Expressive therapy uses creative arts like art, music, dance, drama, and poetry as a form of therapy. The process of creation is emphasized over the final product. It allows clients to express themselves through non-verbal means which can provide unexpected insight. Different types of expressive therapy may help clients, especially children, process traumatic memories and abstract concepts in a concrete way. Therapists should be careful not to over-interpret clients' creative works and need proper training to ethically integrate expressive techniques.

1. EXPRESSIVE THERAPY
SARIN RAJU
CET,TRIVANDRUM

2. Art not only reproduces the visible, but makes visible that
which is not easily seen.’
Kimon Nikolaides, arts educator
‘Imagination is more important
than knowledge’ – Albert Einstein

3. • Expressive therapy, also known as the
expressive therapies, expressive arts
therapy or creative arts therapy, is the use of
the creative arts as a form of therapy. Unlike
traditional art expression, the process of
creation is emphasized rather than the final
product. Expressive therapy is predicated on
the assumption that people can heal through
use of imagination and the various forms of
creative expression.

4. • Expressive arts therapy is the practice of using imagery,
storytelling, dance, music, drama, poetry, movement,
horticulture, dream work, and visual arts together, in
an integrated way, to foster human growth,
development, and healing. It is about reclaiming our
innate capacity as human beings for creative
expression of our individual and collective human
experience in artistic form. Expressive arts therapy is
also about experiencing the natural capacity of creative
expression and creative community for healing.

5. • Expressive therapy is an umbrella term. Some common
types of expressive therapy include:
• expressive arts therapy
• art therapy
• dance therapy, also known as dance/movement therapy
• drama therapy
• psychodrama
• music therapy
• writing therapy, a term which may encompass journaling,
poetry therapy, and bibliotherapy
• Therapeutic Recreation
• horticultural therapy

6. Why Use Expressive Therapies?

7. • Expressive therapies often provide
unexpected insight to the client and the
therapist.

8. • Unlike with talk therapies, expressive
therapies are difficult for the client to
hide important information—it may
come out symbolically or literally.

9. “Expressive methods can and do
stimulate the flow of traumatic
memories, either in the form of trauma
narratives (stories about the event) or
implicit experiences (sensory memories
of the event) because of the tactile,
kinethetic, auditory, inherent to creative
activities.”
(Malchiodi, 2008)

10. • Sometimes it’s difficult for clients—
especially young ones––to talk about
traumatic memories. They may do
better playing, drawing, painting, or
working in the sand tray.

11. • Young children think concretely. Play
therapy allows children to process
abstract occurrences into more concrete
experiences in a language they can
understand: play.

12. • Almost everyone connects with music. If
using songs, find and provide copies of
the lyrics. Encourage clients to bring in
or suggest songs or other music they
find meaningful.

13. • Some clients find it easier to
talk while they’re busy doing
something else.

14. Ethical Considerations

15. Expressive work should be taken
for what it is, nothing more. Some
clinicians read more into the
products of expressive work than
is prudent.

16. “Your initial inclination will be to glance at a sketch
and start interpreting….Don’t. The one reliable
thing you can do is to see how it feels to you.
Then put it in a spot where you will see it often for
a few days.
“If you notice yourself placing phallic
references all over or negativity about one area
consistently, stop and consider yourself. Are you
inserting your experiences into the interpretation?”
(Coles, 2003)

17. Use digital photo to document sand
tray scenes, art work, and even play
room constructions.
Include color prints of the photos with
session documentation.
Be careful to keep the client
out of the picture.

18. Be watchful for abreaction,
and be prepared to address it.
Sometimes expressive therapy
can be surprisingly overwhelming
in its effect
on the client—
and the therapist.

19. Know what you’re doing.
As with any other therapeutic
approach, get sufficient training
and/or supervision before using
expressive therapy interventions.

20. Integrate expressive therapy with
your own
theoretical foundation.

21. Interventions must make
therapeutic, clinical sense in
terms of treatment.