“I’m a true believer in peer support. You have the ability to break through to someone so much faster than a trained professional. The people who you can help will really look at you and listen. And you can give them hope that there is light on the other side.”

Profiles of Interest: Meet Survivor & Artist, Brandon Lee

A.K.A. The CEO and founder of Art of Our Soul, an art healing program specifically for trauma survivors. Prior to finding his true calling in this role, Brandon had a long-standing career as a successful TV news anchor. He is also a survivor of sexual abuse, opioid addiction, and brain injury. He shares his journey of healing through art, self-discovery, and hope after trauma.

A Journey of Healing: 2020 was a really difficult year. Connection was taken from us. It really did a disservice to everybody, myself included. That year, after umpteen years of continuous recovery, I relapsed for the very first time.

A year prior, I had written a book about recovery. The shame of this relapse weighed so heavily on me. I truly thought that I had lost everything. Then, in early 2021, after a period of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, I started working with a shaman. I learned that I never healed from child abuse, molestation, and the trauma of surviving 911. More recently, an extortion attempt was made against me at work. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My body could not store any more trauma.

Through my recovery journey, which included shamanism and breath work, I was able to go back and heal little Brandon, and let my inner child know, “You’re okay. You’re safe now.” We will always operate in a state of fight or flight until we go back and reprocess and heal from our trauma.

Discovering His Purpose: In April of 2021, I kept waking up in the middle of the night. I had the same recurring dream of a little boy chucking a can of paint at my head and waking me up. I told this to my shaman, who began to laugh and told me, “Well, what’s happening is you’re becoming unfrozen from your childhood trauma…. Have you ever been an artist?”

I told him when I first got sober a long time ago, my sponsor told me I needed a hobby and that I should go to the art store and paint. I did it for about a year and it worked, but then it faded. My shaman told me he thinks this spirit is trying to nudge me back to art. So I went to the art store again and started to create as a way to help me process my trauma.

That July, I woke up one morning and saw that I had written three words during a dream. The three words were: Studio. Gallery. School. They meant nothing to me at the time. I told my shaman, and once again he smiled and said, “I know exactly what this means, but I don’t want to rob you of this moment of self-discovery.” He told me to keep creating and promised it would be revealed to me. Two days later, I started hearing a voice, to the point where I actually had a panic attack. So, I called my shaman. I told him, “I’m being told to open up an art healing studio to help other trauma survivors like me heal through art.”

“Congratulations!” he said.  “Your life’s purpose has been revealed. Now go create it.” So, on September 28, 2021, I walked out of the newsroom after the 6:30 p.m. newscast. I drove off the studio lot, and I never went back. I opened up the doors at my studio, Art of Our Soul, on November 1st.

Art As Therapy: The way we do art at Art of Our Soul is very different from clinical art therapy. We’re using art as therapy. We’re not talking about our feelings. The studio is a place where you can come and actually release energy and allow dopamine to flow. It’s crucial for those who have suffered trauma to be able to smile again and find joy, even immediately after their traumatic experience.

When we’re painting and creating, we actually lose all sense of time because our brains have been elevated into something called an alpha state. When we’re in that state, our bodies begin to calm down. We lose the anxiety and the depression—and it gives us a chance to heal.

On Letting Go: I think people need to get out of this concept that they can’t create. I can’t draw a face. I can’t draw a portrait. I’m not a realism artist. I’m an abstract artist. At my studio, I’m not asking you to have a paintbrush in your hand. I’m not even asking you to draw a stick figure. I’m asking you to pour a bunch of paint on a canvas, use a blow dryer, pick it up, manipulate it, and let it be what it will be.

That’s the thing I love about acrylic pouring—no two pieces will ever look the same. That’s important. When you go to start a piece, you have a vision of what it will be, but it will never turn out that way. It teaches you to accept the beauty of the way it turns out, rather than trying to force it. You just have to let go.

The Strength of Survivors: [Whether it be a brain injury, addiction, abuse, or other traumas], I always tell people that what happened to you is not okay, and I’m so sorry for what you have faced. But there’s a reason you experienced it. I believe you are being given an opportunity to heal from it, and to help others who have gone through something similar.

 I’m a true believer in peer support. You have the ability to break through to someone so much faster than a trained professional. The people who you can help will really look at you and listen. And you can give them hope that there is light on the other side.

ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ALLIANCE OF ARIZONA

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.

What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.

The Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona:

• Works with Congressional Brain Injury Task Force
• Houses Arizona Brain Health Resource Center
• Hosts virtual and in-person support groups for survivors and families
• Has Statewide Opioid Use Disorder & Cognitive Impairment Response team with peer support, training, and family wraparound services
• Facilitates Brain Health Advisory Council
• Manages statewide Help Line: 888-500-9165