About the Book
Foundations of Expressive Arts Therapy provides an arts-based approach to the theory and practice of expressive arts therapy. The book explores the various expressive arts therapy modalities both individually and in relationship to each other. The contributors emphasize the importance of the imagination and of aesthetic experience, arguing that these are central to psychological well-being, and challenging accepted views which place primary emphasis on the cognitive and emotional dimensions of mental health and development.
Part One explores the theory which informs the practice of expressive arts therapy. Part Two relates this theory to the therapeutic application of the expressive arts (including music, art, movement, drama, poetry and voicework) in different contexts, ranging from play therapy with children to trauma work with Bosnian refugees and second-generation Holocaust survivors. Comprehensive in its coverage of the most fundamental aspects of expressive arts therapy, this book is a significant contribution to the field and a useful reference for all practitioners.
Table of Contents:
Introduction, Ellen G. Levine, ISIS Canada, and Stephen K. Levine, York University, Toronto, and ISIS, Canada. Part I: Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives 1. Poiesis and postmodernism: the search for a foundation in expressive arts therapy, Stephen K. Levine, York University, Toronto, and ISIS, Canada. 2. Soul-nourishment or the metabolism of psyche: a broad concept of diet and medicine, Paolo J. Knill, Lesley College, Cambridge and European Graduate School, Switzerland. 3. Ethics and aesthetics: the necessity of form, Majken Jacoby, ISIS, Denmark. 4. Artistic inquiry: research in expressive arts therapy, Shaun McNiff, Endicott College, Massachusetts. Part II: Clinical Perspectives 5. Voicework as therapy: the artistic use of singing and vocal sound to heal mind and body, Paul Newham, International Association for Voice Movement Therapy and Voice Movement Training. 6. The creative connection: a holistic expressive arts process, Natalie Rogers, Person-Centered Expressive Therapy Institute, California. 7. Living artfully: movement as an integrative process, Daria Halprin, Tamalpa Institute, California. 8. Layer upon layer: a therapeutic experience in the art studio, Annette Brederode, Centre for the Expressive and Creative Arts Therapies, Netherlands. 9. Music as mother: the mothering function of music through expressive and receptive avenues, Margareta Warja, Lowenstomska Psychiatric Hospital, Sweden. 10. Between imagination and belief: poetry as therapeutic intervention, Margo Fuchs, European Graduate School. 11. Poetry in the oral tradition: serious play with words, Elizabeth McKim, Lesley College Cambridge, Massachusetts. 12. Theatre of the Holocaust, Yaacov Naor, 'The Inner Theatre' psychodrama centre, Israel. 13. In exile from the body, Melinda Asher-Meyer, The Norwegian Institute of Expressive Arts Therapy. 14. On the play-ground: child psychotherapy and expressive arts therapy, Ellen G. Levine, ISIS, Canada.
About the Author :
Stephen K. Levine is Professor Emeritus of Social Science at York University in Toronto, Canada, Vice-Provost and Dean of the Doctoral Program in Expressive Arts Therapy: Education, Consulting and Social Change at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, and Co-Director of ISIS Canada.
Review :
This book does succeed in laying common ground beneath so many individual approaches to therapy, with its emphasis upon the imagination, spontaneous creative expression and intermodal techniques. It will, I suspect, become a standard textbook for practitioners, and it is without doubt a treasure trove for researchers, but I think it also has much to offer the general reader, for all of these issues are fundamentally human ones and could have meaning to anyone.
