Expressive Arts

What is Expressive Arts Therapy?

Expressive arts therapy incorporates creative expression in therapy including visual art, movement, role-playing, writing, and music. An expressive arts approach to therapy offers clients an additional mode, for expression and healing-one that can convey added dimensions beyond words. Clients often find an expressive arts approach to expand their creativity, open the door to new insights, and to uplift the spirit even when working through difficult emotions. Clients do not need to have artistic or creative skill to use the expressive arts in therapy.

What is Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy?

Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy is a creative application that I developed in which Focusing, a well-researched method for therapeutic change developed by renowned psychologist Eugene Gendlin, is applied to the practice of art therapy. Focusing incorporates a gentle way of inner listening, an empathic way of being towards oneself, and provides access to the body's innate wisdom. Through Focusing, access to imagery occurs through the bodily felt sense of an issue, situation, or experience. Focusing adds an aspect of mindfulness to the art therapy process, along with a sense of groundedness to the image through the felt sense of the body. Experiences of self-compassion, self-care, inner trust, and authenticity are heightened through Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy.

What is Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts Therapy?

Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts Therapy integrates Eugene Gendlin's Focusing with all of the expressive arts, including dance-movement, writing, music, psychodrama, drama therapy, and intermodal expressive therapy. When a client Focuses on a particular issue or experience, she is guided by the therapist to see if she can sense it from the inside of her body and to get, a 'felt sense.' As the client brings the Focusing Attitude to a felt sense (i.e." being friendly to" or welcoming the felt sense), s/he sees if there is a 'handle' or symbol that describes the felt experience. To get a handle or symbol, the client sees if there is a word, phrase, image, gesture, or sound that matches or acts like a handle for the inner felt sense. The client waits for the symbol or handle to come from the body. There is no right way-word, phrase, image, gesture, or sound.

Once the symbol comes it is easily transferred to expressive art modalities as follows:

Word or phrase-------------------------------poem or writing
Image--------------------------------------------visual art
Gesture------------------------------------------movement or dance
Sound--------------------------------------------music or sound exploration

To summarize, the felt sense symbolization or handle is the doorway to expression through various expressive arts modalities.

Training in Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy and/or Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts Therapy can be designed for workshops, conferences, undergraduate, graduate, and certificate courses. Contact laury@focusingarts.com for further information.

Please take a look at some of the articles on Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts therapy.