The bold painting “Riddle” by Raphaele Cohen-Bacry – artist and Academic Integrative Medicine (AIM) Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate program alum – greets students, faculty, staff and visitors on the first-floor lobby of the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Building. There, viewers can pause and marvel at its vibrant twists and turns.
“Riddle” is part of Viral Integration, an exhibit featured on all five floors of the building. Curated by Artist-in-Residence Elin O’Hara Slavick, it includes more than 100 works by 40 artists from the United States and Canada – with a central theme of addressing health issues.
O’Hara Slavick explains why she chose Cohen-Bacry’s “Riddle” for such a prominent space:
I knew I wanted a strong and aesthetically powerful piece to hold that main wall in the lobby and her painting, ‘Riddle,’ is just perfect in that space!
Elin O’Hara Slavick, Viral Integration curator and artist-in-residence on “Riddle”
“I was drawn to the impressive scale of her work, and the bold graphic quality of such poetic/automatic gestures that reference collage as a form to represent psychic/psychological development. I knew I wanted a strong and aesthetically powerful piece to hold that main wall in the lobby and her painting, ‘Riddle,’ is just perfect in that space! There is a powerful energy in the composition and abstraction is very open to emotional and intellectual interpretation, which is a great thing in a pedagogical environment.”
Born and raised in France, Cohen-Bacry is an accomplished artist who studied at Les Ateliers Beaux-Arts and La Grande Chaumière. She is mainly a painter but enjoys experimenting with different techniques and materials. She also has more than 30 years’ experience in integrative health, including as a former integrative pharmacist. As a health and wellness coaching student, Cohen-Bacry’s commitment to integrative health and unique perspective impressed Theresa Nutt, MA, BSN, HNB-BC, NBC-HWC, program director.
“Raphaele is a highly innovative, deeply caring, and astute healthcare provider,” says Nutt “I appreciated her curiosity and engagement in the course. She was eager to apply what she learned to her own life and figure out how to be an outstanding coach delivering whole-person care, even when she had to unlearn habits from her work as a pharmacist. With her background in pharmacy and homeopathy, she has such a solid understanding of both conventional and integrative healthcare. She uses art to touch the lives of those who are underserved in L.A. County, and I am excited to see what she will do with her coaching skills in the future!”
Here, Cohen-Bacry shares how she intertwines her paths of art and integrative health and her influential experience with the SSIHI AIM Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate Program.
Could you describe your artwork “Riddle”? What inspired you to create the piece?
I have been intensely interested in collage for the past several years. That collage appeals to different areas of the brain is particularly intriguing to me. Having studied the mind-body connection and its powerful influence on health for a long time, I have been even more captivated by this art form.
I take the technique of collage to the next level with my large “make-believe collage” paintings such as “Riddle.” I composed “Riddle” like a piece of music, with quick strokes of vivid colors and areas of silent meditation. Other elements are complex and intricate and are balanced by these quiet areas.
This painting is a metaphor for healing what was broken and for offering comfort and a source of energy.
Raphaele Cohen-Bacry on “Riddle”
What would you like people to take away from the work?
This painting is a metaphor for healing what was broken and for offering comfort and a source of energy. I hope people will sense some kind of power coming from the painting, as well as a feeling of serenity. Some may even decipher a healthy dose of humor.
How was your experience with the AIM Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate program?
My experience was absolutely fabulous. First of all, I was amazed at the quality of the content and how it was delivered by the main two teachers: Theresa Nutt and Sarah Meier, as well as other excellent speakers. I was also very impressed at how remote learning has grown and how easy and personable it was during those six months.
Actually, when we finally all met in person for our graduation ceremony, it really felt like we knew each other pretty well. I appreciated all the support we got, during our live sessions and in between lectures. Our teachers were very supportive, and I could tell they wanted us to succeed and become high-quality coaches. I felt everything was thought through and included in the curriculum for a purpose. Even the way the six-month program was organized mirrored a coaching session, which I found very clever. Although the practicing part of the training was challenging for some of us (me included) especially at the beginning, I always felt we would get there because of all the encouragement and strategies (tailored to each of us) that was provided as a group and during our faculty feedback sessions.
My experience was absolutely fabulous…. I believed it was the right program for me as it is rooted in academia, designed with healthcare professionals in mind and approved by the NBHWC. Also, the fact that it is committed to an integrative approach played an important role in my decision.
Raphaele Cohen-Bacry on the AIM Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate program
Why did you choose UCI SSIHI HWC?
When I started to get interested in coaching, it gave me the impulse to stay in healthcare as it seemed a perfect and exciting way to directly help people. However, I did not find a program where my experience and philosophy would be valued until I discovered the UCI SSIHI Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate Program. I believed it was the right program for me as it is rooted in academia, designed with healthcare professionals in mind and approved by the NBHWC. Also, the fact that it is committed to an integrative approach played an important role in my decision. I even reached out to Theresa Nutt and had a long conversation with her before I applied. Her enthusiasm and confidence about the program as well as her understanding and compassion did it for me and I was “sold.” And I have not been disappointed!
What was valuable to you about the program?
The whole program was excellent and what I particularly appreciated was the emphasis on mental health, a topic dear to my heart. People close to me are struggling with it and such a diagnosis is often perceived as a life sentence. There is too little support for these patients out there and this training showed me that health and wellness coaching can definitely help fill that gap, working hand in hand with mental health professionals when necessary.
I also very much enjoyed watching actual coaching sessions. These really allowed everything I was taught to fall in place and become tangible. It helped a lot, especially when I started coaching with my two other wonderful classmates, Manijeh and Talele. The balance between live classes, asynchronous learning and all the practicing we did in our triads was perfect for me.
What do you plan to do with your HWC experience?
The areas that particularly attract me are migraines (how to manage the symptoms and adjust lifestyles), quit smoking and mental health. I think I could also help the art community, as artists are often very sensitive people that put so much into their work that they sometimes forget to take care of themselves!
Additionally, I am very much interested in promoting health and wellness coaching and contributing to make it more recognized and accepted among healthcare professionals and the public. I take every opportunity to explain the process and benefits of coaching. As a matter of fact, I just did a radio interview about health coaching on Here’s To Your Health with Joshua Lane.
In both disciplines, I am trying to reach the true self in people and point out what unites us in our human experience.
Raphaele Cohen-Bacry on the connection between art and health and wellness coaching
Is there anything from your art that influences your work as a health and wellness coach?
In both disciplines, I am trying to reach the true self in people and point out what unites us in our human experience. Going past shallowness and getting rid of superficial preoccupations is what is important to me and something I am aiming at in my art and in coaching.
Links
Academic Integrative Medicine (AIM) Health & Wellness Coaching Certificate Program
Viral Integration: Group Art Exhibition Addresses Health Sciences – UCI Program in Public Health
