Trauma Informed Expressive Arts Therapy Tools for Youth & Young Adults: Community of Practice, Part 2
Using a trauma-informed lens, this Community of Practice series offers tools from Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA) for working with youth and young adults. Presenter Suraya Keating, MFT, REAT, RDT, will share a variety of multimodal arts practices that can be used to soothe the nervous system; promote self-awareness; and support the agency, empowerment, and well-being of youth and young adults. Simple interventions using visual arts, visualization, movement, creative writing, music, and theater will be introduced as embodied alternatives to talk therapy that are rooted in attuning to the unique needs and diverse background of each youth or young adult client. Each of the three trainings will focus on specialized forms of therapy and allow for in depth exercises, discussion, and practice. All sessions are designed around the framework of the four most common trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, and fawn), and a variety of effective bottom-up and top-down arts strategies will be incorporated to address each of these four responses.
Session 2 will focus on music and movement techniques in therapy for youth and young adults. The following are goals for this session:
Participants will learn three movement approaches that calm and energize the nervous system, cultivate connection, and promote a sense of safety.
Participants will practice two music therapy tools to help clients who are in dysregulated states return to a place of more ease and balance.
Participants will learn and practice tools that combine music and movement to inspire a sense of play, gratitude, and joy, and will reflect on the importance of these three elements in healing trauma.
This Community of Practice series is open to all behavioral health providers, including school- and community-based mental health; private practice; primary care and hospital settings; and state, regional, and local mental health professionals.
For more information about the presenter and the 3-part Community of Practice series, visit the main page.
