Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy provides an arts-based approach to the theory and practice of expressive arts therapy. The book explores the various expressive arts therapy modalities both individually and in relationship to each other. The contributors emphasize the importance of the imagination and of aesthetic experience, arguing that these are central to psychological well-being, and challenging accepted views which place primary emphasis on the cognitive and emotional dimensions of mental health and development. Part One explores the theory which informs the practice of expressive arts therapy. Part Two relates this theory to the therapeutic application of the expressive arts (including music, art, movement, drama, poetry and voicework) in different contexts, ranging from play therapy with children to trauma work with Bosnian refugees and second-generation Holocaust survivors. Comprehensive in its coverage of the most fundamental aspects of expressive arts therapy, this book is a significant contribution to the field and a useful reference for all practitioners.

Drawing on expertise in both expressive arts and grief counselling, this book highlights the use of expressive arts therapeutic methods in confronting and healing grief and bereavement. Establishing a link between these two approaches, it widens our understanding of loss and grief. With personal and professional insight, Renzenbrink illuminates the healing and restorative power of creative arts therapies, as well as addressing the impact of communion with others and the role that expressive arts can play in community change. Covering a broad understanding of grief, the discussion incorporates migration and losing one's home, chronic illness and natural disasters, highlighting the breadth of types of loss and widening our perceptions of this. Grief specialists are given imaginative and nourishing tools to incorporate into their practice and better support their clients. An invaluable resource to expand understanding of grief and explore the power of expressive arts to heal both communities and individuals.

Challenging traditional therapeutic approaches to the arts in which art is often secondary to a psychological model, Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts Therapy provides a coherent theoretical framework for an expressive arts therapy practice that places the process of art-making and the art work itself at the center. This book lays the philosophical foundation for a fresh interpretation of art-making and the therapeutic process by re-examining the concept of poiesis. The authors clarify the methodology and theory of practice with a focus on intermodal therapy, crystallization theory and polyaesthetics, and give guidance on the didactics of acquiring practical skills. Case studies of clinical practice and guidance on supervision and training in intermodal expressive arts therapy complement the theoretical chapters. Combining philosophy, theory and practice, this book is an essential text for students and academics in the field and for practicing expressive and specialized arts therapists.

Laying the philosophical foundations of expressive arts therapy, this book highlights the role and importance of poiesis, the art of 'making' as a response to the world, in the expressive arts therapies as well as our own lives. The concept of poiesis was originally developed and brought into the field by Stephen K. Levine. It is a perspective that restores the primacy of the arts for the arts therapies instead of reducing art-making and art-objects to psychological data. Bringing together different schools of thought in unexpected ways, this book shows how the principles underlying expressive arts therapy have relevance to ethics, politics and social change. It includes chapters on Taoism, improvisation in the arts, and the importance of creativity for understanding human existence. With personal narratives and poetry to help create natural points for the reader to stop and reflect, Philosophy of Expressive Arts Therapy is the perfect guide for those wanting to understand the role of the arts and art-making in life and in therapeutic change.

This book emphasises ecological, nature-assisted expressive and creative arts and art therapies within the context of the current ecological crises. Rich in fresh theoretical perspectives, this timely compendium of theory, research, and practice also provides methods and tools that can help the reader understand and incorporate new eco perspectives into their work. Building on the concept of poiesis as the human creative function, this book seeks to stress the importance of humanity's ecopoietic capacity, creating a more sustainable life for humans. It has been specifically created within the context of this most critical period of human existence, and acts as a forum for innovation based on the values of the environmental movement and its desire to address the extensive sociopsychological impact of the ecological crisis.

This collection reflects on the theory and application of expressive arts today in therapy, education, research and social and ecological change. Bringing the understanding of expressive arts into its contemporary theoretical framework, the book reveals the expansion of the field from its initial focus on therapy alone into a diverse range of other areas of interest to therapists, educators, researchers and those interested in working for social and ecological change. The book also contains a selection of discursive writing, poetry and visual art, highlighting the importance of keeping artistic creativity at the heart of the field. With contributions from pioneering arts therapists, this will be vital reading for arts therapists and students in the field today.

This book explores the process of improvisation and outlines the ideal conditions for an inspirational creative state. Examining her own process as an artist and drawing on interviews with peers, the author considers how the forces of shaping (intellect-driven decisions) and letting-go (more intuitive moves) interact in improvisation. The book follows the journey of seven performing arts graduates and undergraduates, examining their experiences of improvisation and the interplay of shaping and letting-go. It reveals how the approach and methods of expressive arts can enrich an improviser's experience and spur the desire for discovery.

The field of expressive arts is closely tied to the work of therapeutic change. As well as being beneficial for the individual or small group, expressive arts therapy has the potential for a much wider impact, to inspire social action and bring about social change. The book's contributors explore the transformative power of the arts therapies in areas stricken by conflict, political unrest, poverty or natural disaster and discuss how and why expressive arts works. They look at the ways it can be used to engage community consciousness and improve social conditions whilst taking into account the issues that arise within different contexts and populations. Leading expressive arts therapy practitioners give inspiring accounts of their work, from using poetry as a tool in trauma intervention with Iraqi survivors of war and torture, to setting up storytelling workshops to aid the integration of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel. Offering visionary perspectives on the role of the arts in inspiring change at the community or social level, this is essential reading for students and practitioners of creative and expressive arts therapies, as well as psychotherapists, counsellors, artists and others working to effect social change.

Stephen K. Levine argues that poiesis, the creative act, is also the act by which we affirm our identity and humanity; in exploring this subject he shows the essential affinity of the creative and the therapeutic processes and explores the nature of creative acts. This book looks in detail at the connections between expressive arts, such as poetry, and psychology and develops understanding of the theoretical foundations which connect the arts and psychotherapy. It considers the context in which modern therapy emerged and looks at various aspects of different arts therapies. It provides a much-needed step in the theoretical underpinning of the expressive therapies.

Stephen K. Levine's new book explores the nature of traumatic experience and the therapeutic role of the arts and arts therapies in responding to it. It suggests that by re-imagining painful and tragic experiences through art-making, we may release their fixity and negative hold on our lives and resist the temptation to assume the role of the victim. Among the many concerns that the book addresses is the damage done by the tendency to adopt stock methods of understanding and superficial explanations for the depths, complexities, wonders, and exasperations of human experience. The book explores the chaos and fragmentation inherent in both art and human existence and the ways in which memory and imagination can find meaning by acknowledging this chaos and embodying it in appropriate forms. The book builds on the important theories of Stephen K. Levine's previous book, Poiesis: The Language of Psychology and the Speech of the Soul, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. It challenges dominant psychological perspectives on trauma and provides a new framework for arts therapists, psychotherapists, psychologists and social scientists to understand the effectiveness of the arts therapies in responding to human suffering.