Janet Courtney – Expressive Therapies: Healing Trauma Through Play, Art, Movement & Storytelling

Outline

The Right-Brain—Home of the Expressive SelfThe Right-Brain—Home of the Expressive Self

• Advances in neuroscienceAdvances in neuroscience
• Integrating rational and emotional brain processes in traumaIntegrating rational and emotional brain processes in trauma
• The Expressive Therapy edge to heal traumaThe Expressive Therapy edge to heal trauma
• Engage the sensory self: touch, visual, listening, smellEngage the sensory self: touch, visual, listening, smell
• The therapeutic alliance—creating a foundation of empathetic compassion, safety, and trustThe therapeutic alliance—creating a foundation of empathetic compassion, safety, and trust

Assessing & Healing Trauma through Drawing Art ProcessesAssessing & Healing Trauma through Drawing Art Processes

• Tapping into right brain processes—the drawing speaks louder than wordsTapping into right brain processes—the drawing speaks louder than words
• Overcome resistance and build safety and trustOvercome resistance and build safety and trust
• Draw upon the resiliency of humorDraw upon the resiliency of humor
• Assessment individual and of family resiliency and strengths toward treatment planning and interventionAssessment individual and of family resiliency and strengths toward treatment planning and intervention

Healing Trauma through Song, Movement, & DanceHealing Trauma through Song, Movement, & Dance

• Promote mind-body awareness and overcome resistancePromote mind-body awareness and overcome resistance
• Cultivate interpersonal connections and a sense of safety & trustCultivate interpersonal connections and a sense of safety & trust
• Release trauma, cultivate mind-body awareness through a sense of a “felt-self”Release trauma, cultivate mind-body awareness through a sense of a “felt-self”
• Build a sense of self-worth through interpersonal connection with others by being “heard”Build a sense of self-worth through interpersonal connection with others by being “heard”

Releasing & Healing Traumatic Experience through ClayReleasing & Healing Traumatic Experience through Clay

• Promote a sense of identity and self- worthPromote a sense of identity and self- worth
• Create a sense of safety, boundaries & containmentCreate a sense of safety, boundaries & containment
• Cultivate mindful attention and multi-sensory awarenessCultivate mindful attention and multi-sensory awareness
• Release unexpressed emotional and somatic trauma (anger, frustration, depression, grief, loss, loneliness, confusion)Release unexpressed emotional and somatic trauma (anger, frustration, depression, grief, loss, loneliness, confusion)

Therapeutic Storytelling to Reframe the Trauma NarrativeTherapeutic Storytelling to Reframe the Trauma Narrative

• Growing self-confidence through tapping the “Storyteller Within”Growing self-confidence through tapping the “Storyteller Within”
• Release unexpressed trauma through raw writingRelease unexpressed trauma through raw writing
• Create therapeutic stories for children and adolescents through the Child InterviewCreate therapeutic stories for children and adolescents through the Child Interview
• Storytelling Grid ~ (building blocks of creating therapeutic stories):Storytelling Grid ~ (building blocks of creating therapeutic stories):
• Build skills of self-regulation, resiliency, and reframe the trauma storyBuild skills of self-regulation, resiliency, and reframe the trauma story

Nature as Co-therapist in Overcoming TraumaNature as Co-therapist in Overcoming Trauma

• Create healing metaphors from natureCreate healing metaphors from nature
• Learn simple ways to bridge nature into the therapy roomLearn simple ways to bridge nature into the therapy room
• Overcoming trauma through “stepping stones to resiliency”Overcoming trauma through “stepping stones to resiliency”
• Build self-regeneration and heal trauma through nature-based rituals of healingBuild self-regeneration and heal trauma through nature-based rituals of healing
• Cultivating mindfulness in nature—plan a nature therapy field tripCultivating mindfulness in nature—plan a nature therapy field trip

Ethical and Clinical ConsiderationsEthical and Clinical Considerations

• Ethics of expressive therapy interventionsEthics of expressive therapy interventions
• Informed consentInformed consent
• CountertransferencesCountertransferences
• Issues related to touch and boundariesIssues related to touch and boundaries
• Create client action plans to bridge therapy work into daily-life experiencesCreate client action plans to bridge therapy work into daily-life experiences