G a l l e r y G u i d e

the healing power of expressive arts

w i t h i nthe light

R e v e a l i n g

A u g u s t 2 6 – D e c e m b e r 6 • 2 0 1 4

A n i n t roduc t ion t o E x pr E s s i v E A r t s t h E r A p y

Around the time that American poet Amy Lowell penned this line, the confluence of the words “art,” “express” and “personality” was at the forefront of developing practices in what are now known as expressive or creative arts therapies. Psychiatrists and physicians were abuzz with talk about art as a healing and therapeutic tool during the early decades of the 20th century. Concurrently, music, drama, dance/movement and poetry were also explored as alternative modalities for the restoration of emotional, cognitive and behavioral health. In time, these expressive therapies would also be extended to physical wellbeing. For those in search of methods to express their inner being, these five modalities came to offer a creative outlet for revealing the personal light within that had been diminished, but not lost.

Fundamental to all expressive arts therapies is the renewal of mind, body and soul, either collectively or individually, based on the specific needs of the client. Another tenet

of creative therapy modalities is the attention to the act of creating or the journey toward the goal. It is not merely about reaching the point of healing or catharsis, but learning along the way through self-discovery, and recognizing the emotional, social, physical and cognitive conditions that make us who we are.

Within the field of expressive arts therapies are f ive predominant modalities: visual art, music, dance/movement, drama and creative writing. More recently, play therapy and sand therapy have provided additional options for individual creativity in therapy. Though the disciplines featured in each modality are individualized fields of study, they are not mutually exclusive. Some therapists use a multimodal approach to best suit the expressive potential of the client. For instance, pairing creative writing therapy and visual art therapy sequentially may allow the client to pen his or her thoughts in a non-threatening, personal manner, which can then be presented in the visual form of a drawing, a sculpture or a painting.

Expressive arts therapies can be explored in a two-fold approach to healing and restoration – clinical and therapeutic. While the clinical variation is explored between a client and a trained therapist, the therapeutic perspective is a personal form of expression investigated without the facilitation of a therapist. The clinical-based method toward healing can be conducted individually or in a

“Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the

reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.”

~Amy Lowell, Tendencies in Modern American Poetry,1917

Credits & Appreciation

This exhibition would not be possible without the dedicated assistance of the Miami University Art Museum Staff. Special appreciation is extended to the following Miami University faculty, staff and students, and outside experts who contributed guidance, content and materials towards the development of this exhibition.

• Erin Brazill, Board Certified Art Therapist, Buckeye Art Therapy Association

• Cynthia Collins, Curator of Education, MUAM

• Alexandra Czajkowski, Curatorial Intern, Art History

• Katherine Derickson, Student, Art Therapy

• Amy Foley, Music Therapist

• Joan Fopma-Loy, Professor, Nursing

• Gary Glazner, Poet, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project

• Yvette Harris, Professor, Psychology

• Jennifer Kinney, Professor, Sociology & Gerontology

• Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, Director, Opening Minds through Art

• Kate de Medeiros, Professor, Sociology & Gerontology

• Lisa Peacock, Registered Drama Therapist

• Joseph Schroer, Professor, Educational Psychology

• Mimi Sinclair, Board Certified Music Therapist

• Jason E. Shaiman, Curator of Exhibitions, MUAM

• Brad Simcock, Program Manager, Opening Minds through Art

• Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist

group setting. This is not to imply that the therapeutic benefits cannot result in healing. Although there is no response, interpretation or discussion with an impartial support system, an individual can find personal catharsis through an exploration of feelings reflecting emotional, cognitive and even physical conditions. An example of this therapeutic (non-clinical) approach can be seen in Toledo artist Dorothy Bryan’s “The Chemo Series.” Through an exploration of her emotions in response to her cancer diagnosis and treatment,

Bryan was able to give a visual voice to her emotions in painting, while documenting her experiences throughout her treatment and recovery.

A major benefit of the cl inical approach is to have the guided assistance of a trained professional. The therapist can help a client to not only reach deep within to bring repressed emotions and thoughts about psychological or physical traumas to the surface, but to also navigate the various nuances of

the issue(s) in a constructive and positive manner. A client can then be guided by the therapist through the process of interpreting the creative expression in order to come to an understanding or assessment of the underlying reasons for his or her challenges. The client is subsequently able to proceed with exploring how to come to a resolution or how to know the signs in the event of future experiences.

