Arts as Therapy

This course provides an overview of expressive arts therapies including visual art, music, dance, drama and poetry therapy. Arts therapies are based on the concept that the use of imagination and creative expression is essential to health and well-being. Most arts therapists believe that the capacity for healing through arts stems from the personal insights and guidance one gains from participating in creative processes. New research has shown that arts therapies have beneficial impacts on mind, body and emotions.

Historically, humans have used the arts consistently as a healing modality. Some key questions we explore in this course are: What are the creative arts therapies? How do they engage the mind, body and spirit? How have these therapies evolved? What role do they have in our current culture and where have they found effective use? What challenges do arts therapists experience? How does one become certified in an arts therapy? To guide the learning process, this course uses text and article readings, videos, class experiences and discussion, arts activities and presentations by certified arts therapists or practitioners. Demonstrations of learning include regular attendance, responses to readings and in-class demonstrations and a class presentation and reflective summary on a self-selected topic related to arts therapies.
Course Learning Objectives:
• to explore various art therapies including music, visual arts, poetry story, drama, dance, and integrated art therapies
• to examine the creative process and its relationship to health and wellness through personal experience and examination of programs and case studies
• to understand how peoples have developed and are using the arts to heal and gain critical personal insights.

Course requirements: Fairhaven 202a or equivalent. No arts courses or skill required. This course involves some experiential elements. Students taking this course should be comfortable and/or willing to explore their own creativity and experience arts therapy practices in a group setting. The course is not designed to provide therapeutic interventions or to resolve personal issues. The course does not provide a certification to practice arts therapies but does offer information about how one becomes a certified practitioner.