Understanding My Complex Health Through Art

4th Annual CSF Disorders Symposium: From Canvas to Clinic - Art & the Management of Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorders

BROWN UNIVERSITY - PROVIDENCE, RI - JUNE 15, 2019

After dealing with multiple misdiagnoses, and frequently hearing that her many complicated medical conditions were psychological and "all in her head", Tracy Coval took her health into her own hands.

Coval describes her confusing pathway to appropriate treatment, including several necessary (and some, with hindsight, unnecessary) surgeries along the way.

She describes her methods of coping with the chronic, traumatic events of her search for treatment. She describes the critical role that art played in her physical and emotional healing, and how she is harnessing her strength to help others find their own.

This presentation was made at the 4th annual CSF Disorders Symposium held at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University. The title of the meeting was "From Canvas to Clinic" and identified the important connections between art and medicine. (2019)

  Revised: 9/2019