Dorothy Bryan (1942-2001) Premonition, April 1989. Lithograph on paper. Courtesy of the Dorothy Bryan family.

Revealing the Light Within: The Healing Power of Expressive Arts Page 3

W ho A r E E x pr E s s i v E A r t s t h E r A pi s t s?

Most expressive arts therapists have degrees and/or backgrounds in the specific technique of the modality. In other words, a music therapist traditionally has training in music performance and/or music education. Other therapists come from a traditional psychotherapy approach, which is then complemented by training in the specific modality. In 1918, Margaret Anderton, a British classical pianist, used the principles of music therapy to help wounded WWI soldiers in their recovery from shell shock and physical incapacities. In contrast, contemporary drama therapist Robert Landy of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, came from a traditional background in psychology.

O n e o f t h e m o s t i n t r i g u i n g developments in an expressive therapy career is that of British artist Adrian Hil l . In 1938, Hil l was hospitalized in a sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis. While in recovery he discovered the therapeutic value of painting and credited the activity as an important factor in his recovery. After his release from the hospital, Hill conducted painting workshops for other patients to help with their recovery. Hill later wrote that the benefit of art therapy exists by “completely engrossing the mind (as well as the fingers)…releasing the creative energy of the frequently inhibited patient,” thus the patient could “build up a strong defence against his misfortunes.” Unlike Robert Landy, Anderton and Hill

did not receive specific education in the fields of psychology, art or music therapy. However, in 1918 and later in 1938 there were no regulated educational requirements needed to practice expressive arts therapies.

Similar to psychotherapy, professional expressive arts therapists hold advanced degrees in their respective fields. Although many have a PhD, a Masters is the minimum required. More than 100 Masters and Doctoral degree programs in art therapy alone are available in the United States. The credentials obtained by therapists are part of a complicated system directed by differing state, national and international standards. Not all states have licensure for the various modalities. In fact, most professional expressive therapists are registered, not licensed. For example, only Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi and New Mexico offer licensure to practicing art therapists. Many, but not all, of the remaining forty-six states offer art therapists the professional des i gna t ion o f Ar t Therap i s t Registered (ATR). Therapists who complete a competency examination in their respective field are given the designation of Board Certified

(BC). Thus, a registered art therapist who has passed the board exam will have the credential ATR-BC. A final category of credentialed professionals i s the Ar t Therapy Cer t i f i ed Supervisor (ATCS). Therapists who are licensed in the four US states have the Licensed Professional Art Therapist (LPAT) credential. In order to be a practicing professional, an art therapist must receive certification from the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB). The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) founded the ATCB in 1993 to function as a separate operating entity to ensure the proper credentialing of art therapists. According to the ACTB, there are currently 2,377 art therapists in the United States who are credentialed as ATRs, while 2,578 are Board certified (ATR-BC).

The state of Ohio currently does not offer licensing for art therapists. Those who successfully complete the supervision become registered (ATR). The Buckeye Art Therapy Association, a state chapter of the AATA, is in the process of seeking licensure for its many therapists. The other four modalities also have national oversight organizations for credentialing and members’ services. These include the American Dance Therapy Associat ion (ADTA), American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), National Associat ion for Poetry Therapy (NAPT), and North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA). In 1979, the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapy Associations (NCCATA) was formed “To further the creative arts therapies through facilitation of collaborative advocacy, research and education.” The NCCATA estimates

Adrian Hill with an art therapy patient in London.

Page 4 Revealing the Light Within

that there are more than 15,000 practicing creative arts therapists around the world.

Not all countries have expressive therapy organizations, nor do all countries have expressive therapy programs. The US is the most active, particularly in art therapy, followed by Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany and Australia. Although relatively younger, the Canadian expressive therapy community is also quite active. The International Expressive Arts Therapy Associations (IEATA), founded in 1994, was created to provide “a professional guild and an international network for bringing the arts into the world for growth, healing, communication and collaborative learning.”

cA n E x pr E s s i v E A r t s t h E r A pi E s Ac t uA l ly h E A l ?

