In This Chapter
^ Finding out what creative therapies are all about ^ Exploring different types of creative therapy ^ Discovering what creative therapies can be good for ^ Examining the evidence
^ Knowing what to expect in a typical creative therapy session ^ Knowing how to find safe and effective therapists
Creative therapies utilise art, music, sound, light, movement, colour, and the placement of objects as forms of self-expression and for their therapeutic effects. These therapies have a long history as treatments for both mental and physical health problems and some are also used in conventional medical settings, such as hospitals and clinics.
In this chapter, I take you on a creative journey from clay modelling to psy-chodrama and demonstrate who and what these therapies may be good for and the evidence to support their use.
I let you know what each of the therapies involve and give you some tips on how to decide which might be good for you and how to find an appropriate therapist to guide you on your creative journey. At the end of the chapter I give you some creative tips, based on the art of Feng shui, that you can try out for yourself!
Finding Out about Creative Therapies
Creative traditions have existed since the birth of culture – even cave men and women drew in their caves, and all ancient tribes and civilisations have had music, dance, and other creative past-times as part of their lives.
Creative therapies Refer to creative expression via different mediums that is used for a therapeutic purpose. Take painting, for example, apart from painting for pleasure painting may be used to express difficult emotions or memories that are hard to talk about or to explore unconscious feelings.
An art therapist may help you consider why you selected particular materials, shapes, images, or colours in your work and to find out what insights your selections can give into your current situation. Sometimes, the creative act is healing in its own right as it can enable you to leave your troubles behind and immerse yourself in a playful and enjoyable activity that gets the creative juices – and the ‘life force’ – flowing.
Creative activities can also help you to re-connect with your Inner child. Sometimes with the pressures of study, work, family life, and so on you may forget how to play, and may lose sight of the joy that was experienced as a young child when you could just dabble in finger painting, build models out of egg boxes, or whatever! Creative therapies can enable you to step outside of your busy, stress-ridden life and remember the simple joy of letting time, and the world, slip by as you enjoy being part of a unique, creative process.
Completing creative works can give you a sense of achievement and can help boost your self-esteem and confidence. No judgement or competition is involved; the focus is on the Doing Of the activity, whatever the end result.
Exploring Modern-day Creative Therapies
The formal use of creative traditions in a therapeutic way has developed in the last 100 years or so to the point where creative therapists, such as music, art, or drama therapists, are now well-established.
Each tradition has its own special features, which I tell you about one by one, going in alphabetical order.
Art therapy Bibliotherapy
Colour therapy (including aura-soma)
V Dance therapy
V Dramatherapy (psychodrama)
V Feng shui and geomancy
V Light therapy
V Music therapy
V Play therapy
V Sound therapy
Art therapy
The use of art (painting, drawing, collage making, sculpture, clay modelling, and so on) to promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being developed partly from the work of Rudolf Steiner (see the nearby sidebar ‘Anthroposophical medicine’) and of European psychoanalysts and psychotherapists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Melanie Klein (see Chapter 21 for more on psychological therapies) and also from the work of the American educator/therapist sisters, Margaret Naumburg and Florence Cane. The term Art therapy Is credited to the UK artist Adrian Hill, who used art to aid the healing of himself and his fellow inmates while in a sanatorium with tuberculosis in the 1940s.
How does it work?
Producing artwork is said to enable difficult or suppressed emotions to be safely expressed. Art therapists are trained in psychology, imagery, symbolism, and non-verbal communication to facilitate exploration of difficult issues and an increase in self-awareness.
What’s it good for?
Art therapy is found in schools, clinics, hospitals, prisons, rehabilitation centres, and so on and has been used to aid a wide range of mental, emotional, and physical imbalances and also as a form of stress relief or a self-development tool. The good news is that you don’t have to have any specific artistic talent to benefit from this therapy!
What’s the evidence?
Art therapy is now an accepted profession in several countries, including the UK and US. It has been studied extensively and appears to be helpful in various contexts, such as helping children with behavioural or emotional problems, assisting adults with relationship issues, and aiding people with addictions and mental health problems.
How can I find an art therapist?
British and American art therapy associations have been in operation since the 1960s, and offer a wealth of information:
V British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT): Www. baat. org
V American Art Therapy Association (AATA): Www. arttherapy. org
In the UK, art therapy has been registered as a ‘Profession Supplementary to Medicine’ in the NHS since 1997. A recognised training and membership of the BAAT are a requirement for employment.
Within NHS settings, art therapy is free but some art therapists also work privately. Art therapy is also offered as part of anthroposophical medicine.
Bibliotherapy
The roots of bibliotherapy are unknown but it seems to have grown out of psychotherapist Anna Freud’s work on play therapy (discussed later in this chapter). Bibliotherapy involves the use of literature (normally books, but nowadays also writing, film, theatre, and so on) in a therapeutic way to help resolve trauma or emotional problems.
