Opening up about violence may not always mean talking about it.

That is the message of the Expressive Art Group on campus aimed at helping victims of dating, domestic, stalking or sexual assault.

Coordinator of the campus violence prevention program Donna St. Sauver heads the group, which has been sponsored by her department since the fall of 2017. She strategizes ways to use various types of arts to help survivors of assault.

“I believe that you can go even beyond just healing, or getting back to that point where you were before you experienced violence,” St. Sauver said.

Some modes of expression used in the past include crafted projects such as painting, but she said there is quite a span of possibilities in what the program’s “art” entails, such as music.

She's said she'd hoping to incorporate drums at some session this year. “There’s a lot of research on drumming as an expressive art,” she said.

Their next meeting will be on Sept. 11, which will be the start of their regular sessions and will be held in the Redhawks Room in the University Center.

Other methods she has said includes mindfulness, collage and journal-making. Techniques listed for their August meeting were music, drama, dance, movement, creative writing, mindfulness, bibliotherapy and play to process experiences.

“As we change our culture to be more supportive of survivors, we have more folks reaching out for counseling services,” she said. “As a counselor I would say that group counseling has a special ability to feel through that experience.”

St. Sauver said she does not believe there has ever been anything similar to the group on campus before.

She stressed the impact of the group is more about the process and less about the measurable results.

“It’s not about the end product at all,” St. Sauver said.

She said the Expressive Art Group is open only to those affected by violence, while those who have not been directly impacted can support past victims in the group RedHawks Rising, which is aimed at prevention.

There is a high-level of confidentiality in the Expressive Art Group, said St. Sauver.

Formerly, the group was limited to those who had attended from the beginning, but St. Sauver said the policy has been changed to allow new members once the series of meetings have begun.

She cited the group's former president as an example of the successful impact of the program. While she had been a good student, her abilities came to life when she collaborated with St. Sauver to help start Redhawks Rising, which provides support for survivors and holds events advocating for awareness. She said that student has since moved on to a healthy relationship.

“Post-traumatic growth is what we call it,” St. Sauver said.

Senior political science major Rachel Fox said she helped with founding Redhawks Rising three years ago.

“Many of the survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence in Redhawks Rising have enjoyed Expressive Art Group because it gives them an avenue to communicate and make sense of what has happened to them and how they’re feeling about it presently,” Fox said. “It’s been shown to drastically decrease PTSD as well.”

While the Expressive Art Group meets on the second Tuesday of this month, St. Sauver said they will meet regularly on the first Tuesday of every month starting in October. Their meetings are from 3:30-5:00 p.m.

To learn more you can find the Expressive Art Group on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and you can also email St. Sauver at dstsauver@semo.edu or call her at 573-986-6899.