Expressive Arts Therapy & Mindfulness

Instructor: Sibel Golden, PhD, LMHC, REAT

Date: December 15th 9:00am-4:00pm

Location: Ballard Studio Works

1417 NW 54th St, Seattle, WA 98107

Description:

This workshop will explore how mindfulness can be cultivated through an Expressive Arts Therapy approach.

Expressive Arts Therapy utilizes a multi-arts approach that focuses on the creative process and art-making combining the visual arts, movement, drama, music, and writing to foster deep personal growth and community development.

In this workshop, there will be a focus on visual, writing, and movement modalities, as well as mindfulness meditation.

Participants will have hands-on opportunities to experience how to work with arts modalities and mindfulness, as well as seminar-style discussions to refine their understanding and work on direct clinical application issues.

This workshop offers 6 WMHCA approved CEUs.

Learning Objectives:

1.) Participants will gain an understanding of how and why the expressive arts and mindfulness can work together.

2.) Participants will gain working knowledge of how to integrate the expressive arts and mindfulness, and how to safely put this into clinical practice.

3.) Participants will engage in visual, writing, movement, and meditation experiential exercises to gain a deeper understanding of the integration between expressive arts modalities and mindfulness both personally, and professionally.

4.) Participants will learn basic, person-centered approaches to foster the integration of expressive arts and mindfulness in clinical practice.

Working Outline:

1. Creating a Safe Space for Art Making
   • Process vs product
   • Clinical sensitivity

1. What is Mindfulness?
   • Cultivating compassion

1. What is the purpose of integrating the arts with mindfulness?
   • Non-judgmental approach as key component
   • Sensory awareness

4. The similarities between expressive arts therapy and mindfulness
   • Being a Witness
   • Process-Oriented

5. Writing as Expressive Arts Modality
   • Why Write for mindfulness?
   • Writing Approaches
   • Writing Experiential

6. Visual Arts as Expressive Arts Modality
   • What are the Visual Arts, and how are they important to mindfulness?
   • Visual Arts Experiential

7. Poetry as an Approach to Mindfulness Meditation
   • Poetry Experiential

8. Movement as an Expressive Arts Modality
   • How Movement Helps to Connect to the Body
   • Movement Experiential