Creative Therapy: Specialists & Information

Creative therapy is a specific form of psychotherapy. It incorporates creative media into the treatment of patients with mental or psychosomatic disorders. This may include visual arts and performing arts activities.

Creative therapies have both diagnostic and psychotherapeutic aspects. The goal is to promote emotional expression.

Body-based approaches have become established in practice, namely

• body, movement, and dance therapy,
• art therapy, and music therapy.

Art therapy is distinct from occupational therapy. Occupational therapy aims to

• to restore lost abilities or maintain existing ones,
• to practice existing knowledge and skills, and
• promoting activities of daily living.

Art and creative therapies, on the other hand, aim to understand intrapsychic conflictual processes.

Creative expression—and visual arts in particular—is very frequently used. In this context, both the creative process and the resulting product (e.g., paintings, clay figures) play an equally important role.

Creative arts therapy is psychotherapy using creative media. Through these creative media, the individual finds a connection to themselves. The creative process promotes ego functions and aids in the analysis of interpersonal processes.

Body, movement, and dance therapies have become highly differentiated since the 1920s. A distinction is made between

• therapies with a more functional, exercise-based orientation and
• therapies with a more conflict-oriented, exploratory focus.

Body therapies are a central component of inpatient psychotherapy. They take the form, for example, of concentrative movement therapy and functional relaxation, as well as dance therapy.

The body-based approaches of creative therapy are intended to help integrate bodily experience into the whole of a person’s life.

Specifically, this involves

• experiences with bodily boundaries,
• attitudes toward one’s own body, and
• body satisfaction regarding motor skills and body-related characteristics,

within the interactive and circular dynamic between therapist and patient.

The goal is to explore the bodily self as an integral part of the whole self. Through the process of therapeutic communication, the patient learns to navigate various levels of bodily experience.

Music therapy is the targeted therapeutic use of music to achieve therapeutic goals. As a creative treatment method, it is process- and experience-oriented. The goals of music therapy are

• the restoration, maintenance, and promotion of mental and physical health,
• the promotion of self-perception and perception of others,
• the promotion of communication, expression, and concentration skills.

Through music therapy, patients have the opportunity to better understand themselves and their environment. They learn to navigate it more freely and effectively and to develop greater psychological stability.

Playful experimentation with sounds, melodies, and rhythms can also promote the expression and perception of emotions. Interaction also enables the perception and reflection on one’s own behavior.

Music therapy is categorized as

• receptive music therapy (listening to audio material) and
• active, expressive music therapy (making music)

. The most important method used in music therapy is collaborative free or structured improvisation. Through perception, listening, and responding to one another, this approach aims to awaken resources, observe processes, and facilitate new experiences. Additionally,

• perception and mindfulness exercises,
• musical interaction exercises,
• singing songs, and
• listening to music

are also used in music therapy.

During music therapy, shared experiences can be discussed and reflected upon in conversation. A prerequisite for participation is the patient’s willingness to engage with music therapy. This requires an interest in trying out or playing instruments, as well as experimenting with rhythms, sounds, and melodies.

Musicality, the ability to read sheet music, mastery of an instrument, etc., are not, however, necessary for participation in music therapy.

Art therapy is similar to music therapy in many ways, though art therapy uses the visual arts as its medium. Art therapy is also designed to develop self-awareness as well as the ability to express oneself and concentrate.

Working with colors or other materials is completely unfamiliar to most patients. This allows them to discover new resources and have new experiences.

Art therapy is a form of creative therapy © Kostiantyn | AdobeStock

In individual art therapy sessions, the focus is often on visually representing inner processes related to the illness. For example, patients who have experienced severe childhood trauma often find it difficult to put their experiences into words and confide in their therapist. In art therapy, they can express their impressions through images.

Through this creative expression, these themes can also be integrated into psychotherapy. Furthermore, the artworks produced by patients during the course of art therapy often reflect their inner process of development and recovery.

In addition to individual work, art therapy is often conducted in groups. Here, the primary goal is usually to observe the creative process and to communicate through it. An individual patient’s contribution to the group’s creative process often provides metaphors for typical problems or characteristics of that patient or other group members.

The Waldau Psychiatric Clinic (1921) of the schizophrenic Adolf Wölfli | Source: Wikimedia

Art therapy and occupational therapy sometimes overlap. Occupational therapy also uses colors and materials for creative expression, as well as the reflection on the works during therapeutic discussions.

Overall, however, occupational therapy—in contrast to art therapy—places a stronger emphasis on building competencies and daily living skills. It focuses less on fostering creative expression for its own sake.