Samuelson Art Therapist Comes Full Circle with Tracy's Kids Program
Danielle Eichner knows firsthand the uplifting effect art can have on young cancer patients.
Now 32, Eichner, herself a childhood cancer survivor, was diagnosed with high-risk T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at age 11. While a patient at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, she and her family bonded and found solace in Tracy's Kids, a pediatric art therapy program that helps cancer patients and their loved ones cope with emotional stress and trauma that can be experienced after a diagnosis and during treatment. Tracy's Kids began in 1991 at Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and is now established at six other U.S. medical clinics. It was recently launched at The Herman & Walter Samuelson Children's Hospital at Sinai.
Clay sculptures Eichner and her siblings created as Tracy's Kids pupils, some of beach scenery and medical supplies, remain on display inside their parents' suburban Maryland home. Eichner, who undergoes a follow-up examination once a year, says the sculptures bring back fond memories for her.
"I remember making a lot of artwork, recreating medical things I was going through, like a bottle of Heparin, which is what my parents used to flush out my Broviac every night. The art making process really helped me navigate what was being done to my body. Creating these pieces of art helped me work through what I did not fully understand," said Eichner, now a pediatric art therapist for the Samuelson Tracy's Kids program.
Eichner added: "It's a good way to reflect. As a patient, I didn't fully realize how much the art was helping me, and that's the magic of it. Now as a therapist, seeing those creations from my past is really good. I can reflect on what the art-making process meant during my treatment. It seems small, but those are big pieces of my life. They help validate what I do here at the Samuelson Children's Hospital every day."
Eichner's newfound affinity for art after her cancer diagnosis grew into a career passion, though as a high schooler she didn't anticipate working in health care. But after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in graphic design from Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art and her Master of Arts in art therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Eichner started an art therapy program at a children's hospital in Illinois, which is where she was employed when Dr. Aziza T. Shad, chair of the Samuelson Children's Hospital and director of Sinai Hospital's Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, phoned and offered her an exciting opportunity to join the staff at Samuelson's Tracy's Kids program.
Shad was Eichner's primary oncologist when she was a patient at Georgetown, and the two have remained close over the years. Eichner says though it was hard leaving the art therapy program she started in Illinois after forging close bonds with so many families in her seven years there, returning to her home state (she's from Rockville, Md.) and reuniting with the doctor and support program that were instrumental in her recovery was a dream opportunity that proved too enticing to turn down.
"It's pretty amazing to be working under the woman who saved my life," Eichner said.
In announcing the launch of Tracy's Kids at Samuelson Children's Hospital in his annual report, Matthew T. Gerson, chairman of Tracy's Kids, said he was "especially excited" about it because of Eichner's involvement. Gerson said it's gratifying that Eichner "has chosen to make a career of helping children who are enduring the experiences that she understands all too well."
"Our work has come full circle," Gerson said.
Incorporating paints, clay and other mediums, Tracy's Kids invites pediatric hematology-oncology cancer patients from toddlers to twenty-somethings to communicate their emotions-be it fear, anger or isolation-or imagine cheerful items and environments via artistic expression. As integrated members of the care team, Eichner and other Tracy's Kids art therapists work directly with physicians, nurses and other medical professionals to help address patient needs. The program is offered at no charge to participants.
Because the emotional toll of cancer doesn't only affect the patient, Tracy's Kids' outlet also extends to siblings and parents. Family-centered care is at the core of the Samuelson Children's Hospital's mission, which is why this unique, encompassing program is such an ideal fit at Sinai. The family aspect of Tracy's Kids, Eichner says, is an important part of the healing process.
"Cancer diagnoses have the power to pull families together or push families apart. I think in our family, it pulled us together," Eichner said. "It made us all stronger, and Tracy's Kids was a big reason for that."
The goal of Tracy's Kids is to restore confidence, hope, and as much normalcy as possible.
"Often times, a cancer diagnosis takes away any control the kid has. They don't have control over the medicine they're getting, the fact that they have to come here for appointments, any of the procedures. Art puts a little bit of control back into their hands," Eichner said. "They can pick what medium they want to use. They can control what colors they use. A lot of it is just giving back that control, providing an outlet for self-expression, and helping to normalize the environment."
Eichner says the response to the Tracy's Kids program at Samuelson Children's Hospital has been "really positive."
"I've made a lot of really good connections with our families. The kids have gone from not wanting to come to the clinic to not wanting to leave," she said.