HPC 6360:
Therapy and the Expressive Arts
Fall 2015
Professor: Melia Snyder, Ph.D., LPC, NCC
Class: COE 301, Thursdays 5:45-8:20pm
Email:
Phone: (828) 262-6915
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-4pm and Thursdays 10am-1pm (Please make an appointment)
Welcome! This class provides an orientation to the foundations, principles, and practice of Expressive Arts in counseling, education, consultation, and leadership.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides an examination of the relationship between artistic expression and individual mental health. Theories and techniques of expressive arts therapy will be studied relative to diagnosis and treatment as well as to personality integration and personal growth. This is a study of the creative process and how it manifests in human development.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course will provide students with the opportunity to:
1. Explore various modalities of artistic expression.
2. Experience the therapeutic effects of artistic expression within the context of a learning community.
3. Explore creativity as an integral part of the counseling process and educational leadership
4. Experience an intermodal approach to expressive arts using movement, visual arts, music, drama, writing, and/or ritual.
5. Become familiar with research and emerging theories in the area of expressive arts.
6. Demonstrate understanding and use of appropriate therapeutic responses to creative work.
7. Pursue personal, professional and artistic development through class experience and out of class assignments.
8. Further the ability to incorporate the arts and artistic perspectives into daily life.
COURSE FORMAT/METHOD OF TEACHING:
The daily format of the class will vary dependent upon specific goals and needs of the individual class members, the resources available and the nature of the topics studied. The class will have a balance of content and experiential components, including lecture, discussion, small group work, and art making activities. Imaginative thinking and creativity are encouraged. Personal reflection and sharing are important components of the course.
COURSE CONTENT:
The topics covered in this course include:
1. Cultural and historical contexts of the arts and healing.
2. Creative process in expressive arts therapy, personal development, and self-care for professional sustainability and well-being.
3. The therapist as artist, the artist as therapist.
4. The daily practice.
5. Therapeutic improvisation.
6. Ethical responsibilities in using expressive arts.
7. Interdisciplinarity and integration in expressive arts.
8. The arts and society: Ritual and community in expressive arts.
Note: All topics in this course are taught from a multicultural perspective, which emphasizes the differing experiences, cultures, histories, and perspectives of people from a variety of ethnic, gender, racial, and social class backgrounds.
REQUIRED CLASS MATERIALS:
Bring a journal or notebook for reflective writing and art-making explorations. Please bring this journal to class with you every week. This journal should be dedicated to this class alone and will be turned in at the end of the semester.
REQUIRED READING:
Eberhart, H. & Atkins, S. Presence and process in expressive arts work: At the edge of wonder. London & Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
IEATA (International Expressive Arts Therapy Association) Website: www.ieata.org
Required supplemental readings from leaders in the field will be posted on AsULearn throughout the semester.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance, Participation, and Professional Disposition:
This course has been intentionally designed to be experiential and arts-based in nature. As such, regular attendance and full participation is essential. Active and genuine involvement in classroom activities, discussions, and assignments is requisite. Please complete all assignments and readings in a meaningful way and come to class prepared to be fully engaged as a class/group member. Each student brings a unique voice and gift to the class/group. As a community of learners, each individual’s presence, sharing, questions, insights, and discoveries are essential to the quality of our class experience. More so, full participation is a hallmark of being a professional and requisite for working with clients. As a courtesy to the instructor and peers, please attend all classes, arrive on time, and stay for the duration of the class. Please notify the instructor in advance if you have to miss a class. A student having a medical or professional conflict (excused absence) with the course schedule should speak to the professor in the first week of class. Excused absences for religious observance require written notification prior to the missed class and additional make up work (see Religious Observance section below under the Academic Policies Statements section). There will be no make-up assignments available for unexcused absences.
All aspects of this course are designed for personal and professional growth, which means students will share personal information. Students are responsible for how much information they share as well as for maintaining the confidentiality of individual and group sharing. This course relies heavily on self-directed learning, whereby students are encouraged to be responsible owners (and at time monitors) of their own learning.
Students are expected to meet or exceed the Professional Disposition statement outlined in the Counseling Competencies Scale (see attached rubric). These behaviors are hallmarks of professional counselors and should be practiced and embodied in our community. Students will receive written feedback from the instructor regarding behaviors that are unacceptable or do not meet the stated expectations. Awareness of self and holding space for others are central to the development of personal and professional presence and process and critical to effective group process. Rude, disrespectful, or harmful behavior will not be tolerated and will result in a formal remediation plan.
2. Reflective Learning Journal
You will keep a journal for engaging with reading material and topics of this course. You may use your journal to ask questions, record aha’s or questions, or to respond visually or in an arts-based way to your reading. This journal will support your engagement with course material and your process of arts-based inquiry. It is not a place for summarizing the reading, but rather a place to capture your imaginations, ponderings, and critical thinking about the material. You will turn in your journal with your portfolio.
3. Daily Arts Practice
In this course, you are invited to cultivate a daily arts practice of your choice. As we embark on cultivating an artist identity alongside an inquiring mind, a daily arts practice may support you in thinking, creating, working, and living as an artist as well as in bringing artistic perspectives into your therapeutic and/or educational work with others.
Examples of daily arts practices include, but are not limited to, drawing, visual journaling, writing, reading and reciting/contemplating a poem each day, authentic movement or dance, improvisation in any art modality, playing a musical instrument, or any artful practice you can imagine. Be creative and experiment with what works best for you.
It is often helpful to designate the time of day you will practice and the place you will practice. Quality of time spent practicing is generally more important than quantity of time, so find a small amount of time each day that you can devote to your arts practice, perhaps beginning with 5 - 15 min/day and increasing this time as your life allows. You may wish to use your class journal to reflect upon your daily arts practice. We will share our experiences with daily arts practice in class by presenting artistic works that reflect our discoveries.
