Why Expressive Arts?

Expressive therapies can be used to support individuals of all ages. This form of therapy integrates the modalities of verbal counselling, art therapy, play therapy, and sand play (creating worlds and images with miniatures in a tray of sand, allowing individuals to illustrate internal psychic states, opening to interventions and resolutions), along with other expressive methods such as music, journaling, story telling, photography and poetry. Each method is used according to the age and natural inclination of the individual.

A great deal of care is taken to create an environment that is safe and supportive, an environment that in and of itself promotes healing from both the outside - in, and the inside - out.

Expressive therapy has been proven to help children and adults who are experiencing the effects of certain traumas and stresses, including:

This painting is an example of Leonardo's Device which is described by Cathy Malchiodi as a deceptively simple technique that can help  us tap into images from the soul's palette. The device came to Leonardo one day when he was looking at a wall spotted with stains and cracks. The lines and shapes inspired him to imagine landscapes with mountains, rivers, rocks and trees, and fantasy scenes with strange figures and faces. Leonardo observed that these random lines and shapes on the wall were like the sounds of bells , in whose ringing one might hear a word or  a phrase.  What Leonardo discovered was a way to enter and use the  sub conscious as a creative source for spontaneity, self-expression, and inner knowing. This technique can help  us reconnect with our intuition and imagination, symbolic and synchronistic images, and our artistic creativity even if  we have never created with art materials before.

When I describe this technique to children, I akin it to looking for pictures in the clouds, a game so many of us played while growing up.