Explorative Arts Therapy incorporates music, movement, and dramatic, literary, and visual arts in flexible ways that allow for raw expression as well as refined intellectual musings. It is the only form of art therapy that harnesses the healing power of every art, including nontraditional arts such as cooking, gardening, and fashion. Explorative Arts Therapy acknowledges that every individual is unique, so art forms resonating with one client might not benefit another as much.
The ability to integrate multiple art modalities into one experience means that everyone can carve their own distinct path of exploration. And this can vary from day to day and session to session. Movement arts help connect with the body on a more instinctual level while art predicated on the written or spoken word (dramatic or literary art) is often more intellectual. Visual arts and music generally lie somewhere in between. The same person might feel the greatest affinity for watercolours and then baking one day, while experimenting with words, both spoken and written, could have the best effect the next day. Flexibility is integral to exploration, and no other therapy manifests such diversity.
Explorative Arts Therapy underscores the importance of valuing everyday life. It acknowledges that Art can be found in every aspect of life, including mundanities such as walking to work, brushing your teeth, or even making your bed. Exploration is not about escaping or changing ourselves but about appreciating what we have through artistic lenses that raise us to newfound levels of appreciation and comprehension.
On top of everything else, Explorative Arts Therapy is fun. An Explorative Arts Therapy session involves deep and difficult work, but clients rarely notice because the act of engaging in the artistic therapeutic process is so enjoyable.