who may be surviving alone. This project desires to carry an impact in that the physical light of fire refines the metal and symbolically one’s heart/mind through human connection