Expressive Literary Therapy sounds deep and entangled in a worldly facade doesn't it? The fact is, you've actually been using Expressive Therapy since you picked up your first crayola crayon and drew a house with a window or a door. Maybe upon further thought, you added a big yellow sun, or a puffy white cloud. Maybe you drew a straight vertical line with a circle to sit atop and and decided to color little round red apples inside your tree. Rethinking these steps of this masterpiece at age 4, you began with a square. As brilliant as you were, this square on your paper, just didn't fulfill your desire to express yourself. Because of this un-fulfilment, you added a triangle roof. Happy for only a brief moment you searched your imagination and found by adding a window within the square house, a feeling of accomplishment, well-being and peace began to creep in. Expressive Therapy is God given. God created man in His image. God is the creator of all things. When God had completed His creation of the world, He said: And it was good. God was pleased with His own creation. God was and continues to express Himself. You were made in HIS image, you gained a tiny bit of self expression from HIM. And so you also are able to create and express yourselves. This process begins to take place when a child realizes his own independent self from his mother or caregiver. At about four years of age this little child draws a house with a roof, a window, and a door. This gradually over time expresses more of himself in adding new objects to his drawing, such as the sun, the clouds, and the tree. As the child ages and gains experiences, he not only learns about his external surroundings, but he grows internally and in his expressions. Recording these experiences, thoughts and desires on paper or a surface is called my Expressive Therapy. When using words to convey a message, I call it Expressive Literary Therapy. There are a number of ways to demonstrate this type of self therapy. One way is by journaling. Another is writing poetry, and still another is writing short stories, or even novels. Demonstration of a God given trait can be seen in hobbies, projects of all sorts and in all forms of Art whether by paintbrush or by music etc. Expressing oneself is a method of self-therapy, it is God given. When one places pencil or pen to paper and demonstrates one's own creation in words, they participate in Expressive Literary Therapy. This therapy is a method to express one's feelings, desires, fears and all other emotions. It can be shared or it can be kept to oneself. But the process involved is therapeutic for the soul and just one more blessing from God to us, who are made in HIS image.
From Psychology Today: Expressive Therapies
Expressive Arts Therapy Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff
Expressive arts therapy combines psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. This multi-arts, or intermodal, approach to psychotherapy and counseling uses our inborn desire to create—be it music, theater, poetry, dance, or other artistic form—as a therapeutic tool to help initiate change. The difference between expressive arts therapy and art therapy is that expressive arts therapy draws from a variety of art forms, while art therapy tends to be based on one particular art form. When It's Used Expressive arts therapy is used with children and adults, as individuals or in groups, to nurture deep personal growth and transformation. For instance, expressive arts therapy for children with behavioral issues might include music, movement, or finger painting. The therapist observes the child’s processes, behavior, and impulses, and then encourages the child to talk about the experience. Journaling, storytelling, reading literature and poetry, and making life maps, videos, and memory books are all forms of expressive art therapy that can help older clients review and make meaning of their lives, and to tell their life story, as well as help them engage with family and other significant people in their lives.