The Creative Counsellor: Integrating Expressive Arts into Therapeutic Practice

1. THE CREATIVE COUNSELLOR: INTEGRATING THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS INTO YOUR THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE By Jannah Tudiver, MA, CCC, LPC & Catherine Fawcett, MA, MSW, RSW

2. INTRODUCTIONS & WARM-UP ACTIVITY

3. WHY USE THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS IN YOUR PRACTICE? • New tool for your “toolkit” • Address client issues • Well suited to brief therapy • Stay inspired & avoid burnout • Practice self-care

4. CREATIVE EXPRESSION & MENTAL HEALTH 1800’s to the 1900’s: • Arts as adjunct to medicine & psychiatry • “Moral therapy” for mental illness

5. 1920’s: • Joseph Moreno: psychodrama • Florence Goodenough: art assessment for cognitive development • Margaret Lowenfield: foundations of play therapy & sandtray therapy

6. 1930’s and 1940’s: • Expressive therapies more well known • Self-expression as “alternative” to talk therapy • Major psychiatric hospitals include arts in treatment

7. 1950’s ONWARDS… (abridged version) • Professional associations & standards developed • Expressive therapies integrated into medical, mental health, & rehabilitative settings

8. WHAT ARE THE “EXPRESSIVE THERAPIES”? “The use of art, music, dance/movement, drama, poetry/creative writing, play, and sandtray within the context of psychotherapy, counseling, rehabilitation, or health care” – Cathy Malchiodi, 2005

9. TYPES OF EXPRESSIVE THERAPIES: • Art Therapy • Music Therapy • Drama Therapy • Dance/Movement Therapy • Poetry Therapy • Play Therapy • Sandtray Therapy • **Expressive Arts Therapy Each discipline has its own association, qualifications, & professional standards

10. COMMON THEMES AMONG EXPRESSIVE THERAPIES: • Sensory-based • Creativity • Aesthetic focus • Action-based/body-based

11. WHAT IS “EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY”? • Arts-based psychotherapy • Interdisciplinary • Integrates the arts eg. imagery, dance, music, drama, poetry, movement, & visual arts • Goal: wellness & healing

12. BACKGROUND OF EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY: • Newest arts-based therapy • Began in 1970’s at Lesley College Graduate School

13. ALTERNATE NAMES FOR EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY: • “Expressive Therapy” • “Integrative Arts Therapy” • “Intermodal Expressive Therapy” • “Multimodal Expressive Therapy” “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”

14. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY: • Reclaims our innate capacity for creative expression • Creative expression is a healing, ‘growth producing’ process • Therapeutic transformation possible through expression

15. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY: • The arts are for everyone • Low skill/high sensitivity • Depth-oriented • “Layering” of modalities

16. KEY THEORISTS IN EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY: Natalie Rogers: “creative connection”; person-centered Shaun McNiff: “therapy of the imagination”; “art as medicine” Paulo Knill: arts are “within each other”; “de-centering process”

17. APPALACHIAN STATE’S PERSPECTIVE: • Natural world as model for creative process • Reclaiming ancient integration of arts & life & healing • Dream-work emphasis • The ‘person of the therapist’

18. ASSOCIATION & REGISTRATION • International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA), 1994 • Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) & Registered Expressive Arts Consultant/ Educator (REACE) • Additional Resources: • Creative Arts in Counselling Chapter, CCPA • See Resource List

19. WHAT POPULATIONS WILL THIS WORK WITH? The expressive arts are used with a variety of populations & presenting issues including: • Psychiatric disorders • Developmental disorders • Cognitive disabilities • Issues including: addiction, trauma, grief, anxiety, & depression

20. EXPRESSIVE ARTS ARE UTILIZED WITH: • Clients of all ages • Clients with diverse backgrounds • Individuals & families • Groups • Outreach programs Expressive Arts Therapy is practiced & taught in many countries eg. Peru, Israel & Switzerland

21. WHO USES EXPRESSIVE THERAPIES? Approximately 30,000 practitioners in the U.S. are formally trained in therapeutic use of the arts Arts-based interventions have been integrated into fields such as medicine, social work, counselling, psychiatry & psychology

22. CURRENT RESEARCH Recent research topics on the therapeutic use of expressive arts include: • Creative writing in prevention & psychotherapy • Music therapy in hospice & palliative care • Creative therapies in treatment for PTSD • Dance therapy for women survivors of sexual abuse • Increasing counsellor empathy through theatre exercises • Guided imagery & relaxation for women in early stage breast cancer • Promoting positive mental health through art therapy • The use of the arts in grief & loss

23. A HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

24. SIMPLE WAYS TO INTEGRATE THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS INTO YOUR THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE…

25. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE: • Try the activity 1st yourself • Focus on process over product • Respond to art with process comments; avoid likes & dislikes • Counter negative statements eg “I can’t do art” • Explore when to participate versus when to be a witness • Create openings & closings

26. FURTHER RESOURCES

27. QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

28. THANK YOU! Our Contact Information: Jannah Tudiver: jtudiver@mta.ca Catherine Fawcett: cfawcett@mta.ca