Much more than drawing a picture
For more than 50 years Mama Sarah has helped children grow, heal
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Dr. Sarah E. McGee
Dr. Sarah McGee has transformed hundreds of young lives for more than 50 years as a children’s art therapist, but none as profoundly as the youngster whose mother she inspired to kiss and hug her child.
"I was working in a preschool program for the children of migrant workers," explained McGee, known as Mama Sarah to the young victims of domestic violence she works with in the Amanda’s Easel art therapy program.
"I knew that mom and dad were working in the fields all day and they were tired when they came home. So one of the things I did each morning was to say to each of the children, ‘You gonna give me a little sugar today?’ That would surprise them because they weren’t accustomed to getting a kiss or a hug.
"Two or three months later, I heard the mother say the same thing. It was important for that mother to hear something positive and she was able to turn around and do the same thing.
"The hug from me turned into a hug from the mother a few months later. It isn’t something that works instantly; it’s something you have to work toward."
McGee, 72, has conducted art therapy sessions for multicultural groups in Long Branch and Asbury Park since 1998. Her work has been recognized by the American Art Therapy Association, which has honored her as one of three Women of Color Pioneers in her field.
Since 1949, she has used art and creative therapies in her work with the urban poor, migrant farm workers, students and multicultural groups for mothers and children affected by domestic violence.
She and her husband, psychologist Dr. Scuddie McGee, have enjoyed a 52-year personal and professional collaboration. The two share office space in Eatontown where McGee’s art studio is next door to her husband’s office and, when she was just starting out, his young clients would often look in on her studio.
"Children used to stop in to see what was going on. I started working with them and became a therapist involved in working with families and children who were struggling with bereavement, or problems in school or illness," she recounted.
Referrals came from schools and other professionals, said McGee, adding that her art therapy practice became more and more focused on families.
As her practice grew, McGee found she was ministering to an ethnically and racially diverse population and she felt she needed to broaden her understanding of their different cultural backgrounds.
"It was important to know more about cultural specifics to be able to help these families in need, regardless of where they were from," she explained.
McGee traveled to Senegal to study its diverse cultures so that she could bring to clients "ethical and humanistic approaches rooted in values of people of color," she said. "Although many African Americans live here, that doesn’t change the way they need to be helped," she noted.
Her studies of African healing traditions included dance, music and drumming.
"There are many different types of African healing, but drums are basic; they are very important. Drumming is the sound of life. Drumming is the heartbeat of life," she intoned. "It speaks to people. If someone feels disturbed, the sound of the drum is able to elicit an inner response that is calming to them."
Though they are African in origin, McGee said the music, dance and drumming are therapy for all peoples.
All children? "Yes. Not black, white, blue or green. I use African tools when I feel it’s appropriate," she noted. "I had a group of children from many different backgrounds, and I invited a group of authentic African drummers to play for them, and they all enjoyed the dancing and music."
McGee’s healing therapies have always centered on children.
"Children are so natural, they are more open. Art reaches them," she explained.
According to McGee, the self-expression involved in drawing or drumming helps to draw children out, and with time trust develops, and they can share their feelings.
"They have feelings, but they don’t know you. You have to give them openings. You have to delve underneath," she explained. "Once you’ve gained their confidence, they’ll start talking. A lot of times they’ll talk through their drawings about what’s bothering them."
McGee’s colleagues cite her ability to relate to children from diverse cultures.
"Children, particularly African-American children, feel very comfortable with Mama Sarah right away because she’s a grandmother figure," noted Cynthia Westendorf, program coordinator for Amanda’s Easel.
"Children and their mothers have a certain comfort level because elders in their community are people they look up to and respect," Westendorf continued. "All cultures should be like that, but it is more so in the Latino and African-American communities.
"In our multicultural groups, children work with Mama Sarah toward the mission of Amanda’s Easel," she said, "which is to heal from domestic violence and heal with one another, to gain acceptance, to learn violence prevention."
"Children are all different, and you have to respond to their differences," noted McGee. "When you work with lots of different people, to help them change to the point where they can grow, you need to have a varied background."
McGee has been a student of cultural differences since childhood and has traveled widely to learn more about different cultures.
"I had the opportunity to see that families are basically the same. They want the same things for their children. They have the same hopes and dreams," she said. "From these experiences, I grew.
"If a child can learn about other people, other countries, it will be helpful their whole lives," added McGee. "For kids to have the opportunity to grow through life experiences is really important.
"You really need to go beyond the town you live in and see how someone else lives, or you can’t grow."
Music, drumming, drawing, bead making, collage and singing are among the therapies employed by McGee, who noted they invariably reach children on more than one level.
"If a child is coming for art therapy, they’re expressing themselves in more than one way," she pointed out. "They’re drawing, writing and seeing themselves in a different way. It’s not just drawing a picture. So much more is going on.
"I’ve been doing it a long time," she continued, "and what gives me joy is hearing expressions of ‘I can do it.’ I worked with a little girl who couldn’t write. One day she said to me, ‘Mama Sarah, I drawed my name.’ She knew she could draw, and then she began to know she could write.
More than 50 years spent working with children in every circumstance has given McGee an instinctive understanding of how to reach each one.
"It’s not magic; it’s something you have an innermost feeling about that change is coming," she said.
"You somehow intuitively know or find the way to reach that person, and it’s different for every one, even the children. I hope that’s my gift," she added.