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Expressive Arts has ancient roots, going all the way back to the earliest known healing rituals that employed art-making, masks, music and dance.
With the advent of modern psychotherapy in the early twentieth century, the arts continued to play an important role. A qualified Expressive Arts Therapist uses a variety of art modalities such as visual arts, drama, movement, music, poetry and writing. Each modality is directed towards increasing individual and collective social and emotional well-being.
Inside every person there is an original creative self. Art is an instrument of personal transformation.
Given that trauma often silences young people, art is an appropriate vehicle for emotions and thoughts.
The arts reduce feelings of isolation.
Creating art as a means of expression allows for a tangible form of expression that encourages response amongst children, youths and adults.
Each art discipline is a non-threatening vehicle, for the imagination.
Many of us have a preconceived idea of what art is or who artists are. An artist or individual who is "doing" art is often thought to be a person who paints perfect pictures or murals.
I believe we are all artists when we express who we are honestly by our creative choices. In addition, I believe that art emerges from the soul, especially when we use it honestly and are open to it. Art is, for me, the use of one's creative gifts for self-expression. Art can be as simple as a creative thought, a poem, a word, a story, movement, children at play, a sound or any other creative art form that one chooses.
I invite you to join me in exploring what art means in your life and encourage you to interpret art on a personal choice basis, in as non-limiting terms as possible.
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