Creative therapies include music, dance and movement, drama and art. Talent or even knowledge or experience are not necessary, because the aim is to allow people to access and express difficult emotions such as anger or grief, to articulate what cannot be said.
Although these therapies were originally designed for those with mental and physical disabilities, emotional and learning difficulties, autism, eating disorders, cancer and alcohol and drug abuse, they are now being explored by healthy people as a means of dealing with stress and bereavement and for personal development.
Creative therapies offer a non-verbal way to express feelings that are repressed or difficult to put into words or even coherent thoughts. This can provide a safe emotional outlet or release that allows people (especially those who find verbal communication a challenge) to gain insights into themselves and move forward psychologically.
Clients or patients are offered materials and given the opportunity to externalise their feelings through painting, drawing, clay modelling, crayons, fabric and collage. Thoughts and feelings often surface visually while working with one's hands before reaching the point of verbalisation. Sometimes strong feelings have been repressed for a long time and may need to be expressed in a messy or destructive way before a therapeutic rebuilding can begin. Artwork may also contain symbols important to the client. The therapist will not make an interpretation but will help the client interpret them for him or herself.
Art therapy is also used for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and terminal disease.
music therapy
Music, with its capacity to stir the senses and soothe the mind, has always played a healing role in relieving pain and anxiety. But like the other creative therapies, it was initially developed as a therapeutic tool to help rehabilitate World War II soldiers in the early 1940s.
Sessions are carried out one-to-one or in groups. The practitioner leads in playing music or singing and clients are encouraged to respond with percussion or other musical instruments, improvising a musical language to express their feelings.
Music therapists are often part of a team, working with speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and doctors. Because singing uses different parts of the brain from speech, stroke rehabilitation patients practise a form of music therapy called melodic intonation.
Listening to significant pieces of music can encourage elderly and terminally people to re-live memories that have therapeutic value. Calming music is also often played in dentists' surgeries, hospital treatment units and other places where people might feel uneasy or under threat.
dance movement therapy
Movement and rhythm help bypass the conscious (and self-conscious) mind and access inner emotions. Sessions are either one-to-one or in groups and begin with loosening up exercises. Gestures are usually spontaneous and the practitioner frequently takes an active role, maybe mirroring clients' movements, or leading sequences that often end in a circle dance. This approach is often found in hospitals, daycare centres, schools, prisons and homes for the elderly. It has also been found to help people with schizophrenia and the deaf and blind.
drama therapy
Practitioners work with families, groups and individuals to help them act out characters, improvising scenes that enable the exploration of different aspects of their personalities.
what's the evidence?
A large body of research, particularly case studies, now supports the benefits claimed for creative therapies. Research in the US, the UK and Germany showed that patients who listened to music recovered on average more quickly and reported less anxiety and discomfort. German studies suggest that music with a certain rhythm may reduce stress by lowering heart rate, blood pressure and respiration.
precautions
Go to the safety first section of 'before you start' for some general precautions to take into account when considering a complementary therapy.
- Ensure that the practitioner is a member of the relevant professional body.
how to find a practitioner
Music, art and drama therapies are available through the NHS in many parts of the UK. Sessions are usually once a week for an hour and treatment may continue for weeks or even years. All the art therapies are statutorily regulated by law, with professional bodies that set educational and training standards, maintain a register of practitioners and have a code of ethics and complaints and disciplinary procedures. Practitioners of each therapy must be graduates in the relevant art as well as having appropriate training in psychology or counselling.
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(July 2002)
