What are Creative Arts Thearpies?

Art Therapy, Music Therapy, and Psychodrama

      Creative arts therapy is an individualized process within the context of a therapeutic relationship, in which a person engages in art, music, movement, or drama experiences as a path toward growth or healing.   The arts provide a holistic approach to health and well-being, fostering a person’s creativity as an integral resource for change, and supporting connections between body, mind, emotions, and spirit in order to help people move in a desired direction of growth. A significant body of research supports the effectiveness of creative arts therapies in promoting growth and health for people with a wide range of needs and challenges. (See website links on Resources page for further information on research in the creative arts therapies).

 

What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is defined by the American Art Therapy Association as “a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the art therapist, use art media, the creative

process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional

conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. A goal in

art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of

personal well-being”.

 

 

What is Music Therapy?

 “Music therapy is a systematic process of intervention wherein the therapist helps the client to promote health, using music experiences and the relationships that develop through them as a dynamic forces of change”(Bruscia, K. (1998). Defining Music Therapy, p.20). Cognitive, physical, communication, social, and emotional capacities can be supported and developed through engagement in therapeutic musical experiences, 

helping people to move toward a more positive sense of self 

and a greater experience of wellness.

 

What is Psychodrama?

Psychodrama is an action oriented form of therapy in which

people act out different roles in order to gain insight, release

emotion, and develop expanded alternatives for living.