Creative Arts Therapies in the School Setting
There is no question that navigating services for your child through the school system is a daunting task! There are many services available and it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones will work best for your child. You may already be aware of the more well-known options, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, but did you know that your child could also have access to creative arts therapies in school, such as music therapy and art therapy?
What are creative arts therapies?
The term “creative arts therapies” encompasses a wide range of therapy based in artistic modalities, including music therapy, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and drama therapy. At Healing Sounds, we provide music therapy and art therapy.
What is music therapy?
Music Therapy is the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. Music therapy interventions can address a variety of healthcare & educational goals:
Promote Wellness
Manage Stress
Alleviate Pain
Express Feelings
Enhance Memory
Improve Communication
Promote Physical Rehabilitation
and more
(American Music Therapy Association, 2005)
Music therapy is a well-established professional health discipline that uses music as the therapeutic stimulus to achieve non-musical treatment goals. In special education and settings serving persons with special needs, music therapy is utilized as an educational related service to promote learning and skill acquisition (American Music Therapy Association, 2018).
What is art therapy?
Art Therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. Art Therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns. Art Therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensory-motor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change (American Art Therapy Association, 2017).
What do these therapies look like in the school setting?
Art therapy can involve a wide variety of materials and processes, from painting to weaving to sculpting, and more.
Examples of art therapy directives include going outdoors to make nature mandalas using found materials and doing projects like process painting in which students layer/add to their paintings each week, allowing the art to transform over time.
Music and art therapy may be provided as group and/or individual sessions, working on general goal areas or specific IEP goals.
Music therapy interventions may include singing, writing songs, lyric discussion, playing instruments, music listening, and more.
In Prince Edward County, Erin works with a homebound student with Williams Syndrome to address academic and pre-academic skills. The profound effect of music on people with Williams Syndrome combined with Erin’s expertise as a board certified music therapist brings this student significant success in tolerating sensory stimuli to access necessary life skills in an enjoyable way.
Last year’s art therapist finished up her time with Louisa County Middle School by engaging the students in a tie dying and weaving project. Through this project, they processed termination and how they will all stay together and connected.
How are these services provided?
Creative arts therapies are typically provided in school systems in one of two ways - either through students’ Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or through school or grant funded programs.
Daneyelle engages the students of Jouett Elementary School in a drumming and improvisational activity. She uses these activities to focus on impulse control, rhythm perception and creative play.
Healing Sounds currently provides programmatic music therapy and art therapy for the special education programs in Louisa County Public Schools.
Daneyelle has been working with the students and teachers in their elementary autism program for the past six years, providing group music therapy to each classroom. Each session is filled with goal oriented music activities that focus on impulse control, creative expression, sensorimotor and oral motor skills and emotional regulation.
Jillian provides group art therapy for special education students in the middle school, working on sensory engagement, abstract thinking, fine and gross motor skills, building frustration tolerance, emotion identification, communication, socialization, and more through art therapy interventions.
Erin uses a wide variety of instruments and visual supports to address academic goals in the school setting at CCPS.
Meanwhile, Erin provides individual music therapy services through students’ IEPs in both Chesterfield County Public Schools and Prince Edward County Public Schools.
These services are individualized and work directly on the student’s IEP goals in collaboration with their IEP team. Music therapists providing IEP services can provide services in individual or group settings, depending on the student’s needs, and may pull the student out of class or push into the classroom to work on goals.
Consultation from creative arts therapists is also available as an IEP service, and is incredibly beneficial in helping the IEP team best support the student by understanding how creative arts methods can be implemented throughout the day, particularly when the therapist is also working with the student directly.
Who is eligible to receive creative arts therapies in school?
Any child or adolescent enrolled in the public school system in the U.S. could be eligible to receive music and/or art therapy. Program-based services are provided at the discretion of the school, while IEP based services must be requested and assessments reviewed by the team before being written into the IEP.
How can I find out if music or art therapy is right for my child?
If your child has an IEP, request an assessment through the school system. Music and art therapy are related services, as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and clarified more specifically in a Q&A document from the Department of Education. The school will contact a therapist to conduct an assessment, then the team will review the findings of the assessment and determine if the therapy is necessary for the student to access their free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). If the team decides that the service is necessary, it will be written into the student’s IEP. For more information on this process, visit our page on IEP Music Therapy and contact us for additional guidance.