Hello all! It is officially the start of classes! This semester I am taking a class called Expressive Arts Therapy, it is similar to art therapy, but there’s more than just making art. There is role playing, dancing, writing, art making, music, and more! I thought this week’s class assignment would be perfect to start this semester off! I will be discussing how this week’s activity made me feel as we went through the stations.
There were 4 stations for this activity; drawing, music, movement, and writing. Each station was 10-15 minutes long, and we brought the picture we made in the first station to every station. In class, we were discussing how each person would see what shape our class would be, there were four shapes, one from each classmate. There was a rectangle, circle that seems to be expanding, a spark-like shape, and a cone.
Station 1: Art
The first station was art, where we drew our shape using a material(s) of our choice (oil pastels, markers, colored pencils, and crayons). This is the station where we each drew our shape that represents our class, I chose the cone shape. I see our class as a cone shape, we’re all working together to get to a point in healing, that is the top of the cone. For the first station, we were to draw the shape and color it as we see fit. This was then the poster that we would bring from station to station to remind us that we are going through each station and keeping in mind our shape, as well as the previous station(s).
Station 2: Music
The next station was music. We had 15 minutes to use the instruments on the table to create a sound that connects to the picture. The fun thing about this station, was that we were also able to just go with the flow of the other students’ music and create sounds and rhythms based on how we feel in the moment.
There were a variety of instruments:
- Tambourine
- Hand Drum
- Maracas
- Rhythm Sticks
- Frame Drum
- Rain Disc
- Rubbing Sticks
We used these instruments to create music together for the 15 minutes we were given. I mainly used the rain disc and a stick to make a tune. We could use any of the instruments, changing them if we wanted to, giving us the freedom to make out own music as a class.
Station 3: Movement
The next station we had was movement. This was where we used colorful scarves to move and dance around.
This station was 10 minutes long, we were able to move around however we wanted. We each used about 2-3 scaves and moved around as we please. I used yellow and orange, to go back to my original drawing of my shape to represent our class.
Station 4: Writing
The fourth and final station was writing. This station is where we had 15 minutes to write a poem, story, or just words to verbalize your experience. I decided to write a poem called Understand, Join, Heal. I wrote about how this experience could be through someone else, but also relating back to how I felt during this expereince.
The poem written out should sound like this:
I feel,
I express,
You understand.
I express,
You understand,
I feel safe.
You understand,
I feel safe,
You join me.
Silly, goofy, emotions get out,
You join me,
You understand.
You join me,
I feel safe,
I open up more.
I feel safe,
I open up more,
I made progress.
I open up more,
I make progress,
I start to heal.
You understand,
You join,
I feel safe,
I heal.
I hope that this class helps me expand my horizon, and gives me tools that I can use in the future, as I want to possibly work with those with special needs. I feel like I can use these materials for those clients, and even those who are not special needs. This type of arts therapy can be used with anyone and everyone, but my main focus might be for those with special needs. You’ll have to come back to see where this class takes me and waht I learn, so come along with me as I learn more about Expressive Arts Therapy.
See you next time!
~Emma <3