Rationale and Benefits of Using Play Therapy and Expressive Art Techniques in Supervision

Background

Play therapy and expressive arts therapy are overlapping and complementary. Central to the definition of play therapy is the principle that the therapeutic powers of play are agents for change in individuals of all ages (Association for Play Therapy, 2020). When these therapeutic powers are integrated into the supervision experience through play therapy interventions and expressive art techniques, the benefits of a richer supervision experience will extend from the developing therapist to clients and their families. Schaefer and Drews (2014) identified twenty specific core agents of change organized into four broad categories of therapeutic powers of play: facilitates communication, fosters emotional wellness, enhances social relationships, and increases personal strengths. Expressive arts represent a therapeutic modality that uses creative and non-verbal mediums to facilitate deeper underlying processes by tapping into the visceral and internal experiences of an individual, as opposed to the cognitive and rational components (Purswell & Stulmaker, 2015). In therapy, expressive arts are meaningful when used to connect with untapped unconscious or implicit experiences and feelings. Creativity is the quality of being innovative, the ability to create, the ability to make new things or think in a new way. Well-designed and purposeful use of nonverbal interventions, including playful interventions, expressive arts, and experiential activities within supervision, may assist in illuminating the dynamics and processes of the supervisory relationship (Drewes & Mullen, 2008).

Play-based interventions encourage new pathways for self-expression, teaching, processing of emotions, and creative problem solving (Schaefer & Drewes, 2014). Modalities of creative expressions include the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing, and other creative processes that foster profound personal growth and community development (International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, 2012). In clinical practice, the conventional modalities that an expressive arts therapist or play therapist uses are music therapy, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, bibliotherapy, play therapy, and sand tray therapy (PT source). Creativity and arts are considered a birthright of being human (Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective, 2003), however, counseling and supervision disproportionally relies on cognitive and linguistic approaches. Traditionally, clinical supervision has not focused on creativity and the academic arena also has not always been conducive or welcoming to creativity (Carson & Becker, 2004). The use of play and expressive arts therapeutic modalities in the supervision process has been more prominent in the registered play therapist supervision experience, but traditional verbal interaction remains the predominant method in all areas of counselor supervision (Drewes & Mullen, 2008). This chapter will examine how play therapy interventions and expressive arts strategies engage the therapeutic powers of play and creativity to impact specific goals of supervision and processes that shape the supervisory relationship.