48 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA)
serves as the professional organization for the field, articulating
standards for practice, ethical guidelines and a credentialing process
for registration as a registered expressive arts therapist (REAT) or a
registered expressive arts consultant/educator (REACE). Additionally,
the IEATA website (ieata.org) offers information on regional groups,
social action activities, educational resources, an artist gallery, regular
newsletters and information on the biennial conference to connect
artists, educators, consultants and therapists in the field.Basic tenets of expressive arts work
THE ARTS ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO HUMAN BEINGS
Although the arts have long been woven into the fabric of everyday
life among indigenous peoples, the turn toward industrialization and
economic growth in modern times has distanced humans from an artful
way of being. Expressive arts work reclaims the arts as belonging to
everyone and as essential to living and being in the world (Eberhart
and Atkins 2014). The arts offer a way to experience our human
interconnectedness with the world by means of aesthetic response,
our capacity to be touched and moved by beauty (Knill 2005).THE ARTS ARE A PRIMARY FOCUS AS
AGENTS OF HEALING AND CHANGE
Expressive arts work begins with tuning in to the artistic materials. We
explore with the senses the textures and colors of the materials, the
space for moving and the possibilities of musical instruments
available. We invite attitudes of playfulness, curiosity and openness
to surprises. We find what attracts us and enlarge this into artistic
form. In expressive arts, the arts are central. In contrast to other
caring professions within the social sciences, creative expression, art
making and witnessing are seen as primary agents of healing rather
than subservient to other methodological frameworks or theoretical
stances of the social sciences (Eberhart and Atkins 2014). The arts,
when viewed in this way, can offer a pathway for healing and a fuller
experience of being and becoming in the world today.