40 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
entering creative process, trusting and opening to what will emerge.
Stage 3, insearch, is the name we have given to the hard-to-define
experience of immersion in the depths of the work when often
something unexpected emerges. Stage 4, finding voice, is the time
of expression, finding forms to share the experiences of stage three.
Stage 5, bringing art into life, is the time of integrating our learning
into our own lives and sharing the work with others.
In shaping the organizational structure of this book we were
surprised to realize that these stages comprise the five parts of
this book as demonstrated below. We realize that any attempt to
impose linearity and categorization on a process that is circular and
complex is necessarily a simplification. However, we have found this
framework useful as an organizational structure for this book, as we
have in many other situations of designing classes and workshops
and for our own personal practices in the arts. This conceptualization
of creative process can be particularly useful in offering a metaphoric
bridge between inner and outer experience.Part I: Beginning
INTRODUCTION
In the Introduction, we define the purpose of the book, offer
definitions of important terms, present the overall structure of the
book and situate our ideas within relevant contexts.Part II: Moving In
CHAPTER ONE: EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND
ECOTHERAPY: SHIFTING PARADIGMS
In this chapter we briefly review the history and development of the
professional fields of expressive arts and ecotherapy. We discuss
the challenges that both of these fields present to traditional models
of personal and social change. We explore how theories in each
field call for paradigm change and how practices for each field may