Expressive Arts Therapy is the practice of integrating storytelling, dance, music, drama, poetry, dreamwork, visual arts, and other creative modalities to foster human growth, development, and healing. This approach emphasizes reclaiming our innate capacity for creative expression—both individually and collectively—as a path toward well-being.

Unlike single-modality creative therapies such as art or music therapy, Expressive Arts Therapy emphasizes the interdisciplinary use of multiple art forms in an integrated, holistic process.

Program Overview

The Expressive Arts Therapy Graduate Certificate is designed to help mental health professionals integrate expressive arts into their clinical practice.

Students may pursue the certificate through one of two pathways:

  1. Post-Master’s Entry: Individuals with (or nearing completion of) a master’s or higher degree in a mental health field (e.g., counseling, therapy, social work) may apply directly through the Cratis D. Williams Graduate School.
  2. Concurrent Enrollment: Students enrolled in or applying to a mental health-related master’s program at Appalachian may complete the certificate concurrently by submitting the Request to Add a Program Form.

Admissions information and deadlines for the Expressive Arts Therapy Graduate Certificate

Program of Study

The certificate requires 15 credit hours of coursework:

  • 9 hours of required courses
  • 6 hours of electives

All courses are offered on campus in Boone, and students typically complete the program on a part-time basis over one year, taking one to two courses per semester.

For detailed course listings and requirements, see the Graduate Bulletin.

Professional Credentials

The Expressive Arts Therapy certificate equips graduates to use creative and artistic modalities within mental health settings. However, completion of this program alone does not qualify individuals as Expressive Arts Therapists.

Graduates seeking to use the title Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) must complete the application and approval process through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA).

Program History

The Expressive Arts Therapy program at Appalachian State University began in 1985 under the leadership of Dr. Sally Atkins, then a faculty member in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling.

Dr. Atkins’ course Therapy and the Expressive Arts invited students to explore how creative processes support therapeutic practice. Collaborating with faculty across disciplines—dance, music, poetry, dreamwork—she cultivated an interdisciplinary, community-based approach that remains central to the program today.

In 1997, these collaborations gave rise to the Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective, which helped establish both the Expressive Arts Therapy concentration within the M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and the Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy.

Program Philosophy

The Expressive Arts Therapy program at Appalachian fosters a community of learning grounded in respect, creativity, and personal growth.

We emphasize intellectual and personal challenge within a collaborative environment where individual and cultural differences are honored and the creative process is viewed as integral to healing and transformation.

Core Premises

  • Expressive Arts Therapy is a collaborative process between therapist and client, artist and scientist, teacher and student.
  • The work is holistic, emphasizing health and well-being over diagnosis.
  • Art-making and creative expression are inherently healing and growth-producing.
  • Creativity is a fundamental aspect of human health.
  • The practice is interdisciplinary, often layering multiple modalities to deepen understanding and perspective.
  • Expressive Arts Therapy is depth-oriented, offering access to unconscious material.
  • Body knowledge, intuition, and emotion are valued as legitimate ways of knowing.
  • Practitioners maintain personal creative practices for self-awareness and growth.
  • Art and therapy are understood as interconnected within community and culture.
  • The practice is spiritually grounded, offering space for meditative and transcendent experiences.

At App State, our philosophy is deeply connected to the natural landscape of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The cycles of nature—creation, elaboration, destruction, and renewal—serve as metaphors for the creative and therapeutic processes we explore together.

Orchesis Alliance

Orchesis Alliance is a student organization designed to bring together a therapeutic expressive arts community. This alliance gives students of various therapeutic fields the opportunity to learn about therapeutic expressive arts practices through experiential participation. It strives to provide students with a space for meaningful, authentic expression. 

Through participation in events at Appalachian State University and the greater community, Orchesis aims to elevate the awareness and understanding of expressive arts therapy and its benefits. Orchesis is a Greek word meaning "a moving ensemble."

Find Orchesis Alliance events and activities on Engage

Expressive Arts Gallery

The Expressive Arts Gallery is a rotating gallery that changes each year, coordinated by the current members of Orchesis, App State's Expressive Arts club. 

Visitors can see the gallery displayed on the 2nd floor of the Reich College of Education Building - just outside the elevators. 

The theme of the 2025 gallery installation is Nature Connects Us.

Two people sitting at a table working with magazines and papers in a classroom setting.

Invest in the Future of Education

Support Expressive Arts Therapy at App State

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