Fleming College: Learn | Belong | Become

Expressive Arts offer people of all ages the opportunity to express themselves through art, craft, writing, music, movement, and narrative arts. Getting through life's challenges and crossroads is often difficult. While traditional therapies and counselling are helpful, sometimes at these moments we need to tap into our deepest creative self to deal with our feelings and emotions. Fleming's Ontario Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts is a helpful addition to the counselling, teaching, or ministry you currently offer others. As a teacher, artist, nurse, social worker, minister, or someone in a caring profession, you will benefit from knowing how to facilitate the development and transformation of the people in your care, through expressive arts.

Program Highlights

You will explore your own creativity and learn how to design and deliver expressive arts programming to people in a variety of circumstances. In addition, you will examine the theoretical and practical approaches to expressive arts as therapy, and learn how to protect yourself from burnout. The mandatory courses are Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships, Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies, Planning Expressive Arts Experiences and Professional Issues with the Expressive Arts. The additional four courses focus on various modalities, including music, dance, clowning, mask, storytelling and art making. You may take this certificate on a part-time basis, course by course, or in an intensive eight-week format offered each spring.

Why Choose Fleming?

Our particular approach to training in the Expressive Arts is unique. We offer the certificate with the flexibility of studying full or part-time so professionals currently working can fit this training into their busy schedules. Backed by the reputation of the Haliburton School of The Arts, and many enthusiastic instructors with experience in counselling therapies and/or the arts, you will benefit professionally and personally from your time spent in pursuit of this certificate.

What it Takes to Succeed

• An interest in the arts
• Good communication skills
• Empathy, tact and sensitivity
• Cultural awareness and diplomacy
• A holistic attitude toward health and well-being
• Confidentiality
• Active listening skills
• Active work on your own self-development
• Previous work experince in a therapeutic capacity an asset

Career Opportunities

The Expressive Arts Certificate will be a useful complement to an existing career in education, counselling, social work, social service, the arts or ministry. With the broad-based focus of this certificate, expect to find yourself using many of the skills you have learned in the workplace on a daily basis.

Minimum Admission Requirements

The minimum admission requirement is a human service or arts Ontario College Diploma or university degree. Applicants who do not have the academic admission requirements as stated above, but who have relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis. These requirements apply to full-time and part-time studies.

Course	Hours
Semester 1
Attuning Through Rhythm & Movement in Expressive Arts	47.50
Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships	47.50
Expressive Arts Modalities - Visual Journals & Forgiveness	47.50
Integrating Voice & Drama in Expressive Arts	47.50
Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies	47.50
Planning Expressive Arts Experiences	47.50
Professional Issues With the Expressive Arts	47.50
Storytelling and Sandtray Therapy within the Expressive Arts	47.50

Semester 1

Attuning Through Rhythm & Movement in Expressive Arts

Course Number: ARTS1325

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
Through subtle body listening and centering, exploration of the senses, rhythm, movement and the dance, you will discover how presence and your capacity to attune to the needs of others, begins in your own body. Explore the felt sense of balance within yourself as you play with the dynamics of relationship through resonance (I am here, with you), abandonment (I am too far) and engulfment (I am too close). As the rhythm of your dance strengthens you will then begin to expand this natural progression through drumming, creativity and play. Learn basic hand drumming techniques, African rhythms and songs, and build confidence playing in a group. This is an opportunity to integrate the drum and percussion with other art forms such as movement, visual art and journaling that you can apply to the populations you work with.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships

Course Number: ARTS0091

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
Please note: Successful completion of Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies is recommended prior to taking this course.
In this course you will explore various types of therapeutic relationships, as well as several important aspects of therapeutic relations in general. It will include experiential, demonstrated, and didactic learning methods. There will be ample opportunity for practice, discussion and feedback using role playing of the client, the expressive therapist, and the witness/observer. Some of these opportunities will occur in pairs, some in small groups, others in the full group. There will be an attempt to use the 'here and now' experiences of the class/group member to highlight the important factors of therapeutic relationships.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Expressive Arts Modalities - Visual Journals & Forgiveness

Course Number: ARTS1332

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
This course provides an opportunity to interact with graduates of Fleming's Expressive Arts Ontario College Graduate Certificate Program and professionals in the field to explore some of the ways they have incorporated their training into work with others. Visual Journals have been shown to be an effective tool for self expression and communication which supports the healing process. You will develop the practice by creating a journal, working with themes, layering ideas and exploring exciting approaches, techniques and materials. In the forgiveness portion of the course you will be applying expressive arts modalities including grounding and heart-focused meditations, creative writing, affirmations, and ritual as you explore the 5 cycles of forgiveness for yourself or others. Understand the importance of filling the self up first and cultivating loving kindness. There will be opportunities to discuss how and when you would use these tools with the populations you work with.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Integrating Voice & Drama in Expressive Arts

Course Number: ARTS1317

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
This course will explore the integration of voice work and drama in an expressive arts context. The focus will be on voice-based Expressive Arts interaction as a creative and therapeutic process which explores and develops the relationship between the individual, breathing and the fullest range of vocal sound. Through exercises and games there will be a combination of creative visualization, movement, characterization, drama/theatre, imaginative play, creative writing for text and song, and possibly other artistic forms. Develop greater freedom of technical, emotional and creative expression through broadening your range of vocal colours and textures. You will work toward collaborative as well as solo expressive pieces examining the nature of spontaneous impulse and improvisation as you learn how they can be integrated with drama techniques to mirror both outer and inners worlds. Time will be given to discussing specific expressive arts applications. No previous vocal or musical training is required.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies

Course Number: ARTS0112

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself." (Zenrin). When we provide the right conditions for ourselves, we open the door to growth. Tapping into our creativity provides a natural source of imagery and energy to use for healing and personal expression. This course will introduce you to the theory and practice of the expressive arts. If you are working in the human service field, you will learn about the applicability of visual arts, music, writing, movement and theatre to your work settings.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Planning Expressive Arts Experiences

Course Number: ARTS0171

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
Successful completion of Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies is recommended prior to taking this course. This course will teach you to plan and lead expressive arts experiences for others. Instruction will address a broad spectrum of expressive arts experiences as well as present the theoretical tools for assessing what type of experiences might be appropriate for various individuals and populations. You will learn how music, movement, visual, and narrative arts can promote self-awareness and personal growth with various populations ranging from drug treatment facilities to nursing homes, daycares to prisons. There will be opportunities to experience leadership in the non-judgmental atmosphere of the student group.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Professional Issues With the Expressive Arts

Course Number: ARTS0183

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page.
Successful completion of Introduction to Expressive Arts Therapies and Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships is recommended prior to taking this course. It is important to recognize the parameters of utilizing expressive arts within the bounds of one's training experience. How does one handle situations that are beyond the scope of our professional practice? What are the needs of cultural and racial minorities which can be appropriately integrated into the expressive arts? How do we handle burnout creatively? This course will cover ethical and professional issues which may arise as a result of using the expressive arts.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50

Storytelling and Sandtray Therapy within the Expressive Arts

Course Number: ARTS1028

Please note: To register for this course you must meet the admission requirements for the EXA Graduate Certificate. Details available on EXA page. This course is an introduction to the practice and theory of sandtray-worldplay therapy and the application of storytelling within the expressive arts. These modalities give voice to the internal and external worlds of both children and adults. They are tools with which to explore for example issues of loss, abuse, and self-esteem that can provide new perspectives on life experiences. This will be of interest to professionals working with children and adults in educational, health, recreation or therapeutic settings.

Units: 47.50
Hours: 47.50