Tap the "Flow" with Creative Arts Therapies
by Theresa Haney & Pepi Diaz-Salazar

Have you ever been engaged in a task where you lost sight of time and place, where you were so completely focused and absorbed that you forgot about your worries and concerns? This experience is what Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, author of Creativity describes as "flow, intense concentration on the present that relieves us of the usual fears that cause depression and anxiety in everyday life." In moments like these we tap into the forces that motivate us to perform at our best and urge us to create and invent something new. As artists and choreographers, we have always sought to tap the force of flow in creating works of art, trusting that the creative process would also be a healing force. In fact we discovered that it was when we were engaged in the creative process that we were most open for personal insights and the big ahas!

The Creative Arts Therapies--art therapy, dance/ movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, poetry therapy, and psychodrama--provide an opportunity for people of all ages to experience the creative process in a safe and supportive environment. Each of these different modalities allows us to journey into the realm of the unknown as a way to see possibilities and gain insight. When exploring new ideas of what could be while simultaneously honoring what was or what is, we are more likely to be able to make meaningful life changes. Creative arts therapists use non-verbal symbolic expression to reveal material not readily available on a conscious/intellectual level. The creative process becomes a third party in this relationship, and it is the power of this unique relationship that guides us toward a life more fully realized.

Therapy with Children
Use of the creative arts therapies is extremely effective with children who have emotional, developmental, and social disabilities. I use what is often called action therapy, integrating several creative art mediums that inspire children to "act out" that which is most difficult to say. I look at behavior as a form of communication Most children engage readily, often without realizing that it is about their "difficulties." The focus shifts from them to the art/play process, alleviating the embarrassment and shame of having a problem.

Take the case of Michael, a seven-year-old boy with behavior difficulties. Michael entered the session extremely angry and explosive, having been in a fight with a classmate in school. He began throwing all the props at his disposal--balls, scarves, blankets, musical instruments, art materials--into a heaping pile in the center of the room. After choosing music that was rhythmically strong and driving, he danced around the pile of props as if they were his opponent in a fight. As a dance therapist, I mirrored Michael's dance from across the pile, both physically and empathically, while verbally commenting on his actions. The pile of props symbolized his internal chaos of feeling out of control. Michael could feel he was "being seen and heard" without judgment or expectation. Being seen, heard and ultimately feeling understood is often the impetus to change

After some time, Michael proceeded to take the props from the pile and construct what he called "a monster." The monster gave form and order to his internal chaos. The dance that ensued began with more strong fighting movements and eventually led into Michael's collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. Then, upon the child's instructions, I changed the music to something more melodic and helped him construct a fort with the props. Michael's emotional state was transforming. After the fort was made, he invited me in--where we sat for the rest of the session, drawing and talking about his fight with a classmate.

Michael had entered into the process of "flow" and created new solutions to what was bothering him. His actions permitted him to physically embody his emotions, as well as tolerate them. The construction of his monster allowed him to give shape and form to these feelings, which could eventually be transformed into a safe place--a fort, where he could share his experience with another. By meeting this boy where he was, in action, emotion, and words, trust was built, enabling me as therapist to enter his world and brainstorm alternative ways to handle difficult relationships.

Dance/movement therapy is a process of body-mind reconnection that opens gateways to the inner workings of the Self. Emotion and motion are inextricably linked. Our bodies inform us. Our emotions are our guidance system. When you move your body, you shift your emotional state; particularly in your torso area, the primary seat of the emotions. How we feel at any given moment manifests, for instance, in our gait, our posture, and our gestures. Awareness of our emotional state is the first step in making any life changes.

Therapy with Adults
This type of therapy takes on a different tone with an adult. Take for example the case of a Megan, a 32-year-old woman who had a history of depression. We began each session by talking about a new awareness or accomplishment that she had had since the last time we met. We then delved into whatever had surfaced for attention. I would ask her to explore, with eyes open or closed, the sensations present in her body,. She was given the choices of using movement, art, written word or dramatic play to create images that represented her inner experience. In one session, the theme of "support" emerged. In exploring her experience, Megan discovered that "When I move on the floor, the floor supports me. It lends strength, assuredness and vigor to my movement. My spine moves me. I really sense myself as a whole moving being. But when I stand, only the soles of my feet touch the floor and I get lost, wishy-washy, lose resolve...Where do I find the support of the floor inside me? Can my body do for me what the floor does? Yes, my muscles support and hold the bones of my spine, encouraging the strength and vigor in my movement." This image of Megan's muscles providing support to her movement was a metaphor that she could use to help find within her the support she needed in her daily life.

The images and sensations that are evoked through this process have immediate relevance to your life. Often very little verbalization needs to take place. The experience speaks for itself. As with the child, the results of being seen and heard were the impetus for Megan to recognize the things that were no longer working in her life: the sense of diminished strength and lack of support, manifest has depression.

The Power of Creative Arts Therapies
What is most powerful about the creative arts therapies are their ability to cut through our defenses and make apparent the blocks that prevent us from leading healthy and fulfilling lives. By listening to our inner impulses and allowing images, dreams and memories to surface, we honor our greatest authority, our Self. We can use this newfound material and rework it in any way we choose in order to re-create ourselves anew.

No one can tell you how to change; as creative arts therapists, we can only be facilitators in that process and gently guide you toward your authentic self. We continually find wonder in the magnificence of life as it unfolds in each individual's unique process. We often hear people say they don't have a creative bone in their body. Everyone has creative potential; it's merely a matter of exercising your expressive bones.

Theresa Haney and Pepi Diaz-Salazar are dance/movement therapists and founders of Damselfly Center in Red Hook, NY. To preserve the confidentiality of the cases presented in this article, the names have been changed.