Category Archives: arts and health

Exploring Identity through Expressive Arts

“I believe that telling our stories first to ourselves and then to one another and the world is a revolutionary act.” This quote by Janet Mock illustrates the importance of sharing our narratives in order to better process, express, develop compassion for ourselves and others, and heal. Cultivating visibility through perspective-taking is especially important for […]

Finding Your “Why” Through the Expressive Arts

Finding Your “Why” Through the Expressive Arts How creativity reconnects us to meaning, presence, and purpose What if the true meaning of life was found in the question itself, rather than in the answer? In this fast-paced world, we are programmed to live on autopilot. Rarely do we stop to analyze what we are doing—or […]

Expressive Arts Training: Embrace Personal & Professional Growth

“Now I see creative arts and the healing process as inextricably linked. I see them as symbiotically connected and truly strengthened by one another.” This quote from therapist, Chris Porter, a former graduate of Northwest Creative and Expressive Art’s own Professional Training Program, illustrates the primary purpose of the Professional Certificate Clinical Path Program: highlighting […]

Expressive Arts Facilitators Make an Impact

“Expressive arts help students to learn and think critically and creatively.”   This quote by Martha McCaughey, a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE), illustrates the vast possibilities expressive arts tools can provide to individuals of all backgrounds. Not only does Northwest Creative and Expressive Arts Institute offer a Clinical Path Training Program for […]

Celebrating Creative Arts Therapy

“Art can permeate the very deepest part of us, where no words exist.”     This quote by Eileen Miller illustrates the power of expressive arts to discover latent parts of ourselves and the world around us. When words are not accessible, the creative arts allow us to speak in new ways. In order to […]

Meeting Your Inner Critic with Creativity & Curiosity

  “They’re all going to know I’m incompetent. They’re going to find out I’m a fraud. I’m not good enough to be in this position; I should just give up.” Negative thoughts about yourself and your capabilities flood your mind as you try to remember the important points of the presentation you’ve prepared to give […]

Nature-Based Expressive Arts & WTH is Biophilia?

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” -Rachel Carson I dig my heels into the balmy sand, feeling connected to and grounded by the solid land beneath me. The sound of waves crashing on nearby rocks before receding resolutely back into the […]

Healing Though Expressive Arts

Healing through Expressive Arts By Sarah Engelskirchen-Bugler, MA, LMHC “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” This quote by Thomas Merton illustrates that art is a powerful tool not only for self-discovery but also for developing a profound sense of wonder, imagination, and creativity. For as long as humans […]

Happy New Year from Sibel Golden

Happy New Year! from Sibel Golden   The need and desire for the arts to take a vital role in individual and collective wellness throughout all aspects of society is clear. NWCEAI applied this mandate to everything we achieved in 2022, and will continue to do so going forward. All our workshops, training, and outreach […]

Walking the Talk: An Interview with Training Program Alumna, Jessica Johnson

It was a joy to get to know clinical social worker and training program alumna, Jessica Johnson. She shared how she has been applying her learning experiences in the Professional Expressive Arts Therapy Training Program in her work as a therapist, and in her own life. Suzan: So when did you graduate from the training […]