expressive therapy

Expressive therapy, also known as 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.

Some common types of expressive therapy include:

art therapy

art and dementia

dance therapy

drama therapy

music therapy

writing therapy

All expressive therapists share the belief that through creative expression and the tapping of the imagination, a person can examine the body, feelings, emotions and his or her thought process.

Expressive Therapy has proven to be particularly helpful to children and adults experiencing the consequences of a variety of stresses and difficult experiences including:

Abuse (emotional, physical, sexual) Accidents, illness and hospitalization Attachment issues, foster care, adoption Chronic pain

Grief, loss, bereavement Life transitions (moves, employment change, menopause,

retirement etc…) Physical or mental challenges Separation and divorce Spiritual crisis Stress in the workplace Traumas of all types Withdrawn, overactive, controlling or aggressive behaveoure

Expressive Therapy can address a variety of symptoms such as:

Anxiety Depression Fears Sleeping problems Autism spectrum

Dance therapy, or dance movement therapy is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance for emotional, cognitive, social, behavioral and physical conditions. As a form of expressive therapy, DMT is founded on the basis that movement and emotion are directly related. The ultimate purpose of DMT is to find a healthy balance and sense of wholeness.

Since its birth in the 1940s, DMT has gained much popularity and has been taken to more serious and beneficial levels.

Long before the first wave of DMT in America(1940’s), the UK developed the idea of dance therapy. The first records of dance being used as a form of therapy date as far back as the nineteenth century in the UK. Although there were significant American influences, the main theories of dance therapy originated in the UK.

Dance is the illumined dialog between body, breath and beat, and the rhythm to which our spirit can best dance is the rhythm of the essential self.                      

 Dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.

Our bodies love movement. When we stretch or dance, our bodies adjust, realign and start to become fluid with the rhythm of life. Our mood lifts and we feel more connected with the world around us. If you are feeling stuck, ready to release old energy, or eager to feel more alive, dance.

Dance Movement Therapy puts us in touch with a deep trust in the creative process of life. The sheer joy and freedom we find in the dance helps us to overcome our fears, find genuine, authentic, and responsible expression of who we are, and gives us the tools to integrate all this into our day-to-day lives.

Dance Movement Therapy gives you the confidence to live from your heart and trust your own authority. There is always the invitation in the dance to pay attention, bring everything into movement, and remember again and again who you really are and what you are capable of creating.

Dance is primal, illuminated dialog between body, breath and beat that propels and gives birth to unique dance.

Whatever your shape, age, background or ability, there is creative inspiration in you. Movement Therapy will help you to find that inspiration, give it form, and place it in the driving seat of your life

Our mind is a glorious instrument designed to dance in the great symphony of life but it usually ends up the mad conductor.

Learning to access your joy through movement gives you access to your spiritual core. The results are profound and far-reaching. Numerous research studies now demonstrate the positive healing results on our immune system and our brain’s neurochemistry when we experience joy.

Self-esteem and body image Coping skills, health and well-being   Creative self-expression Communication and relationship skills Increasing self-awareness Transform muscular and visceral tensions that inhibit the free

flow of energy. Experiencing links between feelings, thoughts and actions;

Expressing powerful feelings and actions; Maximizing the ability to communicate; Free expression with others; Managing the feelings that obstruct learning; The development of trusting relationships. Resolving emotional conflicts  In addition, DMT will explore a creative and mindful way to

work with the many moments in our lives and bodies in which we feel the opposite of joy: feelings of frustration, isolation, envy, depression, anxiety, and the many more difficult feelings we might experience in life.

Special Treatments: General improvement of well-being Holistic Birth Preparation Cancer Posttraumatic Stress disorder Eating disorder Autism Learning Disabilities Parkinson’s Disease Elderly Deaf and hearing Impaired Blind and visually impaired

In DMT workshop, you will learn to unpack the body’s inherent capacity for joy and awaken joy through movement and dance. You will be guided in a safe and freeing process that

Dance always happens in the present, and people with dementia need to be in the present.

Dance is        single-focused vs. multi-focused        tense vs. relaxed        strong or heavy vs. light or weak        use of distance and proximity        posture        gestures        facial expression        rhythm        use of space

use of language tone of voice volume pitch Pay particular attention to the emotional quality of the movement. Allow your intention to make a genuine and authentic connection

with the other to manifest. Allow yourself to be spontaneous in the moment.

Creative interventions such as dance-based therapy have the potential to significantly reduce falls in older persons. 

Dance therapy provides social interaction, expression, and exercise, alleviates fears of loneliness and isolation for Elderly

As part of the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program at Children's, dance/movement therapy allows kids to use movement to express positive and negative emotions. This form of therapy is used for patients who have a variety of social, emotional, psychological, cognitive or physical concerns.

The psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive and physical integration of the individual." Dance/movement therapy results changes in feelings, cognition, physical functioning, and conduct. 

Improves body image, social skills, coordination, and motor skills, promotes communication

Parkinson’s Disease: uses rhythm to help reduce body dysfunctions which improves motor abilities, balance, and use of limbs.

Therapists connect on a sensory-motor level, provides a sense of acceptance and expands skills and cognitive abilities, increases maturity

We dance for laughter,

We dance for tears,

We dance for madness,

We dance for fears

We dance for hopes

We dance for screams

We are the dancers

We create the dreams

Students

Gohar Shiroyan

Frajeta Aghajanyan

Ruzan Khachikyan

Menua Grigoryan