Rudolf Steiner, a highly innovative philosopher and educator, whose work spanned the fields of medicine, education, agriculture, culture and spiritual thought in the 20th-century, coined the term Anthroposophy, To describe a new form of ‘spiritual science’.
Steiner believed that medicine should treat not only the physical body but also the subtle ‘bodies’ described by esotericists of his time, namely the Etheric, Or energetic body; the Astral, Or unconscious body; and the Ego, Or consciousness body. He believed that these aspects of the self could be reached through creative therapies
Such as art and movement and could be treated via homeopathic and herbal remedies. He also believed in the power of wholesome food and a healthy lifestyle, and he advocated Biodynamic gardening, That is, planting and harvesting according to the cycles of the moon. In fact, he believed that cosmic cycles had a profound effect on all life forms, influencing not only plant growth and potency but also human thought and feeling. Steiner’s anthroposophical clinics, schools, and medicines are popular even today although critics argue that there is no scientific validation for his approach.
Ira Progoff, a 20th-century American psychotherapist who studied with Jung in Switzerland in the 1950s, devised a novel creative therapy in the form of intensive journal writing. More than just noting down your thoughts in a diary, this method involves a series of writing execises designed to stimulate self-awareness and promote creativity. The exercises explore, amongst other things, relationships, career, health, dreams,
And the meaning of life! The technique involves creating a loose-leaf journal with sections for dialogue, remembrances, meditations, and so on. Today, Progoff’s method is used in clinics and prisons and by individuals such as writers, dramatists, and artists to stimulate their creativity. For more info, check out Www. intensive Journal. org.
Bibliotherapy may involve using a story of a real-life trauma situation to help people work through their own feelings on the issue. For example, children suffering from the death of a parent, or separation from a parent due to marital breakdown, may find it helpful to read or be read a story about a child in a similar situation. Reading of the story may also be combined with play, art or drama therapy as ways of bringing the child’s own story to life. Alternatively, bibliotherapy may be combined with writing therapy, where the self can be expressed through the story’s characters, or journaling, where feelings can be expressed privately and then reflected on with the therapist later.
How does it work?
The idea is that children (or adults) can identify with the characters in the story and use them to explore their own current experience. The characters can also be used as models to introduce new or alternative ways of dealing with a current issue.
What’s it good for?
Both children and adults can benefit from bibliotherapy, and it is thought to be especially helpful for dealing with personal, family, or relationship problems, as well as trauma and emotional issues.
What’s the evidence?
Not a lot of research exists on bibliotherapy, so the evidence is mainly reports from individuals who’ve found it helpful.
How can I find a practitioner of bibliotherapy?
Among those who practise bibliotherapy are psychologists, creative therapists, and educationalists. Though no specific training or member organisation exists, you can find more information about bibliotherapy via The Bibliotherapy Education Project (Www. bibliotherapy. library. oregonstate. edu/ index. php).
Colour therapy (including aura-soma)
Colour has been used since ancient times for health and healing. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks both used colour in the form of garments, ornaments, wall hangings, drapes, oils, and ointments to treat physical and mental conditions. The ancient Chinese also associated colours with each of the seasons and internal organs and felt that different coloured foods had different effects on the body.
Ayurvedic medicine (see Chapter 5) and yoga have long regarded colour as a form of divine energy that is filtered through the body’s energy centres called the Chakras.
^MC9/> The great Persian physician Avicenna first devised a system linking different D^/^7"\ Colours to different diseases and using them as a type of treatment. At the ‘ s ‘ turn of the 20th-century, American Edwin Babitt, who had studied Hinduism and Ayurveda, compiled this knowledge into a huge text, The Principles of Color, And made this information available to Westerners. He also devised Chromatology, Whereby water is radiated with sunlight via different coloured filters and the ‘potentised’ coloured water is used for healing.
In the 20th-century, Rudolf Steiner also taught that different colours could influence mood, development, and learning.
Another great colour pioneer was the Swiss psychologist and psychotherapist Max Luscher, who devised a colour test that is now used all over the world. In the test, you order your preference for eight colours and your selection is used to analyse your personality and state of mind. Luscher believed that colour could be used for diagnosis and healing and this work has been further developed in the UK by Theo Gimbel.
How does it work?
Every colour has its own wavelength and frequency, and colour therapists think that each of these can affect the body in different ways. Colour therapists variously argue that colours can affect the glandular system, the functioning of the chakras, or the aura that surrounds a person.
Aura-soma is a type of colour therapy that uses an array of bottles that each contain two coloured liquids. The idea is that you choose four bottles, with each one representing a different aspect of yourself. The first bottle represents your life’s mission, the second your difficulties and obstacles, the third your progress on the path, and the fourth your future possibilities. A therapist then helps you interpret your choices. The therapy was developed by Vicky Hall in 1984. She was a chiropodist,
Herbalist, and pharmacist, then 66 years old, who had been clairvoyant since birth but whose extra-sensory abilities were said to have increased after she started to lose her normal sight. In a series of visions, she claims that she was ‘told’ to create this system from essential oils, herbal extracts, and spring water as a form of ‘soul therapy’. For more details, see www. auro-soma. net or to find a practitioner contact the Aura-soma International Academy of Colour Therapeutics on Www. asiact. org.
