Expressive Arts Therapy Program

The master of arts program in Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA) was established in 1996 upon the foundation of a existing certificate program. The EXA program offers students the opportunity to develop expressive arts skills across a range of media, to gain proficiency in the theories and practices of counseling and psychotherapy, and to meet the California state requirements for licensure. Our faculty includes seasoned educators and expressive arts practitioners, many who are considered leaders in the field both nationally and internationally.

What is Expressive Arts Therapy?

Expressive arts therapy refers to an approach to psychotherapy that integrates a wide range of arts modalities in the service of human growth, development and healing. It takes a multi-arts (or multimodal) approach, integrating painting, drawing, sculpture, dance/movement, music, drama, ritual, poetry, and prose within therapeutic sessions and meetings as appropriate to a particular client, group of clients, or issue.

The curriculum is designed to reawaken a true appreciation of the healing power of the creative and expressive arts, applying this ancient knowledge to the contemporary context. Expressive arts therapists seek to build supportive, culturally-sensitive relationships with clients and from this foundation, clients are encouraged to encounter the inner world of images, sensations and emotions.  The expressive arts then become the bridge through which clients can explore and potentially transform emotional, social, spiritual, and relational issues; identify strengths; experience new creative insights; and name hopes and goals for the future.

A Comprehensive Training in Counseling and Psychotherapy

The Expressive Arts Therapy program integrates a thorough education in theories and methods of psychotherapy with intensive training in expressive arts therapy. This three-year full-time program covers individual, group, couple, and family therapy, and includes a year-long practicum under the supervision of licensed mental health professionals who are also expressive arts therapists. The training meets the educational requirements for California's Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) accreditation, and is designed to meet the educational requirements to become a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) with the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA).

A Range of Theoretical Frameworks

The EXA program at CIIS provides students with foundational knowledge and skills of the major schools of psychotherapy through multicultural and feminist lenses. These include contemporary psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches; Jungian; existential-humanist; cognitive-behavioral; narrative and constructivist; as well as a range of family systems approaches.

Multiple Expressive Arts Approaches

The EXA program offers foundational training in a wide range of EXA approaches including person-centered, movement-centered, intermodal and narrative, and collaborative expressive arts therapies.

Real-World Applications

The Expressive Arts Therapy program introduces students to the "real world" of expressive arts therapy. In the first semester students interview an EXA practitioner in the field. In subsequent semesters, students have opportunities to both observe and participate in community-based expressive arts activities. The third year is spent in a community-based practicum in the Bay Area.

The program places a high premium on sensitivity and responsiveness to the needs of the Bay Area's diverse communities in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual preference, differing abilities, and socioeconomic status. This is reflected in all aspects of the formal curriculum as well as in our approach to pedagogy in the classroom.

Expressive Arts Therapy Program Goals and Priorities

EXA is a dynamic program that weaves the arts across the curriculum, enabling students to:

Demonstrate capacity to integrate a range of expressive arts practices into psychotherapy with individuals, couples, families, and groups with sensitivity to differences including gender identification, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, differing abilities, socioeconomic status, and spiritual and religious practices

Translate expressive arts interventions and processes into standard psychological language, and vice versa

Articulate when expressive arts approaches are appropriate and when they may be contraindicated within particular clinical situations

Demonstrate capacity to weave together expressive arts and recovery-oriented principles and practices into treatment

Demonstrate personal growth and development through the use of expressive arts practices

Demonstrate ability to conceptualize and intervene holistically (addresses body, mind, and spirit)

Priorities

Clinical Knowledge and Skills: We learn through applying theories to our own experience, in practice sessions with peers and with clients in community settings.

Professional Development: We prepare students for the realities of professional clinical practice

Personal Development: We provide a context within which students grow personally and professionally, emphasizing the integral nature of mind, body, and spirit.

Strength in Diversity: We honor and respect diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and values, and also approaches to practice, striving to use our differences proactively as a source of learning and strength.

Integration: We cultivate the capacity to integrate our emerging arts-based relational skills and knowledge throughout all aspects of the life of the program.

Where Can Expressive Arts Therapy be Applied?

Expressive arts therapy processes are used successfully in almost all psychotherapeutic contexts, ranging from work with people faced with chronic and persistent mental health challenges, to the facilitation of human growth and potential.  View our students and alumni page for specific examples.