Expressive Arts Group Therapy
Adult, Children and Family groups at Hospice Toronto
What happens in an expressive arts group?

 

Working through the arts in various modalities is an integral part of an expressive arts group.
Working with movement, visual arts, clay, voice, music, poetry, and drama, allows access to parts of yourself that you may not otherwise become attuned to. As you follow the colours and imagery of your art intertwining with your life journey, the uniqueness of each human being and of each artistic encounter allows you to focus on you and to explore the insights that
come with each experience.

The experience of death or the life threatening illness of a relative or friend has the potential to be life-altering. Working through the arts is non-threatening and helpschildren and adults acknowledge and move through the difficult emotions being experienced during or after a critical time in their lives. Fear, isolation, and depression can be alleviated to some extent by giving form and shape to suffering with words, drawings, music, and play.

Our Expressive Arts Therapy groups are offered to people living with a life-threatening illness, their family, friends and caregivers. Participants can include children, adults , and seniors who are:

• newly bereaved
• living with a life-threatening illness
• in remission from a life-threatening illness
• caregivers - a family member or close friend of a person with a life-threatening illness or
condition
• dealing with loss of their culture, language, customs, by immigrating to another country

The groups vary in size and allow for a caring environment that offers a meaningful experience where warmth, trust and non-judgment abound.
The purpose of these groups is to provide children, adults, seniors, and families, who share a common experience, with a safe place where they can express themselves through a variety of art modalities, share their stories, express their grief, and explore their feelings in a non-threatening way.

• remembering the past
• re-defining the present
• re-creating the future

Our goals for expressive arts are to:
• enable the expression of fear, anger, anxiety and sadness through the arts
• encourage the expression of deep inner feelings and thoughts
• discover and tell the untold stories
• provide an opening for both present and unresolved losses
• find ways to say goodbye, speak unspoken words5
• provide opportunities for sharing memories and experience of loss
• provide support through a non-judgmental environment

 

Private One on One sessions are available. 

www.hospicetoronto.ca