Creative Therapy Course

Study creative therapy for professional development, interest or to expand and improve your knowledge

Make use of counselling and psychological principles, whilst working creatively with your clients. For example, psychodrama, psychotherapeutic writing, art therapy, music therapy, crafting therapy and more.

The course is studied by distance learning. You can start at any time to suit you and work at your own pace.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of Creative Therapy and Counselling Skills I
   • What are creative therapies
   • Who can benefit
   • Take caution with some patients
   • Benefits
   • Scientific evidence
   • Preparing for creative therapy
   • Counselling & active listening
   • Giving instructions
   • Different learning styles
   • Planning for choice
   • Options for response
   • Open ended tasks
   • Improving creativity
   • Health and safety
   • Insurance
   • Selling your craft
   • After creative therapy
2. Art Therapy and Counselling Skills II
   • Counselling skills – SOLER
   • What is art therapy
   • What clients benefit from art therapy
   • Scientific evidence
   • Art therapy techniques
   • Art therapy with children
   • Stories
   • Playdough
   • Candle making
   • Therapeutic photography
   • Colouring books
   • Painting by numbers
   • Doodling
3. Crafts Therapy Part 1 – Fibre and Paper Crafts
   • What is craft therapy?
   • How it works
   • Knitting
   • Ceramics
   • Quilting
   • Embroidery
   • Decoupage
   • Sewing
   • Crochet
   • Macrame
   • Origami
   • Scientific evidence and historical anecdotes
   • Therapeutic benefits
4. Crafts Therapy Part 2 – Model Making and Building Crafts
   • Introduction
   • Skills needed for model making
   • Model building
   • Wood working
   • Interior design
   • Light, space, texture, colour, line, form
   • Furniture and objects
   • Sculpting
   • Building renovation
   • Building blocks
   • Benefits of model making and building crafts.
   • Risks
   • Working with individuals
   • Finding the individual’s creativity
   • Exploring
   • Using technology
   • Cultivate expertise
   • The reward
5. Singing Therapy and Music Therapy
   • What is singing therapy
   • Therapeutic benefits and scientific evidence
   • What is music therapy
   • Active music therapy
   • Receptive music therapy
   • How does music therapy work?
   • Silence
   • Dementia and music therapy
   • Singing for the brain
   • Working with groups
   • Dealing with upset
   • Organising sessions
6. Psychotherapeutic Writing
   • What is writing therapy?
   • Hiding the pain
   • Therapeutic benefits
   • Self knowledge
   • Balancing emotions
   • Improving discipline
   • Difficulties
   • Examples of writing therapy
   • How it works
   • Psychotherapeutic exercise
   • Writing a letter
   • Word walls
   • Be positive
7. Psychodrama, Dance and Movement Therapy
   • Non-verbal communication
   • Body language
   • Kinesics
   • Haptics
   • Proxemics
   • Occulesics
   • Psychodrama and Drama therapy
   • What is drama therapy?
   • Aims of drama therapy
   • Working with different groups
   • Therapeutic benefits and scientific evidence
   • Projective play
   • Acting out
   • Reunion
   • Puppetry
   • Dance and movement therapy
   • Scientific research on DMT
   • How DMT sessions work
   • DMT and regulating emotions
   • Psychodrama
   • Action methods
   • Psychodrama sessions
   • Uses for psychodrama
   • Psychodrama and children
8. Reminiscence Therapy
   • What is reminiscence therapy
   • Individuals who benefit from reminiscence work
   • Neurocognitive deficits
   • Delirium
   • Neurocognitive disorders
   • How does reminiscence therapy work?
   • Therapeutic benefits and scientific evidence
   • Reminiscence work tips
   • Reminiscence work and other therapies

Study Creative Therapies By Distance Learning

Learn more about art therapy, dance and movement therapy, psychodrama, psychotherapeutic writing, music and singing therapy, crafting therapy and more.

Also learn more about working with individuals and groups, confidentiality and counselling skills. 

At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment to submit to your tutor for marking and feedback.

You can also contact your tutor with  any questions throughout the course.

Sample Course Notes - Consider the Benefits of Model Making and Building Crafts

Creating models can give people great joy.

Model making, therefore, can be a way of focussing and calming the mind. Often model making from kits is thought of as an activity enjoyed by children, but many adults do and can enjoy model making. Making model cars, trains, ships and so on requires concentration, fine motor skills and interest. It can help prevent the person from focussing their thoughts of negative events and focussing on what they are creating in front of them.

Model making can also help adults to look back on earlier times, when they may have enjoyed making models as a child. For example, someone who enjoyed making model cars as a child, may find that making the cars as an adult triggers positive, relaxing feelings, reminding them of better times.

Model making can also help the creative therapist to help the individual to focus on their feelings. The individual will choose the models that they wish to create, so whilst some may focus on positive ideas and thoughts, such as making a car that reminded them of their younger self, some may choose to focus on more negative models. Such as creating negative images, monsters, gruesome models. This focus on violence or negative images may actually help to reveal the person’s inner pain and emotions.

Psychologists in the 1960s found that monster kits could help children to overcome their fears of monsters. Creating a monster and controlling it in some way can help some individuals to find control over their fears.

Model making can also produce instant rewards. Creating a small part of the model can give individuals a strong sense of personal achievement. They can also see how they are improving the more models they create.

Who Should Study This Course?

• This course is suitable for - teachers, writers, artists, dancers, counsellors, foster carers, support workers, teaching assistants, charity workers, carers and many more.
  
• This course is suitable for anyone who is interested in writing, drawing, drama, modelling, crafts, well, any kinds of arts and crafts really.
• If you would like to help people to improve their mental and physical health by using arts and crafts, then this is the course for you.

Why Study This Course?

• This course will provide you with the theory and knowledge behind creative therapies.
• Develop techniques to use arts and crafts to improve people's mental and/or physical health.
• Study with expert tutors in your own home.
• The course is self-paced. You study in your own time and when suits you.
• This course will help you to help others. 
  

Click here to ask a Creative Therapies Tutor a Question about the Course