What are expressive arts therapies?
The field of expressive arts includes all form of expression from song to theatre to visual art and more. Although the most popular form of Western therapy is talking, there are so many other options! You need no art experience whatsoever to engage in the process of creation. We’ll use symbols, imagery, and music that resonates with you if and when it feels right.
This can take many forms such as bilateral marking, playback theatre, assembling found objects, automatic writing, sculpting clay, humming/sounding, soul collage, tarot making, art dialoguing, mask making, etc. Possibilities promote transformation and change with the goal of being in the process, not focusing on the product or outcome.
Is expressive art therapy is right for me?
This approach can be helpful for exploring overwhelming experiences including trauma or for deepening into identity exploration and life transitions. I’ve found that expressive arts techniques tend to work well for addressing:
Autism (including late and new diagnoses)
Anxiety & Depression
Processing trauma
Psychosis
Life transitions
Dissociation
Identity exploration and imposter syndrome
Exploring attachment and relationships
Individuals who have prior therapy experience but did not fully achieve their therapeutic goals with talk therapy
Art is our one true global language. It knows no nation, it favors no race, and it acknowledges no class. It speaks to our need to reveal, heal, and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible.
Richard Kalmer (1935-2017)