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Potts lectures on Expressive Arts Therapies and Person-centered Care at the University of South Alabama

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

Cognitive Dynamics President Daniel C. Potts, M.D. was invited by Dean Samuel Strada, PhD. to lecture to medical students at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine as part of its Alumni Lecture Series.  Potts spoke to the group about his experience as an Alzheimer’s caregiver for his father, Lester Potts, and of Lester’s transformation from saw miller to watercolor artist after the diagnosis.  Potts touted the benefits of the expressive arts therapies as a key component of person-centered care.  He showed the students “Painting in Twilight: An Artist’s Escape from Alzheimer’s” , a video produced by UAB about his father’s story.  In additon, he showed a video about validation therapy featuring Naomi Feil and Alzheimer’s patient Gladys Wilson.  Potts spoke of the need to “put humanity back into healthcare”, and to value the opportunites we are given as healthcare professionals to honor those we treat, even if they have progressive, debilitating diseases.  He also spoke of his experiences at the USA College of Medicine, and those persons who shaped and molded his life, both physicians and patients.

Cognitive Dynamics President Daniel C. Potts, M.D. appears with his wife, Ellen and Dean Samuel Strada of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine

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“The Strong Embrace”, in memory of Lester E. Potts, Jr. on World Alzheimer’s Day

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Ethelda, Danny and Lester Potts in 1968

O sickening, silent robber, how

you creep beneath my father’s brow

to steal his precious here and now

and make your night’s retreat;

 

To many eyes it might appear

as if you’ve robbed from one so dear

the essence of his living here,

his self-soul’s inner seat.

 

But those with Spirit’s eyes can see

a gift of God, most thankfully,

that breeds dear hope: serenity,

and makes our joy complete:

 

“The Great Physician now is here”

with healing balm (the wounds to clear)

in such abundance all those near

may feel their ills retreat.

 

And in the heart’s most inward place

assure themselves of God’s good Grace,

which, given through Dad’s strong embrace,

has crushed you in defeat.

Daniel C. Potts

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“Rescuing Memories” – Art to Life Highlighted in Alabama Alumni Magazine, Fall 2011

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Alabama Alumni Magazine, Fall, 2011

Rescuing Memories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Daniel C. Potts is proof that great things can come out of unfortunate situations. In 2001, Potts, a neurologist at Alabama Neurology and Sleep Medicine  and associate clinical professor at the UA School of Medicine’s Tuscaloosa campus, part of the College of Community Health Sciences, was dealt a blow when his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. While sick, his father had spent time at Caring Days, a senior day care center in Tuscaloosa, where he was introduced to art therapy, and quickly began showing signs of improvement. “The therapy completely turned him around,” Potts said, adding his father painted more than 100 watercolor pieces. “The therapy gave him back his dignity and pride and reaffirmed him as a human being.” Inspired by his father’s artwork, Potts began to write poetry, and self-published a book compiling his poems with the paintings, titled The Broken Jar. He donated it to Caring Days in 2006, just a year before his father passed away. “He was going down a rapid course when we started the art therapy, and he stabilized for about a year and a half because of the program,” Potts said. Drawn to help others, in 2010 Potts formed Cognitive Dynamics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using art to improve the lives of patients with cognitive disorders. He called on Dr. Jacqueline Morgan, associate dean of the UA Honors College, to help get the program off the ground. After a few planning meetings, they decided to offer a class on the topic, titling it “Art to Life.” The course would include lessons on art therapy and Alzheimer’s disease. Potts would select three Alzheimer’s patients in Marion, Ala., to participate in the program, and students and an art therapist would visit their homes. During sessions, they would learn art from the therapist and communicate with students about their life memories, with recollections surfacing through the art projects. Morgan connected Potts with Meg McCrummen, an Honors College senior and University Fellow with a passion for Alzheimer’sdisease treatment and art, and soon the curriculum was set. Student and neurologist would teach “Art to Life.” In early 2011, 12 students filed into Nott Hall for the inaugural class, and three patients would also participate. The first few weeks included student training. Each student was then tasked with creating a patient life story project through interviews and observations of art therapy sessions. “The art therapy sessions took place in the patient’s home and it ended up being a fantastic experience for both the students and patients,” McCrummen said. “At the end of the semester, we gave each family a DVD or memory book of the patient’s life memories and framed one of their paintings. It was a big celebration and a time to honor the patients, which was the whole idea behind the program.” Jon Beans’ 83-year-old mother, Bobby, was a patient participant. “It went really well,” he said. “She shared a lot of her life story with them and loved painting. At one point, she painted a tree that represented my late father. She painted it tall and straight, just like my dad, who was well over 6 feet. The fruit on the tree was representative of her grandkids.” The experience sharpened Bobby’s cognitive ability, said Beans, adding, “Now she seems more engaged in what is going on.” Potts is continuing the class in the fall semester at UA, this time with six patients. Other universities have expressed their interest in establishing similar art therapy programs as well, and Potts and McCrummen are working on a manual to help them get started. “East Tennessee State University is interested,” Potts said. “We are really excited about future editions of this. We want to do research on the benefits of the program.”

Katie Morell is a Chicago-based freelance writer.

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Cognitive Dynamics President and Advisory Board Members Co-author Chapter in Landmark Textbook

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132099713/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_htdCob0S2N89K
 
 
 

 

“The Handbook of Geriatric Neurology”, Nair and Sabbagh, editors and Prentice Hall, publishers is being released for purchase on Amazon.com at the link above.  Cognitive Dynamics founder and President Daniel C. Potts, M.D.was lead author on the chapter “Expressive Arts Therapies in Neurologic Disease,”, the first-ever comprehensive medical book chapter on the expressive arts therapies.  Cognitive Dynamics Advisory Board members Angel C. Duncan, MA-MFT, ATR and Carol A. Prickett, Ph.D., MT-BC co-authored the chapter.  Additional co-authors included Bruce L. Miller, M.D. and Andrea Cevasco, PhD., MT-BC.  The textbook will be available soon at the link above.