4. Empirical Article Summary
You will learn to use the relevant databases related to expressive arts therapy. Based on your interests, select one empirical expressive arts study to review and share with class. Provide a 1-2 page summary and critique of the article. Follow APA guidelines for referencing your article. Upload your work to AsULearn, bring copies for instructor and classmates, and include in final portfolio.
5. Book Review
Based on your interests and areas you’d like to develop professionally, choose an expressive arts book companion for your journey in this class and write a 3-5 page review in APA format. You may choose a book listed on the attached bibliography or seek instructor approval for a book not listed. See attached rubric for evaluation criteria for the written report.
6. Expressive Art Events & Training
You will attend two art events (e.g., musical or theatrical performances, poetry readings etc.) and one arts-based training or workshop (e.g., watercolor workshop, Soul Collage training etc.) over the course of the semester. Document your experience in a one-page reflection paper. Upload your reflections to AsULearn by the class period following the event and include a copy of your reflections in your portfolio. Due by class following the event or training.
7. Expressive Art Service Project
You will work in pairs or groups of 3 to identify a need in the department, university, or wider community. Based on the need, you will work collaboratively to design, plan, and implement the service project. Please provide a 1-2 page reflection of your experience. Upload your reflections to AsULearn by the class period following the event and include a copy of your reflection in your portfolio. Photo documentation is encouraged. Due by the class following the service project.
8. Expressive Arts Portfolio
The Expressive Arts Portfolio is a collection of personal art works and artist statements about the art created as a part of this course. It may include artwork in any medium and must include at least three different modalities (e.g., visual art, movement, music, drama, poetry). Intermodal layering of modalities is encouraged.
The final portfolio must include the following:
1. Introduction: 1-2 pages elaborating on the theme or metaphor that is focusing your work
2. Table of Contents: Listing of the works including title, medium, date completed.
3. 8 works of art (or pictures or descriptions) with one paragraph artist statement for each.
In addition to four art works of your choosing (see attachment for inspiration), The following art works will shared in class and are required in your portfolio.
· Box/Vessel/Container of Self
Create a three-dimensional assemblage exploring how you see yourself on the inside and the outside. (Note: an assemblage is a collection of images and found objects from any variety of sources, usually overlapping and multi-layered.)
· Creative Response
Create a work as response to the artistic work of another class member or to the class as a whole. What touches you? How are you inspired? Show it in your own creative way.
· Illustration of Daily Arts Practice
Please select one artistic work (in any medium) that reflects your experiences and discoveries in your daily arts practice. While you may wish to share the original artwork in class, for documentation purposes, please photograph and title your work and write a 1 - 3 paragraph artist statement. If your artistic work cannot be photographed (e.g., a musical, dance or theatrical work), you may submit a DVD or CD along with the requisite title and artist statement.
· Artist Trading Cards
Prepare and trade ATC’s with the class. ATC’s are 2 ½ by 3 ½ inch miniature works of art of any medium. Artists should put their name and contact information on the back. Google Artist Trading Cards to see what artists around the world have done.
4. Summary statement reflecting your learning process in creating the portfolio.
5. All other written work of the semester including:
b. Empirical Article Summary
c. Book Review
d. Art Event and Training/Workshop Reflections
e. Implemented Service Project Reflection
STUDENT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Grading: Grading in this course will be done on a contract basis as follows:
A-Contract
1. Consistent class attendance, authentic facilitative participation, and meeting or exceeding professional dispositions. (NO more than one unexcused absence or tardy).
2. Presentation of required portfolio components in class (Vessel of Self, Daily Arts Practice Sample, Artistic Response, and Artist Trading Cards).
3. Consistent engagement in reflective learning journal via written or artistic responding. Thoughtful discussion of readings and texts based on reflective learning journal.
4. Completion and documentation of all required portfolio components, including all written work, as indicated in the syllabus. All work must be professionally presented, neat, and organized.
5. Written assignments completed at A-level quality (Excellent-Good on attached rubric) and uploaded to AsULearn within time frame indicated on syllabus and in portfolio
B-Contract
The following will be evidence of choosing the B-Contract
1. Two or more unexcused absences or tardies, participation that hinders or disrupts group process, inconsistently meets professional disposition standards OR
2. Not presenting all required works of art in class OR
3. Inconsistent engagement in reflective learning journal
4. Portfolio is missing 1-2 required components or lacks professional presentation OR
5. Written work completed is late or at B-level quality (Fair based on attached rubric)
All work is expected to be carefully and thoughtfully prepared. The professor reserves the right to raise or lower the contract grade up to one letter grade based on quality of student work and on class attendance and participation. Failure to complete all assignments at the A or B contract levels will result in the grade of “F” (poor according to rubric). Students will receive written feedback regarding their grade standing at mid-term in addition to ongoing formative feedback as needed. x
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS:
Attendance and Participation: In addition to the expectations iterated in course expectations, the following apply: Please notify the instructor in advance if you have to miss a class. A student having a medical or professional conflict (excused absence) with the course schedule should speak to the professor in the first week of class. Excused absences for religious observance require written notification prior to the missed class and additional make up work (see Religious Observance section below under the Academic Policies Statements section). There will be no make-up assignments available for unexcused absences.
Electronic Communications:
Cell phones, pagers, computers/tablets, and PDAs are communicates that will not be used during our class time. Therefore, please deactivate these devices prior to the beginning of each class by either turning them OFF or in SILENT mode.
Writing Style:
All work is expected to be of graduate level caliber. Papers should be written using APA style, 6th edition. You are encouraged to have your work proofread. Excessive typographical and grammatical errors detract from the content of your work and will be reflected in your grade. All assignments should be typed, with 1 inch margins, and double-spaced.