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Creative Arts in Counseling

Elizabeth Cuttle

Wake Forest University

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Creative Arts in Counseling

Beginning in ancient times, people have utilized the power of the creative arts to assist in

spiritual and emotional healing, achieving catharsis, and expressing emotions (Gladding, 2016).

For example, Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle often discussed the importance of music in

healing the emotionally disturbed (Gladding, 2016). Moreover, Lucretius believed that poetry

“could disperse terrors of the soul” (Gladding, 2016, p. 6). Even today, the creative arts still

provide an invaluable experience for clients – from wilderness therapy to music therapy, and

from art therapy to drama therapy, there is a creative process that each and every person can find

healing and comfort in. The creative arts can also be combined with major theoretical stances,

such as person-centered counseling or behavioral therapy, to provide an enriching and

instrumental experience for clients.

One of the creative arts I identify the most with is wilderness / nature therapy. When I am

immersed in nature, I feel a serene inner peace. According to pyschoevolutionary theory of stress

reduction the “visual properties of natural environments… evoke automatic positive affect and

parasympathic physiological responses with associated feelings of calmness, relaxedness,

pleasantness, and fascination” (Gladding, 2016, p. 211). As a nature enthusiast, I can relate to

these feelings described in the Gladding text. When I am feeling unwell, I usually feel restored

and relaxed after taking a nature walk and enjoying the wild wonders surrounding me. Related to

nature therapy, I also feel closely connected to animal-assisted therapy. At home, I have a golden

retriever and two guinea pigs. When I am feeling down, I feel better after playing with my pets

or telling them about my day. Even though I know they cannot understand me, I find it relieving

to vent aloud to another entity. Gladding (2016) reveals that bonding with animals helps promote
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self-esteem and good feelings, and I concur with the research. Being around animals promotes

my personal wellness, and I believe animals would be a wonderful resource for clients, as well.

On the other hand, I least identify with the use of drama therapy and dance therapy. First,

I have always considered myself a quiet and reserved person, so I am not as interested in drama

and dance therapy as I am other forms of creative arts. Although I recognize the value of using

drama and dance in counseling, it is slightly too showy for my taste. Also, drama therapy

involves “the enactment of fantasy and hypothetical situations,” and I prefer to stay in the here-

and-now and discuss real life situations. Moreover, I do not identify with dance therapy because

I am rather uncoordinated, and I do not find much relaxation in dancing. I acknowledge drama

and dance prove quite beneficial to many clients, even though it is not my personal taste and

outside my comfort zone.

The combination of animal-assisted therapy and person-centered therapy would be quite

beneficial to clients. Person-centered therapy and animal-assisted therapy are both nondirective

in nature, so they would “match up well on techniques such as building rapport, enhancing trust,

facilitating feelings of safety, reflecting feelings, and client insight” (Gladding, 2016, p. 216).

The tenets listed above are all goals and techniques of person-centered therapy, and animals can

be a catalyst to help accomplish the goals. First, animals can be a great tool for starting

conversation and having something pleasant to talk about (building rapport). Animals can also

help to build trust within the counseling atmosphere because the client would realize that the

animal will not hurt them. Moreover, clients could talk to the animals – which might be easier

than talking to a person – which would uncover the clients’ feelings and insight.

Furthermore, therapeutic horticulture could be used in conjunction with behavioral

therapy to benefit clients. Horticulture therapy, along with nature / wilderness therapy and
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animal-assisted therapy, are under the umbrella term of ecotherapy, because they all are related

to the healing properties of the natural world and other living organisms. Horticulture therapy

involves “gardening with a social and healing purpose in mind” which “requires commitment,

imagination, measured risks, and an appreciation for nature” (Gladding, 2016, p. 204). These

aspects of therapeutic horticulture would pair well with behavioral theories because clients can

learn to care for and appreciate another living thing. Moreover, Gladding (2016) explains,

“Behavioral theories stress doing as a way of bringing about psychosocial change. Thus, they

stress that clients in horticulture therapy be planting, pruning, or otherwise working on their

plant(s)” (p. 216). In this sense, clients can be directed to work on their plant(s), rather than

engage in problematic behaviors, such as drinking or self-harm.

All in all, the creative arts provide an outlet for clients to aid in their emotional healing. I

personally identify the most with wilderness therapy and animal-assisted therapy because

exploring nature and the company of animals always seems to wash my worries away. I identify

the least with music therapy and dance therapy because my style is more reserved. Furthermore,

the combination of animal-assisted therapy and person-centered therapy would be beneficial for

clients because the animals can help build rapport, a sense of trust and safety, and help produce

client insight or reflections. Horticulture therapy pairs well with behavioral therapy because

clients can participate in caring for their plants instead of the problem behavior. I believe Plato,

Aristotle, Lucretius, and other ancient world healers would concur that the creative arts are still a

critical tool in saving our world’s people from life’s despairs.

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References

Gladding, S.T. (2016). The creative arts in counseling (5th ed.). American Counseling

Association.