PERSON-CENTERED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY

BY NATALIE ROGERS

Expressive arts therapy uses the expressive arts – movement, art, music, writing, sound, and improvisation—in a supportive setting to facilitate growth and healing.   It is a process of discovering ourselves through any art form that comes from an emotional depth.

Expressive art refers to using the emotional, intuitive aspect of ourselves in various media.  We express inner feelings by creating outer forms.  It is true, of course, that talking about our feelings is also an important way to express and discover ourselves, meaningfully. But in the therapeutic world based on humanistic principles, the words expressive therapy have been reserved for nonverbal and/or metaphoric expression. Humanistic expressive arts therapy differs from the analytic or medical model of art therapy, in which art is used to diagnose and treat people.

When using art as an expressive mode for self-healing or therapeutic purposes, we are not concerned about the aesthetics or craftsmanship of the visual art, the grammar and style of the writing, or the harmonic flow of the song. We use the arts to let go, to express, and to release. Also, we gain insight by studying the symbolic and metaphoric messages. Our art speaks back to us if we take the time to let those messages in.  Although interesting and sometimes dramatic products emerge, we leave the aesthetics and the craft to those who wish to pursue the arts professionally. Of course, some of us get so involved in the arts as self-expression that we later choose to pursue the skills of a particular art form.  Many artist-therapists shift from focusing on their therapist lives to their lives as artists.  Also many artists understand the healing aspects of the creative process and become artist-therapists.

Using the creative process for deep inner healing has further steps when we work with clients. Expressive arts therapists are aware that involving the mind, the body, and the emotions brings forth the client’s intuitive, imaginative abilities as well as logical, linear thought.  Since emotional states are seldom logical, the use of imagery and nonverbal modes allows the client an alternative path for self-exploration and communication.  This process is a powerful integrative force.

Traditionally, psychotherapy is a verbal form of therapy, and the verbal process will always be important. However, I find I can rapidly understand the world of the client when she expresses herself through images.  Colour, form, and symbols are languages that speak from the unconscious and have particular meaning for each individual. As I listen to a client’s explanation of her imagery, I poignantly see the world as she views it. Or she may use movement and gesture to show how she feels. As I witness her movement, I can understand her world through empathizing, kinesthetically.

 

The client’s self-knowledge expands as her movement, art, writing, and sound provide clues for further exploration. Expressive art becomes a healing process as well as a new language that speaks to both the client and the therapist. These arts are Potent media in which to discover, experience, and accept the unknown aspects of self.  Verbal therapy focuses on emotional disturbances and inappropriate behaviour. The expressive arts move the client into the world of emotions and add a further dimension.  By incorporating the arts in psychotherapy the client is offered a pathway for using the free-spirited parts of herself. Therapy may include joyful, lively learning on many levels: the sensory, kinesthetic, conceptual, emotional, and mythic.  Clients report that the expressive arts have helped them go beyond their problems to envisioning themselves constructively taking action in the world. The person-centered aspect of expressive arts therapy describes the basic philosophy underlying my work. The person-centered approach developed by my father, Carl Rogers, emphasizes the therapist’s role as being empathic, open, honest.