Expressive Arts
Therapy
When words fail, creative expression speaks. Expressive arts therapy is a therapeutic approach that assists you in experiencing and expressing a sensation, feeling, or pattern of emotions in a number of creative ways, usually through the use of drawing or painting, collage art, working with clay, dance/body movement, poetry, writing, music, sandtray therapy, or guided imagery.
Expressive arts therapy goes beyond our dialogue in traditional talk therapy. Here, we work with creativity, expressing, experiencing, feeling, and identifying, all of which allow you to release trauma, confusion, loss, or pain, through a variety of artistic media and processes, and to reclaim your innate potential for creative expression of your individual and collective experience. The focus in expressive arts therapy is on the process, which enables you to better understand yourself, opening the door to recognition of your options, and to the ability to make choices that better fit your present needs.
Infusing the creative aspect in various applications of psychotherapy accommodates your personal imagination, and enhances self-discovery, body-mind integration, healing, and growth, covering a broad spectrum of issues and concerns and accommodating all ages. Being a poet and writer, myself, I can attest to the therapeutic power of creative expression.
I have completed certified training in a number of expressive arts therapy modalities including dance/body movement, sandtray therapy, guided imagery, and therapeutic collage.
For more information about my experience working with expressive arts therapy, or to schedule an appointment, please feel free to contact me.