EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND ECOTHERAPY 47
themes suggest an ongoing interest in interweaving expressive arts
with ecotherapy.
The field of expressive arts
Expressive arts is a field of professional theory and practice using
the arts in an integrative, interdisciplinary way to enhance quality
of life (Eberhart and Atkins 2014; Knill, Levine and Levine 2005).
Rather than focusing on a particular art form, the expressive arts
are intermodal. Any or all of the arts modalities—dance, music,
drama, poetry, symbol, imagery, storytelling, visual arts, ritual and
other creative forms—are used together. Intermodality is based on
the sensory interrelatedness of all of the arts with each other (Knill
1999, 2005; Knill, Barba and Fuchs 2004).
The practice of expressive arts is a return to ancient origins of
artistic process as natural medicine for the soul (McNiff 1992). This
way of practicing emphasizes the importance of the creative process
in whatever form it manifests. In this approach the arts can serve
many functions that support wellbeing. The arts offer a way to hold,
express and release emotions, and they provide rich possibilities to
deepen and expand personal understanding and meaning, to create
and nurture community and to sustain life.
Emergence of the field
Beginning in therapeutic work in the mid-1970s (McNiff 2009), the
practice of expressive arts has now found its way into counseling,
consulting, education, coaching, organizational development,
supervision and efforts for social justice and social change in many
parts of the world (Eberhart and Atkins 2014; Levine and Levine
2011). The expressive arts are used today with populations ranging
from adults and elders to children of all ages, with veterans and
refugees in war-torn areas around the world and in schools, clinics,
hospitals and organizations of all kinds (Levine and Levine 2011).