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Cognitive Dynamics partners with the University of Alabama to enrich the lives of Alzheimer’s patients through the Art to Life Initiative

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Cognitive Dynamics Foundation, through its program “Bringing Art to Life,” is partnering with the University of Alabama Honors College for “Art to Life, “an Honors course which enriches the lives of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers.  Currently in its second semester, the program brings art therapy to persons with Alzheimer’s disease still living at home, and uses this therapy to document and preserve the life stories of these individuals for posterity and for the validation and enjoyment of the participants.  The initiative was piloted in Perry County, Alabama in the Spring of 2011 with the additional partnership of VSA Arts of Alabama and Sowing Seeds of Hope Foundation.  A celebration for the participants and their families was held this past May at Judson College in Marion, Alabama.

Art to Life participants and families enjoy the final reception at Marion, Alabama's Judson College, May, 2011

Currently 15 Honors students are enrolled in the course, and five particpants with early to moderate Alzheimer’s disease have been chosen from the Tuscaloosa area.  The art therapy, facilitated by registered art therapist Karen Gibbons, MA, MFT, ATR, will take place at the First Presbyterian Church of Tuscaloosa beginning on September 23.  A Neuropsychiatric Inventory, administered before and after the completion of the therapy, will document potential benefits of the intervention upon participant behavior and well-being and caregiver emotional burden. 

The Art to Life Initiative will be featured in the Fall issue of the University of Alabama’s Alumni Magazine, and was also discussed in the University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s Alumni Magazine, Spring 2011 Edition

http://bur-ms-sm6-07a.medseek.com/websitefiles/usaheath10212/workfiles/com_docs/Magazine/Medicine%20Magazine%202011smallest.pdf

In addition, it was highlighted in Alabama Public Television’s “For the Record: Dementia,” which may be viewed on the APT website at

http://www.aptv.org/videoroom/viewprogram.asp?FileID=1397

According to Cognitive Dynamics President and Founder, neurologist Daniel C. Potts, M.D., “Bringing Art to Life” was inspired by the life story of his own father, Lester E. Potts, Jr..  The elder Potts, a rural Alabama saw miller who became an internationally-known watercolor artist after the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, blossomed while participating in an art therapy program at Caring Days, a dementia daycare center in Tuscaloosa.  “It gave him a sense of pride in his new-found accomplishments and validated him as a human being in his ‘now’,” Potts says.  Cognitive Dynamics seeks to create similar experiences for others.  Plans are underway to offer the initiative to other institutions who are interested.

For more information about Cognitive Dynamics and its programs, or to offer financial support to its mission, visit www.cognitivedynamics.org.

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New Mini-Documentary Highlights Art Show in Beverly Hills

Monday, September 5th, 2011

“Bringing Art to Life in Beverly Hills” is a mini-documentary created for Cognitive Dynamics Foundation by Electro-fish Media.  It shows highlights from the gala art event “Painting in Twilight: An Artist’s Escape from Alzheimer’s,” which took place at the David W. Streets Galleries in Beverly Hills, CA on November 5, 2010.  The event showcased the life and art of Lester E. Potts, Jr., acclaimed Alzheimer’s artist and father of Cognitive Dynamics Foundation founder and President Daniel C. Potts, M.D..  The event was made possible by Cognitive Dynamics Advisory Board Members Meril Platzer, M.D. and David W. Streets, and was designed to raise awareness for efforts to improve the quality of life of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers through the arts.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cognitivedynamics#p/a/u/0/LZxGD5bKhy8

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Cognitive Connections, the new arts training initiative of Cognitive Dynamics, gets press

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

See the following link:

http://www.pr-inside.com/cognitive-dynamics-launches-cognitive-connections-r2776887.htm

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Cognitive Dynamics President Daniel Potts and Dementia Dynamics Managing Partner Ellen Potts Appear on Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio Show

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

A webcast of the interview can be heard at this link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/alzheimersspeaks/2011/08/19/a-pocket-guide-for-the-alzheimers-caregiver

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Potts presents at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., Meril Platzer, M.D., and Berna Huebner, the founder of the Hilgos Foundation (photograph by Mary Louise Stott, of the Hilgos Foundation)

 

Cognitive Dynamics President and Founder Daniel C. Potts, M.D. and Advisory Board member Meril Platzer, M.D. presented a poster at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris, France on July 20, 2011.  James D. Geyer, M.D., also an author of the presentation, was unable to attend.  The presentation, titled “The Art of Alzheimer’s Advocacy”, highlighted the watercolor art of Lester E. Potts, Jr., including works demonstrating abstract expression in late-stage disease, as well as the art of Dr. Platzer’s cousin who also has the diagnosis.  The benefits of art therapy were highlighted, and a case was made for person-centered care incorporating the expressive arts therapies as a means of advocating for Alzheimer’s patients regardless of the severity or stage of their disease.  A call was made for research to elucidate the neuroscience of artistic creativity in Alzheimer’s patients, as well as paradigms to investgate the effects of art therapy and other expressive arts therapies on the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

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Lester Potts’s Alzheimer’s art is highlighted in the Orlando Sentinel

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Today’s edition of the Orlando Sentinel ran a story about Lester Potts’s amazing Alzheimer’s art at the following link:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/la-he-diseases-art-20110516,0,6299388.story

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