New York Expressive Arts writing
WRITING ABOUT THE EXPRESSIVE ARTS

Featured writer: Judith Prest
Judith Prest is a graduate of the Expressive Arts training Program at NYEA and has found a creative way to introduce her expressive arts work to fellow staff members at New Choices Recovery Center in Schenectady, N.Y. Excerpts from the first two newsletters are shown here. To contact Judith, click here.

Expressive Arts Update: An Irregularly Published Newsletter for New Choices Staff
Judith Prest, Editor

from Volume 1, Number 1 • February 13, 2007

Greetings –
I have met many of you, but not all of you, and I wanted to find a way to connect and update primary counselors & other staff about my work, so here is my first attempt at an Expressive Arts Update.

First of all, let me say that I am filling the position of “Recreation Therapist”, it having been determined that my training and practice in Expressive Arts Therapy legitimately fills the program requirement for “Recreation Therapy”. With this first “newsletter”, I hope to introduce myself and what I do, and update all of you on some of the work I’ve been doing in groups. I’d also like to be a resource for anyone who has a personal or professional interest in learning more about creativity and healing. Everyone here has been so helpful and welcoming that I want to “give back” something, and that is another reason I am doing this newsletter!

Why Expressive Arts Therapy?

I have a background in Social Work and 20+ years experience in Substance Abuse Prevention working with the CAPIT program through Capital Region BOCES. About 10 years ago, I rediscovered creative writing and began writing poetry for the first time in 25 years. I found poetry and journaling to be integral parts of my own healing journey and began to incorporate writing into my prevention work wherever I could. I learned about “Poetry Therapy” and began reading about that and completed beginning level training in Poetry Therapy.

Then I discovered a local resource for Expressive Art Therapy Training – Glass Lake Studio in Albany (Now known as New York Expressive Arts), and have studied with them for a number of years – most recently completing their 3 year certificate program in Expressive Arts Therapy. I believe that creativity is a vital element for all of us and that it is a key ingredient in recovery from all kinds of damaging life experiences, including addiction. So I am very grateful for this opportunity to begin putting my training to work here at New Choices Recovery Center.

Some info about upcoming events at New York Expressive arts will be included in the “Resources” section of this newsletter, and I’ll update it in each issue.

What is Expressive Arts Therapy, anyway???

Expressive Art Therapy (ExA) operates on the principle that all human beings are creative, and that tapping into that creativity is a healing process. ExA differs from traditional art therapy in several ways. One important distinction is that art therapy springs from a psychodynamic theoretical base while ExA is much more phenomenological. One way this shows up in the work is that in Expressive Art Therapy, no attempt is made by the practitioner to “interpret” the art for the client. The person who makes the art is the one who determines what it means. “Phenomenological” is a complex term for simply responding to what is there on the surface first – what can you SEE, HEAR, TOUCH in the work? What moves you? Where does it lead you next? Another aspect of ExA is that PROCESS of art making is where much of the therapeutic work happens. In art making, we tap into a different part of the brain, bypassing the “logical” thinking part – some experiences are impossible to put into words – making art can help us move below the words, and come to know new aspects of ourselves and our experiences.

ExA is multi-modal meaning that in a single group session, at least two means of expression are used. So far, I’ve mostly been working with visual art and creative writing/poetry – so for instance, we might make a collage and then come up with several words or a poem or a short piece of prose inspired by the process of creating the collage or by simply sitting with the work once it is complete.

In one of the first group sessions, I began with two poems by different authors – both entitled “The Journey” (one by Mary Oliver, one by David Whyte) – we read the poem and talked about lines that resonated – how does this remind of your own journey?, then created collages that represented each individual’s journey (so far) through addiction & recovery.

We’ve also done Mask Making and are now working on “finding the Still Point, the center, and creating Mandalas.”

from Volume 1, Number 2 • April 18, 2007

What’s New…

Seasons are shifting, and along with that, I’ve been trying some different modes of expression with groups. With three groups so far, we’ve ventured a bit into “drama” by way of dialogues with our inner critic. The “inner critic” is that part of us that is constantly criticizing and second guessing what we do (and sometimes even what we think). For some of us the inner critic may speak in the “voice” (no, I’m NOT talking about auditory hallucinations!) of an abusive parent, a “mean” teacher or some other authority figure from the past. For others it isn’t so much a “voice” as it is a sense of fear that stops us from saying or doing things. Several people who were willing to try this way of working stated that afterward, they felt better in some way – lighter, clearer – after giving voice to both their “inner critic” AND a response to the inner critic. The “inner critic” is a concept I’ve worked with quite a bit with regard to creative writing and art-making, because the “critic” is probably one of the biggest roadblocks to accessing our creative selves. I think the “critic” is present for most of us around much of what we do – a big part of becoming whole and authentic is learning how to send the critic out for coffee, how to stand up to the critic and how to sometimes incorporate what the critic has to say in a way that will result in healthier choices!