Infuse the arts and creativity into promoting health and well-being.
The use of the expressive arts, which combines dance, drama, visual art, writing, and music, is proven to enhance the recovery process in others. Through our certificate program, discover how to integrate the healing power of creative expression into the care of patients in hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, and other settings. You’ll develop a range of skills that open new possibilities in healthcare, education, human services, social work, counseling, and more.
Personal expression through creativity and the arts has the potential to access a body, mind, and spirit continuum. It's also proven to be helpful in the process of healing and recovery. In addition, current research suggests that the arts are a safe and cost effective intervention that sustains communities, complements traditional and alternative medicine, and enhances well-being and treatment compliance.
In this 15-credit program, you'll examine the role of arts in healing, with a special focus on the healing process and expanding individual and community well-being and health. Through your coursework, you’ll discover how health and illness are defined in many cultures, considering the central role of community, family, spiritual values, ritual, and the arts in healing across cultures. Taking a holistic look at the expressive arts modalities, you’ll learn how to apply them to your current professional practice.
In addition to discovering opportunities for using the arts across the lifespan, you’ll also find new ways to use the arts to educate communities about the risk, prevention, and care for public health, social and cultural, environmental, and medical issues in wellness and preventative care programs.
If you’re interested in training to become a licensed expressive arts therapist, explore our 60-credit on-campus or low-residency master’s degree programs.