46 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
the way that people throughout history have gathered around
fire, we come to the circle to warm and wake ourselves, to share
stories, to learn and to listen each other into being. Here we practice
the presence and process central to the work of expressive arts
(Eberhart and Atkins 2014). This is where I learned how to be a
counselor and how to be a teacher and, perhaps more importantly,
how to be fully human.
In this chapter we review basic ideas within the emerging
fields of expressive arts and ecotherapy, examining how these ideas
interweave in the creation of a nature-based approach. We invite a
spirit of critical questioning of the status quo, and we open a creative
inquiry into how nature-based expressive arts may help to shape
sustainable ways of living. Ultimately we hope that our vision will
challenge, inspire and activate the energy of those drawn to and
currently engaged in this way of being and working in the world.
The field of expressive arts is grounded in arts practice. Ecotherapy
emphasizes our human relationship with the Earth. Both fields
are dedicated to individual and collective wellbeing, and there are
strong resonances between them. Both fields are a part of changing
ideas about what constitutes health and wellbeing of humans and
the planet. Continued interest in the relationship between these
two fields has been reflected in several international professional
conferences in recent years. The 2007 conference of the International
Expressive Arts Therapy Association was entitled “Expressive Arts
and the Earth: Ancient Mountains, Whispering Waters, Sacred
Stones,” held at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
The Expressive Arts 26th International Spring Symposium, held in
April, 2014 in Tenerife, Canary Islands was entitled “Expressive Arts
Meets Ecotherapy.” The 2016 International Spring Symposium held
in Ireland carried the theme of “Walking in the Fields of Wonder.”
The 2017 conference of the International Expressive Arts Therapy
Association, to be held in Winnepeg, Manitoba in October 2017,
is entitled “Indigenous Roots of Expressive Arts Therapy.” These