The Expressive Arts Institute San Diego By Amber Robinson As our understanding of the human brain expands, we continue to learn more about how art and creativity play into that growth. Expressive Arts Therapy specifically explores the link between art and psychology.
For those in Southern California seeking a degree or certification, the Expressive Arts Institute of San Diego, located in Liberty Station, is the place. Much of the professional art therapy happening in San Diego, started here. Founding Director, Judith Greer Essex, PhD, established the institutein 1998. They boast California’s only fully integrated intermodal, interdisciplinary education for Expressive Arts Practitioners. Judith and her staff offer an accredited MA in Expressive Arts Therapy as well as registration in training and education for licensed professionals looking to add creative skills to their practice, as well as a certificate program in Expressive Arts Coaching. Greer Essex earned her PhD in expressive arts therapy from the European Graduate School, in Switzerland, but started as a dance and theater major in her bachelor’s program.
According to www.creativewellbeings.com, expressive arts therapy first flourished in America in the early 1900’s in New York City. Margaret Naumburg and Edith Kramer are credited with its initial creation. Although both women held slightly different beliefs on how art healed, both were pioneers who dedicated their lives to building the framework for what art therapy is today. The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) was founded in 1969. Their website defines art therapy as thus: “Facilitated by a professional art therapist, Art Therapy effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art Therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.” Today, art therapy is more mainstream than ever. Many psychologists will attain an art therapy certification, integrating it into their usual therapy practice. Teachers have begun to use art therapy to calm and focus their students prior to lessons. Even our U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has integrated art therapy into their curriculum for vets healing from combat wounds or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 28
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“The performative arts had a profound effect on me,” said Greer Essex. “Although I had no interest in dance therapy at that time, I later became interested in the self-awareness [it produced] among its other helpful aspects.” She went on to finish her master’s in dance/movement therapy from the University of California Los Angeles. She has worked throughout San Diego as a dance therapist in local universities as well as part of San Diego Rep’s Conservatory before founding the institute. Although her background is in dance, she works with many different mediums and “modalities”. “I use what is called ‘intermodal expressive arts therapy’, which means I move between dance, drama, music, visual arts and expressive writing, especially poetry,” said Greer Essex. She says she feels art therapy enhances and often reveals an individual’s strength. “It helps develop a positive approach to life,” said Greer Essex “It helps develop a positive imagination, causing you to think, ‘What wonderful thing might happen?’ instead of ‘What terrible thing might happen?” Greer Essex says the use of art as a way to express one’s self and find balance in everyday life is always beneficial.
