The Expressive Arts Therapy program seeks to reawaken a student's true appreciation of the healing power of the creative and expressive arts. It does this by integrating these practices with the diverse therapeutic orientations of the contemporary psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and humanistic approaches to psychotherapy.

By infusing art processes into counseling sessions, the expressive arts therapist helps the client to articulate his or her life concerns. The art work can build understanding between the therapist and client. It can also serve as a bridge between the inner life of images and sensations and the world of words. In addition to empowering clients and opening them to their own inner depths, expressive arts therapy enriches the practice of family therapy by providing a powerful tool for deepening communication in couples, families, and groups. Self-expression and experiencing others through movement, music, or drawing helps people understand each other from the inside out. As partners, families, or groups enter the imaginal world together, they can explore the roots of dysfunctional patterns of belief and behavior, and experience new creative insights.

Expressive arts therapy processes are now used successfully in almost all psychotherapeutic contexts, ranging from work with the severely disturbed to the facilitation of human growth and potential. Educators and consultants are also increasingly incorporating expressive arts processes into their work in a wide range of business and professionals settings.

The Expressive Arts Therapy program, one of only three in the United States, is affiliated with a network of national and international expressive arts therapy training centers and with the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. It also has an agreement of cooperation and a student exchange program with the Expressive Arts Therapy program at the European Graduate School in Switzerland.