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What brought you to the EXA program
at CIIS?
I had worked in the field of advertising
and marketing for 13 years and what brought
me to that field was the opportunity to
be creative. I really had a desire to bring
my creativity out into the world and was
fascinated by the world of advertising.
But after 13 years, I got disillusioned.
I didn't want to sell widgets for some company
with which I had no connection. It seemed
meaningless to me after a while. So I started
to ask myself some questions: "What would
have some meaning in the world for me?"
, and the answer was that I wanted to do
something that had some impact on people's
lives. The other important question was,
"What am I going to do that makes me happy,
that fulfills me?" The answer to that was
that I wanted to do something with creativity.
As I began my search for what I was going
to do with those answers in mind, I came
across an ad for CIIS and the EXA program.
I sent off for more information and the
program spoke to me on a deep heartfelt
level. I came out to San Francisco, looked
at the school and made the decision at that
point to come to the program.
How did the program affect you personally
and professionally?
When I came into the program I was more
"left brain." Through the work that we did,
I realized that there was another side of
me, there was a whole other dimension to
my existence that I knew it was there but
did not know how to access very well. By
working with the arts and by constantly
being exposed to that work I began to both
understand and find that place within myself.
So now I feel that I have much more potential
as a human being to express myself, to feel
various things, to solve problems, to be
in the world. Men are usually taught to
stay away from these things and be in the
world of business and be more logical. I
feel that going through the program, I am
a more balanced person.
Professionally, it has been excellent.
From a qualitative perspective I did not
realize how much the program would be preparing
me for my role as an EXA therapist. I would
say that we had a really good program and
when I left I was able to talk about EXA
intelligently from both a practical and
theoretical perspective. Our program integrated
the arts with modern psychological theories.
In fact we had a whole semester of just
doing that in the integrative seminars.
That was really helpful.
How are you applying this work in
your professional life?
Because I do have a business background,
I like to take this work into psycho-educational
environments. I created a number of different
workshops such as stress management, weight
loss, smoke cessation and insomnia workshops
where I have used the expressive arts to
help people overcome and deal with the challenges
they face in their lives. I teach those
workshops through different health clubs
or yoga studios that I am connected to.
I am also now doing internship hours towards
my psychotherapy license and that has been
a rewarding experience. My clients are mostly
adults in their 40's and there's a very
satisfying aspect of working with somebody
using the expressive arts tools. We get
to create. When a client is in a deep place
and we allow the process to unfold through
the arts art, whether is drama, visual art
or movement, then it is really exciting
because the potential for healing is very
tangible. Working this way creates a healing
environment that both expresses and holds
the client's deepest pain or pleasure. Through
the arts we can give those feelings a form
that they can work with. I am using EXA
with my clients every chance I get.
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Howard
graduated from the