There are heights and depths which only the arts can reach. Painting, drawing, sculpture, music, dance/ movement, drama, poetry, story-telling, and ritual--are gateways to the deepest aspects of the self, reawakening a language of image and metaphor and expressing what often cannot be put into words.

Expressive Arts Therapy is a multi-arts approach in which different arts modalities are woven into the therapy or consulting session as appropriate to the client's situation. CIIS' M.A. in Counseling Psychology with this concentration offers a thorough training in psychotherapy theories and methods fully integrated--from the first day to the last--with expressive arts therapy.

Incorporating art processes into the counseling session, the expressive arts therapist helps the client to articulate his or her life concerns with fullness and specificity. Furthermore, meeting one's challenges by expressing them through art brings structure, meaning and value to one's existential situation--transforming struggles, even the most painful and ugly, into beauty. Finally, the arts help couples, families or groups to greatly deepen communication and mutual understanding.

Expressive arts processes have been applied successfully in almost all psychotherapeutic contexts, ranging from work with the severely disturbed to the facilitation of human growth and potential. In addition, there is a growing use of the arts in organizational consulting, health education, hospice work, and in community arts projects, especially in providing ritual and healing during natural disasters.