EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND ECOTHERAPY 59
The following clinical case example illustrates the application of
some of the core tenets of nature-based expressive arts therapy.
A clinical story in nature-based expressive arts therapy
Rachel was a 35-year-old Caucasian female and a single mother of
two children with special needs. She was referred to me (Melia) in an
integrated care setting by her primary care physician due to her rigid
thinking that was impairing medical treatment, and problems with
anger and aggression, including lashing out at her service providers.
As I came to know Rachel, I learned that her primary feeling was
one of being overwhelmed and disconnected. Her drawings of this
feeling illustrated a series of intersecting lines and colors, which she
titled “Mess” and described as chaotic and overwhelming. She shared
that her house was in disarray, her finances out of control and her
interpersonal relationships volatile and disruptive.
When I asked Rachel about exceptions to this narrative of
overwhelm and disconnection, that is times when she felt peace,
competence and belonging, her affect changed from one of desperation
to one of calm and alive remembering. She told me about taking her
children camping in Glacier National Park, of seeing deer drinking
at dawn from the lake. She shared her photography and described
feeling calm, content and in control of her day-to-day existence
while being flexible and open to surprises. She told of making fire
and cooking food. She saw these as pleasures rather than obligations.
As she described her sense of aliveness in the woods of Montana, she
became more animated and present in our session. Over the course
of our work together, she came to see the discrepancy between what
fed her and kept her well and how she was currently living. She
began to make small changes that allowed her to live more simply
and congruently with her values. Her drawings and photography
prompted the creation of a vision board to provide a visual touchstone
for what mattered most moving forward in her life.