Creative Arts Therapy

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Creative Arts Therapy is very similar to Play Therapy and often they are not distinguished between. Sometimes the toolkit used in Creative Arts Therapy does not include all the toys that would be seen in a Play Therapy session, and can therefore be more appealing to adolescents. As with Play Therapy, Creative Arts Therapy utilises arts materials (including music, drama, movement, clay, drawing, puppets, and sand) as the main communication tools, enabling young people to connect with their inner selves and explore thoughts and feelings without having to put names to them, and without immediately having to claim them as their own.

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Creativity enables us to distance ourselves from what was said or played out, and test out new ideas.  It also connects us with our unconscious mind, those memories that we have hidden away and struggle to recall. This connection to hidden memories or trapped emotions can bring them out into the conscious world often easier than if we had to sit and talk about them. 

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Understanding emotions and revisiting experiences can bring huge emotional relief for young people.  To access these feelings within a safe therapeutic relationship can in turn result in positive changes that build self-esteem, confidence and resilience.