The field of expressive arts therapies i s largely unfamil iar and often confusing to the public. Questions frequently arise concerning who can benefit from expressive arts therapies. In short, anyone can. Expressive therapies are not specific to artists, musicians, authors, dancers and actors. The intent of expressive therapies is not about aiding singers to achieve perfect pitch or helping authors suffering from writers block. Although there are plenty of workshops for these issues, expressive therapies are designed for the betterment of an individual’s emotional, cognitive, social and physical condition.

The physical act of writing, for example, cannot actually heal the trauma of child abuse. However, writing a

poem, a short story, a journal or an autobiography can help the client confront the repressed emotions of the traumatic event. This in turn can aid the client in understanding the reasons for the abuse, come to the resolution that it was not his or her fault, so that he or she can overcome the trauma of the event(s) to become a stronger and more confident person. The therapeutic approach to expressive therapies is about the restorative effects of the modality in bringing a person to a calm, centered place. The following examples describe the practical benefits of healing and therapeutic approaches through the expressive therapies.

On January 8, 2011, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords escaped an assassination attempt. Although she survived, Giffords suffered from severe trauma to the brain when a bullet penetrated her skull. Giffords was incapable of speaking due to sustained damage to the language pathways in the left side of her brain. For months, she underwent physical and speech therapy. With the help of music therapist Meaghan Morrow in Tucson, Arizona, Giffords eventually regained her ability to communicate through speech. Music appears in both hemispheres of the brain. She was able to learn to speak through training the music pathways in the right side of her brain to communicate words through melody. Over time, Giffords’ speech improved and she is now able to communicate through words.

Expressive arts are also implemented in non-clinical group settings that use the restorative power of art making to improve the quality of life and enrich the social experience of people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of

dementia. At Miami University, Dr. Elizabeth “Like” Lokon founded the Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) program to benefit this population. OMA programs are offered at twelve different regional centers for the aging, including the Knolls of Oxford and Cedar Village in Cincinnati. Residents in these facilities are paired with trained students and community volunteers on a weekly basis for three months. Each site is lead by a two-person team staffed by an experienced lead artist and a gerontological professional.

Dementia often robs people of their sense of confidence, agency and autonomy. OMA opens up new pathways for them to recover these positive human feelings through special ly designed art projects that provide aesthetic choices and non-directive assistance. The

projects feature the self-expressive opportunities afforded by abstract modes of visual art. Pressure to achieve realism in the artwork is removed, thus offering the participants a failure free working environment. The pairs often form deep and affectionate bonds that are models of inter-generational learning. The therapeutic effects of OMA artistry are social as much as psychological and cannot be separated.

Gabby Giffords in a music therapy session. Image courtesy of ABC News.

The Healing Power of Expressive Arts Page 5

W h At i s t h E s t ruc t u r E of A n E x pr E s s i v E A r t s t h E r A p y s E s s ion ?

The fol lowing explanation is a genera l i zed approach to how express ive ar t s therap ies are conducted. Each modality has its own distinct nature and each therapist may have an individual working style. Each modality is also governed by a respective national association, through which professionals are gu ided and credent ia led . This description is intended to give a glimpse into the practices that are common across all five modalities.

The initial stage of counseling with an expressive arts therapist typically

includes an introductory familiarization session(s) including conversation with the client in a one-on-one setting. Discussion can include what concerns or challenges are affecting the individual, couple or family. Further dialogue may include why the client feels that an expressive therapy, as opposed to traditional psychotherapy (i.e. talk therapy), will benefit him or her. To best enable a therapist to assess the client’s relationship to the respective modality, the client may be asked to present his or her feelings about the issue(s) at hand through short explorations in the designated modality. For example, a client may write random words, complete sentences, or even a story, regarding his or her concerns. A drama therapist may ask a client to interact with a doll

or life-sized stuffed figure and engage in a conversation that replicates a difficult previous encounter.

This early assessment not only informs the therapist about the specific issues to be addressed, but can also indicate the creative inclinations of the client. Expressive arts therapies do not require that the client have any predisposed abilities in a specific modality. However, a therapist does need to know the client’s comfort level with a modality, even a medium such as drawing, painting or sculpting. Some therapists use a multimodal approach that allows a client to engage with various modalities dependent on his or her current emotional or physical conditions. Throughout the subsequent sessions, the therapist and the client build a working relationship. Trust and comfort are essential to any form of therapy, whether expressive or psychoanalytic. Lack of comfort and trust can result in a client feeling that he or she is unable to be completely open. This in turn can undermine the entire process and reduce the effectiveness of the therapy. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, supported this concern by developing his concept of “free association.” He held that the client should always be unrestricted and without self-censorship of ideas that could inhibit true expression.

