Expressive Arts Therapy

Traditional talk therapy may not always be the best approach to healing, as so much of the way humans communicate is non-verbal. Expressive arts therapies like play therapy, art therapy, and somatic therapy are powerful tools that can unlock different parts of our bodies, brains, and emotions faster than talk therapy does.

Expressive arts therapy is effective with clients of all ages.
Click on the icons below to learn more about each type of therapy.

Discover what may be hidden within.

"Toys are children's words and play is their language."

Garry Landreth, founder of the Center for Play Therapy

Plato once said, "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." We have found these words to ring true, as children often communicate their thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears through play instead of words.

If you'd like to support your child in their big emotions or help them process through a loss or traumatic event, play therapy may be the key to healing their nervous system in a healthy and whole way.

The benefits of play therapy include:

Increased self-esteem and self-respect
Alleviation of anxiety symptoms
Development of coping strategies and creative problem-solving
Stronger interpersonal relationships
Healthy organization of feelings and processing of traumatic experiences
Increased empathy and respect for others

"Art is a wound turned into light."

Georges Braque,20th century French artist

Art therapy is effective with children, teens, and adults. You do not need to consider yourself "a good artist" in order to engage in art therapy. While some therapists incorporate therapeutic art activities in their work with clients, Board-Certified art therapists are specifically trained and qualified to guide clients in their healing processes through various art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork.

Stephen K. Levine, Dean of the Doctoral Program of Expressive Arts at the European Graduate School EGS said, "The task of therapy is not to eliminate suffering but to give a voice to it, to find a form in which it can be expressed...The therapist then would be an artist of the soul, working with sufferers to enable them to find the proper container for their pain, the form in which it would be embodied."

The benefits of art therapy include:

Increased self-esteem and self-respect
Alleviation of anxiety symptoms
Development of coping strategies and creative problem-solving
Stronger interpersonal relationships
Healthy organization of feelings and processing of traumatic experiences
Increased insight and self-awareness

Expressive Arts Therapy

Play Therapy

Art Therapy

Discover what may be hidden within.

Play Therapy

Art Therapy