A leader in art therapy shares powerful developments in the field and provides a road-map for unlocking the spiritual and emotional healing benefits of creative expression The field of art therapy is discovering that artistic expression can be a powerful means of personal transformation and emotional and spiritual healing. In this book, Shaun McNiff—a leader in expressive arts therapy for more than three decades—reflects on a wide spectrum of activities aimed at reviving art’s traditional healing function. In chapters ranging from “Liberating Creativity” and “The Practice of Creativity in the Workplace” to “From Shamanism to Art Therapy,” he illuminates some of the most progressive views in the rapidly expanding field of art therapy, including: • The “practice of imagination” as a powerful force for transformation • A challenge to literal-minded psychological interpretations of artworks (“black colors indicate depression”) and the principle that even disturbing images have inherent healing properties • The role of the therapist in promoting an environment conducive to free expression and therapeutic energies • The healing effects of group work, with people creating alongside one another and interacting in the studio • “Total expression,” combining arts such as movement, storytelling, and drumming with painting and drawing

Exhibition catalog, Paper not available, Published for Museum for African Art, New York.

Use this compassionate guide to access your deepest emotions, express them through art, and transform them into tools for healing and understanding. Former psychotherapist turned artist Andy Stanton offers guided meditations, imagery techniques, and collage prompts to open a safe space for not only grief and brokenheartedness, but celebration and thankfulness. First, follow relaxation and imagery techniques to access your feelings; next, use the simple guidelines for making collage art. Inspiring us by example, dozens of contemporary artists offer photographs of their most personally transformative artworks and share heartfelt stories about how those pieces helped them alleviate their difficult emotions. Focusing on the emotional-artistic process rather than specific skill, Stanton offers lessons for artists of all experience levels and mediums. An exclusive online bonus feature offers dozens more artworks and stories.

Heal yourself and your community with this proven 12-week program that uses the arts to awaken your innate healing abilities. From musicians in hospitals to quilts on the National Mall—art is already healing people all over the world. It is helping veterans recover, improving the quality of life for cancer patients, and bringing communities together to improve their neighborhoods. Now it’s your turn. Through art projects, including visual arts, dance, writing, and music, along with spiritual practices and guided imagery, Healing with the Arts gives you the tools to address what you need to heal in your life—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. An acclaimed twelve-week program lauded by hospitals and caretakers from around the world, Healing with the Arts gives you the ability to heal your family and your friends, as well as communities where you’ve always wanted to make a difference. Internationally known leaders in the arts in medicine movement, Michael Samuels, MD, and Mary Rockwood Lane, RN, PhD, show you how to use creativity and self-expression to pave the artist’s path to healing.

"Revised and updated with new exercises"--Cover.

Powerful and exciting, Poetic Medicine illustrates the unique role that poem-making can have in addressing the situations that lead us to renewal in our lives. John Fox's book is designed for readers wanting to tap their creative energy in order to make a difference in the world, including educators, therapists, parents and their children, writers, couples, and the infirm. As the author demonstrates, we all possess the ability to write. This gift enables us to access unlimited spiritual resources that restore our genuine voices and meaning in our lives, while healing and creatively satisfying us. Discussed are numerous stories of people from the author's workshops who exemplify how poetry has aided them I becoming more whole. Parents understand how to use poetry to foster their relationships with their children, recognizing magical bonds that they never knew existed; persons who are ill learn how to come to terms with their diseases; and those who feel helpless in the surrounding world discover the freedom to act and affect real change. With the poetic tools, instruction, and accounts the author supplies in Poetic Medicine, readers can start now to make their own poems while addressing, acknowledging, accepting, and taking charge of their lives.

Transform your life, process your emotions, and find joy in Sheila Darcey's Sketch by Sketch During a difficult time in her life, author Sheila Darcey found that the act of sketching and freestyle drawing—of giving a physical form to her thoughts, emotions and ideas—was an impactful way to process what she was feeling. One simple sketch became a daily practice and developed into a meditative and therapeutic tool that Sheila has taught and shared with thousands of people. Sketch by Sketch will help you create a daily sketching practice that shifts you from negative thinking and spiraling emotions into the realm of possibility. By using art to connect your left brain with your right brain, Sketch by Sketch will unlock your basic human need to create, express, and feel—regardless of whether or not you think of yourself as an artist. In Sketch by Sketch, you’ll find over 40 sketching prompts on a variety of topics from hope to stillness that will help you connect with your emotions, practice mindfulness, and negotiate change. With each drawing you'll find you are able to process your experiences in a powerful new way. Step by step, sketch by sketch, you'll find peace, creativity, and healing on the page.

For every woman who has ever been called outdoorsy comes a collection of stories that inspires unforgettable adventure. Beautiful, empowering, and exhilarating, She Explores is a spirited celebration of female bravery and courage, and an inspirational companion for any woman who wants to travel the world on her own terms. Combining breathtaking travel photography with compelling personal narratives, She Explores shares the stories of 40 diverse women on unforgettable journeys in nature: women who live out of vans, trucks, and vintage trailers, hiking the wild, cooking meals over campfires, and sleeping under the stars. Women biking through the countryside, embarking on an unknown road trip, or backpacking through the outdoors with their young children in tow. Complementing the narratives are practical tips and advice for women planning their own trips, including: • Preparing for a solo hike • Must-haves for a road-trip kitchen • Planning ahead for unknown territory • Telling your own story A visually stunning and emotionally satisfying collection for any woman craving new landscapes and adventure.

Whole Person Self Healing brings an interdisciplinary healing approach to relieve pain and suffering. The book covers different topics that introduce readers to alternative therapies that can help the healing processes in the body. These topics include an introduction to pulsed electromagnetic fields and their use in healing medicine, stable Bose-Einstein statistics, meditation techniques, scientific measurement of Qi energy and Qigong practice methods. The book also presents cases of family-based therapy and individuals recovering from painful injury. Whole Person Self Healing presents information based on physics research and subjective accounts of individuals. The book offers general readers, researchers and therapists a scientific perspective on the benefits of electromagnetic field therapy and meditation for healing the body.