The role of the expressive arts therapist is not to interject and dictate what the client creates. He or she allows the client to drive the creative force. A therapist is there to observe and provide feedback when requested. A therapist watches how the client creates a drawing, writes a poem or engages with others in a dramatic

Page 6 Revealing the Light Within

Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) participant with student volunteer. Image courtesy of OMA.

The Healing Power of Expressive Arts Page 7

performance. The therapist gives attent ion to the cl ient ’s body language, facial expressions and verbal communication with one’s self. Finally, the therapist will help the client consider the meaning of the work and its relevance to the reason that the client sought therapy. Sometimes, the therapist may ask the client to consider if what he or she wrote, performed or illustrated could be changed, and how they can achieve this next step. A client will have an opportunity to discuss the process of painting an image; writing song lyrics or exploring a specific dance or movements; what distinguishing characteristics or symbols resonate with the client; and what was most difficult or pleasing about the process. By the end of the series of sessions, it is the therapist’s responsibility to help the client come to self-discovery, learn techniques for identifying triggers and how to cope with them, and achieve resolution or closure.

A session typically consists of three parts: warm-up, active exploration, and closure. Sessions normally begin with warm-up exercises, such as free-form drawing, breathing, stretching or singing a favorite song. Following this preparatory period is the active exploration phase, during which the client explores the topic at hand for that session. As the end of the session nears, the closure portion engages the client in reflection on the work of that session. Because of the different nature of each modality, each client may experience variations in the typical therapy experience.

Group sessions take on a different dynamic. In drama therapy, for example, one client may dictate the

form of the session by functioning as the director. He or she can restage an event in life by assigning other participants the roles of the real-life protagonists. A script is generally provided based on the actual course of events. As the scene is played out, the director has the opportunity to step back and observe what took place. This

allows for personal introspection. It also permits the performers to comment on the scene, offering suggestions on how the client/director could have handled the situation differently in the initial experience. In the instance of poetry therapy, sessions can be conducted in a group setting where participants write and share personal insights. The group members often comment and reflect

on the author’s emotional statement. Another example of group writing includes all participants writing a single poem or short story together. This sharing of ideas frequently brings to the surface the understanding that multiple people share similar experiences. Thus, the individual does not feel alone with a sickness, trauma, depression or other challenge and is able to find solace in a healing community.

Today, expressive arts therapies are used in a variety of settings to serve clients who exhibit a wide range of emotional, cognitive, social and physical challenges. The most common venues include private and group practices, nursing homes and centers for the aging, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, mental health centers, veterans’ centers, schools, prisons and halfway houses. The expressive arts therapies have made significant strides over the past fifty years. Unlike the loose affiliation of early programs, the field of expressive arts therapies has now grown and developed into a well-organized network of disciplines that benefit a diverse population. Furthermore, expressive therapies have gained much recognition and acceptance within the medical and psychotherapy professions as significant methods for assisting clients to reveal the light within.

For a brief history of developments within the f ive modal it ies , see Expressive Arts Therapy: A Historical Overview, written by Jason E. Shaiman, Curator of Exhibitions, MUAM at www.MiamiOH.edu/ArtMuseum/Exhibitions on the Revealing the Light Within exhibition page.

A drama therapy session in which one client is directing the scene.

An art therapist working with a cancer patient at North London Hospice.

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Construction of the Miami University Art Museum in 1978 was made possible by private contributions to Miami University’s Goals for Enrichment capital campaign in the Mid-1970s. A major gift for the building came as a bequest from Miami alumnus Fred C. Yager, class of 1914. Walter A. Netsch, the museum’s architect, Walter I. Farmer, class of 1935, and Orpha B. Webster generously donated extensive art collections and were all instrumental in developing early support for the museum.

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All exhibition graphics for Revealing the Light Within were designed by Morgan Murray, Graphic Design

student at Miami University