Unlock Healing Through Expressive Therapy: Discover the Power of Creative Expression

What Is Expressive Therapy?

Expressive therapy is also known as art therapy, expressive arts therapy, creative arts therapy, and experiential therapy. It uses creative activities as a medium to express and process feelings or memories that can otherwise not be put into words. These creative activities can be anything like drawing, painting, writing, and more.

Expressive therapy began more than half a century ago, in the 1940s. Psychologists gleaned from their clients’ drawings and paintings that they told a story, something deeper than they were able to uncover with general talk therapy.

At the NuView Treatment Center, we use expressive therapy to help our clients process their feelings, memories, and experiences that cannot be processed with talk therapy. We believe that expressive therapy through drawing, music, dance, and other artistic outlets can be a powerful way to achieve healing and balance in life.

How Expressive Therapy Works?

Expressive therapy focuses on creative activities to design a treatment plan considering every client’s unique needs and circumstances. Clients do not have to be good at a particular creative activity to receive the benefits of this therapy. Moreover, expressive therapy can also be integrated into other therapies like psychoanalytic therapy, psychodynamic therapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy on the path to healing and a fulfilling life.

Different creative techniques are used in expressive therapy, from drawing, sketching, painting, music, dance, drama, journaling, and poetry writing, to even reading.

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What All Conditions Can Be Treated In Expressive Therapy?

Expressive therapy can be used to treat a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, some of which are as follows:

• Anxiety disorders

• Mood disorders

• Eating disorders

• Stress

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Substance use disorders

• Developmental disorders

• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

• Brain injuries

• Chronic illnesses

• Relationship problems

• Low self-esteem issues

The Benefits of Expressive Therapy

Expressive therapy offers different benefits and can be tailored to fit every client’s needs and goals. With a mix of creative activities that clients can get into, they allow for a deeper exploration of one’s thinking, emotional, and behavioral patterns. Creative activities are also an outlet to process these patterns and overcome challenges to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life.

Expressive therapy can be done with children as well as adults, and can be used as a treatment approach for a wide variety of mental and behavioral health conditions. It helps enhance creativity, provide clarity, and achieve healing and balance in life.

Expressive therapy has been shown to be effective, and studies have indicated that it improves cognitive functioning, elevates mood, and relieves stress and tension.

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Types of Expressive Therapies

Expressive therapy is a multimodal therapy, and it combines different creative activities and design treatment plans for personal growth and development. There are four types of expressive therapies, and they are mainly based on the different kinds of creative outlets.

• Art Therapy –

  Mainly focuses on visual arts, like drawing, painting, sketching, and sculpting to process emotions and memories.

• Music Therapy –

  This type of expressive therapy uses music to ease anxiety and balance mood. Clients can either listen to or create music in this therapy.

• Dance Therapy –

  In dance therapy, clients use body movement and dance to address mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and even stress.

• Writing Therapy –

  Clients can use writing as a way to explore their thinking and emotional patterns. Usually, journaling, poetry, and storytelling are the techniques used in writing therapy.

As a multimodal therapy, what must be kept in mind is that expressive therapy does not solely focus on a single creative activity. Treatment plans can be personalized to fit in more than one creative outlet and sometimes more than one creative outlet can be used in a single therapeutic session as well. By doing so, expressive therapy allows clients to explore and process their thoughts, emotions, experiences, and memories.

Expressive Therapy in Substance Use and Trauma Recovery

Expressive therapy believes that creative expressions are ways to achieve healing and overall well-being in life. The same applies to behavioral health conditions, as expressive therapy is a way for people with substance use disorders/SUDs to explore and heal. It is best used with behavioral therapies during rehabilitation to challenge and overcome self-destructive thinking and behavioral patterns that lead to substance abuse.

Expressive therapy has been especially useful in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. Unlike traditional trauma-focused therapies, expressive therapies use art forms like drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, dance, or drama to express emotions, explore oneself, release stress, and heal from trauma. Studies have shown that more than half of the participants who received expressive therapy for trauma recovery showed significant improvement in their symptoms.

Who Can Benefit from Expressive Therapy?

Expressive therapy can benefit both children and adults. It is used to treat physical and mental health conditions, including developmental disorders, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, and is especially helpful in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Moreover, expressive therapy has also been beneficial for community development. It has been implemented with homeless people, immigrants, and people suffering from chronic conditions like cancer, dementia, and even those in hospice care.

Tools and Techniques Used in Expressive Therapy

Different tools and techniques can be incorporated into expressive therapy. In fact, in many ways, this is the USP of expressive therapy, as it can cater to different interests and passions to come up with a very personalized approach to treatment, recovery, and well-being.

Some tools and techniques used are as follows:

• Drawing and painting

• Journaling, poetry writing, story writing, and creating lyrics

• Music, can be listened to or even created

• Dance and other body movements

• Sculpting