Expressive Therapy Interventions Part 1

Abstract

Expressive therapy refers to the therapeutic application of the creative arts to human problems. Expressive therapy uses the “power of the arts experience to improve the quality of human lives and thereby expand human horizons” (Warren, 1984, p. vii). Art therapy, dance and movement therapy, music therapy, phototherapy and poetry therapy are expressive therapies. Furthermore, pet-facilitated therapy, play therapy, sand tray therapy, and game play therapy also readily fit into the philosophy and framework of the expressive therapies. This chapter will not make the reader an expressive therapist nor will it provide a pancrea for the problem of elective mutism. However, it will give insight into some of the approaches originating in the expressive therapies that have been beneficial in treating persons who elect to be silence users.