Expressive Arts Therapy

Are you looking for something different from “talk therapy”?

Whether you are interested in exploring your creativity for the first time, or you are already engaged in a creative practice, Expressive Arts Therapy uses artistic processes for self-expression, reframing experiences, and fostering healing in ways that transcend verbal communication.

What are the benefits of Expressive Arts Therapy?

  • Expressive Arts Therapy provides opportunities for clients to express themselves through artistic and creative processes. This can complement the therapeutic process and be used alongside other modalities, as a way to explore what the client is experiencing and working through. Expressive Arts Therapy can also involve engaging one’s creativity beyond the therapeutic space and in their daily life, supporting clients as they express themselves authentically in their bodies, relationships, and communities.

  • Exploring your creativity and making art can have many self-regulating benefits, often in collaboration with mindfulness practices, including engaging the senses, grounding in the present moment, greater body awareness, and self-soothing.

  • Expressive Arts Therapy can support individuals as they explore their experiences, dynamics, and contexts, offering art materials and creative processes to aid them in reframing their experiences, reauthoring their internal narratives, and reimagining their futures. The emphasis is on how creativity fits not only within the therapeutic process but also the client’s life.

  • Engaging the imagination strengthens the imagination, and expands one’s sense of possibility. Engaging in creativity and artmaking encourages innovation, spontaneity, and playfulness, all qualities that can be practiced beyond the client’s time in therapy, and even when not “making art.” These creative skills can be used in many everyday scenarios, at school, work, and home.

  • Expressive Arts Therapy fosters healing by facilitating connection. Through exploring your creativity, imagination, and artistic inclinations, the client will connect more deeply with their internal selves and histories; with their creative life force, a support within and beyond the therapeutic space. This therapeutic process fosters healing through artmaking processes themselves, and through the client’s connection with their creativity.

Why work with Robby?

Choosing Robby as your Expressive Arts Therapist means partnering with a dedicated professional who brings a wealth of expertise and a compassionate approach to every session. With half a decade of clinical experience as an Expressive Arts Therapist, integrating artmaking with a person-centered approach, Robby is uniquely equipped to help you harness your creativity on your therapeutic journey. They understand the importance of non-verbal methods of communication (images, movements, sounds, etc.), and the importance of art in many people’s lives (music, TV/movies, books, etc.). Robby specializes in offering individualized opportunities to make art in response to what the client is exploring during sessions, and the art materials they are curious about. They aim to empower you to engage your creativity as a means of self-expression, self-actualization, and healing. Their approach fosters not just expression but self-acceptance and growth. If you are seeking a path to connect with your creativity, your imagination, and make some art, Robby is an excellent choice.

What clients have to say

  • I was hesitant to try therapy at first, but Robby made me feel completely at ease. They helped me process my feelings through both conversation and art, which allowed me to express things I didn’t have words for. I never thought I’d enjoy therapy so much, and I always leave our sessions feeling lighter and more in tune with myself.

    — Teen Client

  • Robby has a gift for connecting with kids and helping them feel understood. My daughter loved the activities and looked forward to each session, which was such a relief as a parent. Beyond the creative work, Robby helped her build emotional resilience and learn how to talk about her feelings in a healthy way. I highly recommend Robby to any family looking for a compassionate and skilled therapist.

    — Parent of a Teen Client

  • I’ve seen several therapists over the years, but Robby’s approach was different in the best way possible. Using both art and conversation, they helped me work through feelings I didn’t even realize I was holding onto. I feel more at peace and have tools I can use whenever life feels overwhelming. Robby is an incredible therapist, and I’m so glad I found them!

    — Adult Client

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) for Executive Functioning Coaching

What is Expressive Arts Therapy?

Expressive Arts Therapy integrates artmaking, creativity, and imagination with traditional “talk therapy,” allowing clients to engage with various art forms-such as visual art, writing, music, dance/movement, and drama-in a way that feels authentic to them. Whether based in the arts, the senses, and/or the natural world, engaging with Expressive Arts Therapy “is a process of discovering ourselves through any art form that comes from an emotional depth” (Natalie Rogers, The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing). For more information, visit the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association’s website.

Who can benefit from Expressive Arts Therapy?

Anyone can benefit from Expressive Arts Therapy! Whether you are someone with an established creative practice, or someone curious about exploring artmaking and the imagination within the therapeutic process, Expressive Arts Therapy is individualized to integrate the art materials of your choice. The emphasis is on the process, not the product, and how your creativity can support you in your growth and healing. 

How does Expressive Arts Therapy differ from traditional “talk therapy”?

Expressive Arts Therapy differs from traditional “talk therapy” in its intertwining of artmaking and the therapeutic process. How artmaking, creativity, and the imagination emerge within the therapeutic work is unique to each client. Expressive Arts Therapists will explore with clients which art materials and creative processes they are curious about engaging with, and how to bring them into the space.

Choosing Expressive Arts Therapy does not mean, or not have to mean, never talking. Rather, Expressive Arts Therapy can be integrated with other approaches, and artmaking/creative processes can be complementary to the therapeutic process. Artmaking can happen at the beginning of a session, or in the middle; in silence, while talking, or listening to music. We meet you where you are in the moment.

How does Expressive Arts Therapy help individuals?

For some people, expressing themselves not through words but through images, movements, sounds, and other creative methods feels instinctual. For others, exploring non-verbal and artistic ways of expressing themselves might be intimidating. Expressive Arts Therapy offers tailored support to help clients explore their challenges through creative and expressive methods, verbal and non-verbal, on and off the page. Whether someone is interested in exploring their identities, relationships, experiences, or all of the above, Expressive Arts Therapy is just that, expression and art and therapy combined to support you on your journey.

Is Expressive Arts Therapy only for artists/people who make “real art”?

Expressive Arts Therapy is for anyone interested in bringing creativity, the imagination, and artmaking into the therapeutic process. The emphasis is on the artmaking process, not the product, and on what the process brings up for the client. The definition of “art” might differ for each of us. How creativity can benefit us in our daily lives might differ for each of us. Expressive Arts Therapy can help clients explore how to bring art and creativity into their daily lives for their greater well-being.

How long does Expressive Arts Therapy typically last?

The duration of Expressive Arts Therapy can vary depending on individual needs, goals, and the complexity of challenges being addressed. Some clients may try Expressive Arts Therapy and choose to seek other modalities, while others may benefit from longer-term work exploring artmaking as part of their therapeutic journey. Clinicians and clients collaborate to establish clear objectives meeting the client’s unique needs and preferences, while simultaneously embracing the unknowns of engaging the imagination and making art.