Course Descriptions

Required Courses for Expressive Arts Therapy Concentration and Graduate Certificate

HPC 6360: Therapy and the Expressive Arts An examination of the relationship between artistic expression and individual mental health. Theories and techniques of various art therapies will be studied relative to diagnosis and treatment as well as to personality integration and personal growth.

HPC 6370: Intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy An examination of theories, techniques and functions of psychotherapeutic approaches using intermodal expressive arts, emphasizing cross-cultural contexts of creative expression and human development. (Pre-requisite HPC 6360)

HPC 6390: Current Issues in Expressive Arts Therapy An examination of current issues in Expressive Arts Therapy, emphasizing cross-cultural contexts of creative expression and human development. (Pre-requisite HPC 6360)

Electives

HPC 5860: Dreamwork: Clinical Methods An in-depth study of dreamwork as a clinical method, including theoretical approaches to dreams, clinical issues and current trends, and cross-cultural perspectives on the role of dreams, myths and symbols in psychological healing. Click on the videos below for more information and to view a dreamwork dance presentation.

HPC 5870: Creative Process, Movement & Therapy An examination of body awareness, creative expression, and movement in therapy. Particular attention will be paid to the concept of creative process and how it relates to human development, personality integration, and healing.

HPC 6160: Gestalt Therapy An examination of the Gestalt Therapy model. The course combines experiential and conceptual approaches. Emphasis is placed on developing personal and unique styles of interventions within the framework of Gestalt Therapy.

HPC 6340: Ecotherapy An in-depth study of the relationship of personal healing and the healing of the earth, including an examination of relevant emerging paradigms in psychology and counseling, including systems theory, the nature of consciousness, and ecopsychology.

HPC 6350: Body/Mind A study of the interrelationship of physical and mental functioning as it pertains to counseling, including the mind/body problem as a systematic issue in psychology, exploration of the current resurgence of interest in the mind/body functioning relative to total well-being, and an overview of current uses of mind/body experiences as therapeutic techniques.

HPC 6355: Mindfulness Based Counseling This course will introduce students to mindfulness-based counseling modeled on the program developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Stress Reduction Clinic. Within the context of educational and health care services, mindfulness is aimed at assisting individuals to develop an array of self-regulatory, self-care skills. The effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions is predicated on providers who are substantively grounded in mindfulness meditation practice, hence the strong experiential component to the course.

HPC 6365: Expressive Arts Summer Institute Variable content. Barring duplication, a student may repeat the course and earn up to a total of nine semester hours. This intensive institute provides practicing therapists, counselors, graduate students, and artists opportunities to explore cutting edge practices in the integration of expressive arts in counseling. The Appalachian approach to Expressive Arts Therapy emphasizes the power of the arts to build community and support a space of temenos, where the arts can help us to access our individual and collective resources for living. This course will include theoretical background in Expressive Arts Therapy, as well as a variety of experiential large group, small group, and individual art making activities.

HPC 6366: EXA Child/Adolescents Variable content. Barring duplication, a student may repeat the course and earn up to a total of six semester hours. This annual summer institute is designed to present a comprehensive and developmentally oriented approach for the application of play theories, techniques, and the creative/expressive arts to the process of counseling children and adolescents. This course will consist of class discussions, presentations, cooperative and group experiential learning activities, and "hands on" type of activities/projects which students will prepare and present. Students will learn techniques of play therapy, art, music, movement, creative dramatics, imagery, writing, and poetry for use in both the school and agency setting.

HPC 6380: Therapeutic Writing An exploration of writing and the therapeutic process. Students will experience a variety of methods in using the written word to enhance client change as well as for self-care for the therapist.

DAN 5460: Somatics A survey course exploring several different approaches to body-centered learning. A broad overview of methods of current bodywork will be introduced and explored. A secondary focus of the survey will be to foster body/mind/spirit integration through movement reeducation, conditioning, and an examination of lifestyle habits. The course will be lecture and experiential in nature.

DAN 5480: Advanced Pilates A second level study of the Pilates method, base on the concepts of centering, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow. This course will introduce the equipment and the apparatus developed by Joseph H. Pilates. Prerequisite: Pilates Conditioning (DAN 3480) or permission of the instructor.

MUS 5006: Philosophy of Music An investigation of the major philosophies of music in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Particular emphasis is placed on aesthetic theory. The relationship between aesthetics of music educational methodology will be examined.

MUS 5060: Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) A music-centered depth approach to transformational therapy that uses selected sequences of classical music to support the generation of and movement through inner experiences. In GIM, the music serves as a catalyst and container for imagery that allows one to access and explore both the depths and the heights of the human experience.