Intro to Creative Arts Therapy at Interactive Discovery
By: Hesper Juhnke, LCAT
Creative arts therapy is one of the lesser-known styles of therapy in New York state. In my experience, many people are curious about creative arts therapy but have a difficult time understanding what it is, or what it could offer them. As a practitioner of the creative arts therapies for the past nine years, I have seen its immense benefits and I’m excited to share information about my approach!
What is creative arts therapy?
Creative arts therapy is an umbrella term that encompasses anyone who is trained to use creative practices therapeutically, in addition to verbal psychotherapy. This includes many forms of the arts including drama therapy, music therapy, art therapy, dance therapy, and more. Each of these arts forms, or modalities, takes elements of the creative process and applies them in order to explore perspectives, identify emotions, and ultimately access a deeper understanding of the self and one’s unconscious. I studied expressive arts therapy, which combines elements of all the modalities and how they interact with one another.
What is drama therapy specifically?
Drama therapy has many different forms, and is one of my favorite modalities to use. At its core, I would describe it as a way of playing with what you are thinking/feeling and expressing it in relation to another person in an active, embodied, and creatively distanced way. Recent scholarly inquiry has been digging into the ways in which our emotions are held in our bodies (see The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk), and how we often disconnect from those core feelings by using our big, smart brains to talk around them. Drama Therapy aims to cut through some of that avoidance by being more connected with our internal experience. It uses core elements of theater such as metaphor, role, embodiment, aesthetic distancing, and personifying to help us connect with our own needs.
What is Developmental Transformations (DvT)?
DvT is a creative form of psychotherapy that uses a combination of play, drama, and improvisation to explore struggles, relationships, and identities. It draws on elements of drama therapy, existential therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and attachment theory. I love practicing DvT, as I think it helps people move past unconscious barriers that keep them in old, stuck patterns. DvT unlocks a new sense of freedom through play and humor, even while dealing with uncomfortable feelings.
What do you actually DO in a creative arts therapy session?
Every creative arts therapist works differently. In my sessions, you might sit and talk about what is on your mind while using metaphors, storytelling, and imagery to better explain your experience. Perhaps you might speak to a person in your life as if they are in the room, notice what you are feeling in your body, and draw an image to represent it. Another session might involve writing a monologue from the perspective of the butterflies in your stomach. For kids, it might look like delving into those metaphors/stories/imagery through play. There’s a world of possibilities, and it all depends on what works best for you.
Who is this for? Do I need to be creative to do this? I’m not an actor/artist/dancer. Will I feel embarrassed? Is this for me?
Creative Arts Therapy is for anyone who wants to explore their emotions in an active and experiential way, and who feels a little spark of interest in doing that playfully. While creative expression often feels more accessible to kids - it’s closer to their natural state of play - it’s also wonderful for adults who want to heal through the body. Most recently I have witnessed how accessing feelings in the body, also called somatic work, has been immensely powerful in helping process trauma from the ups and downs of the pandemic. It all goes at your pace, and to your comfort level. In fact, this kind of therapy can be great for people who are a bit shy/introverted, who want to discover their voice, or who want to explore different ways of interacting with others.
Want to learn more? Check out the resources below:
Expressive Arts Therapy:
Drama Therapy:
https://www.nadta.org/what-is-dramatherapy-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_therapy
Developmental Transformations (DvT):
https://dvtnyc.wixsite.com/home/about-dvt
http://www.developmentaltransformations.com/
For further reading on mental health and the body:
Waking The Tiger by Peter A. Levine
