Woodworking

In this video, Woodworking Instructor Jim Markham talks about his work within the Austen Riggs Center Activities Program.

Working with one's hands is a distinctly human way of integrating new experience and insights. In many ways, people are suffering from the lack of that in our modern era. So, the fact that I have a classroom that provides a vehicle for people to come in and use their hands and get their hands connected with their brain and their eyes and their imagination and their creativity, it's a beautiful gift and it's a great compliment to the clinical side here at Austen Riggs.

Hi. I'm Jim Markham. I'm the woodworking instructor here at the Austen Riggs Center. Most of my work with students is one-on-one and I find that that makes it possible to adapt and deflect with each student's needs. There's major power tools in here and machinery. Some people find that intriguing and exciting and some people find it intimidating. So, my job is to make these tools safe and accessible to people who are learning woodworking because honestly, you don't have to use any of the power tools at all. I've had students who just did carving in here. We had a student who was working on bird shapes called comfort birds. They just feel good in the hand and you can carry them around. And this was all I did, was teach some basic whittling skills and some safety, and this student took it from there and really progressed tremendously through a whole series of these bird shapes - little sculptures. So, in my introduction, I try to cover the fact that there's a wide range of levels of difficulty that a person could tackle and certainly a beginner could come in here, but I'm also equipped if someone has experience in woodworking to meet them where they're at and take them further.

Even though the woodworking program is couched within the overall therapeutic program at Austen Riggs, it's not like we're taking a piece that a student made and we're looking for deeper significance about themselves in that piece. It's more that the simple action of creating, making something, even without any analysis, is inspiring of growth, confidence, creativity, and a sense of assurance in the world.