In a colour therapy session, you may be wrapped in coloured cloths, sat in front of a device that emits coloured light into a darkened room, or have coloured light applied to different parts of the body via a special torch.
What’s it good for?
Colour therapy is believed to help alleviate both physical and mental ills and may help relieve depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure. However, little scientific evidence supports this.
What’s the evidence?
A lot of work has been done on the effects of individual colour by Max Luscher and his associates in Switzerland and at universities around the world. These studies have shown that, for example, certain colours are exciting while others are calming, and this information is widely used in advertising and in commerce. However, the therapeutic and spiritual aspects of colour therapy have not yet been widely researched.
How can I find a practitioner of colour therapy?
Various types of therapist use colour therapy, and no one association regulates it. The Luscher institute (Www. luscher-color. com) offers training in Max Luscher’s methods while the International Academy of Colour Therapeutics lists aura-soma practitioners (see the nearby ‘Aura-soma’ side-bar).
To find out more about colour in general, log onto the colourful, fun, and informative Colour Museum site at Www. colour-experience. org.
Dance therapy
Dance therapy employs movement and dance, either one-to-one or in groups, to promote mental and physical well-being. Dance has always been part of many different cultures as a way of expressing emotion, storytelling, exercising, promoting co-ordination, and enjoying oneself!
Dance as a method for expression featured in the work of psychoanalyst Carl Jung and Rudolf Steiner. Modern dance pioneers such as Martha Graham also showed how free movement could be a vehicle for expressing moods and feelings. The Austro-Hungarian dancer, choreographer, and social activist Rudolf Laban pioneered dance therapy in the 1950s, in his work with industrial workers and sick people.
Various professional dancers have devised ways of using dance in therapeutic settings, notably Marion Chace in the US and the wonderful Audrey Wethered in the UK, under whom I long ago had the privilege of training in drama and movement therapy. Audrey was a private pupil of Laban, as well as a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, and she used his work to develop movement therapy with psychiatric patients, people with learning disabilities, patients undergoing psychotherapy, and maladjusted children.
How does it work?
Being able to move freely, alone or in groups and with or without music, can be an extraordinarily liberating experience that seems to free up the physical body and may also help release mental and emotional blockages.
What’s it good for?
Dance therapy has been used therapeutically in facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and schools with people with various mental, emotional, and physical difficulties, as well as a form of self-expression. You don’t need to be a good dancer or even have a sense of rhythm as freedom of expression is the key!
What’s the evidence?
A great deal of work exists that describes the beneficial effects of dance therapy, and scientific studies are now emerging. For more details on dance therapy research, see the research page on the American Dance Therapy Association Web site (Www. adta. org).
How can I find a dance therapist?
To experience dance movement therapy, check out the Association for Dance Movement Therapy in the UK (Www. admt. org. uk) or join expressive dance
Classes at the Laban School (Www. laban. org). In the US, you can obtain further information from the American Dance Therapy Association (www. Adta. org).
Dramatherapy and psychodrama
Dramatherapy uses theatrical techniques to promote mental and physical well-being and self-awareness. Drama has been used since ancient Greek times as a form of expression and catharsis (emotional cleansing).
Dramatherapy developed out of work by the Russian psychiatrist Vladimir Iljine, who developed Therapeutic theatre, Involving performance and reflection, and Russian playwright and producer Nikolai Evreinov, who used theatre and role play as a way of exploring human behaviour.
In the 1920s, Romanian psychiatrist Jakob Moreno, developed Psychodrama Using dramatic techniques in group therapy. Another dramatherapy pioneer was Peter Slade in the UK, who spent decades demonstrating how the therapy could be used as an important tool for expression and self-development, as well as to combat delinquency!
From the 1950s, onwards, occupational therapists working in psychiatric hospitals started to incorporate dramatherapy techniques in their work, as did some psychotherapists. Remedial drama, using drama in clinical settings, was established in the UK by Sue Jennings and Gordon Wiseman and also Audrey Wethered (mentioned in the section on dance therapy earlier in this chapter) in the 1960s.
Dramatherapy has been state registered in the UK since 1997.
How does it work?
Dramatherapy exercises enable you to explore thoughts, feelings, relationships, and behaviours in a novel way that combines role-playing with both language and movement. Techniques used include improvisation, role-playing, puppetry, mask work, theatrical production, mime, pantomime, and psychodrama.
Dramatherapy can give you a safe way of exploring new communication, social, or behavioural skills. It can also help build self-confidence and can be great fun to do, too.
What’s it good for?
Dramatherapy has been used with both children and adults to help deal with emotional, relationship, social, and mental health problems.
What’s the evidence?
Dramatherapy research is developing and studies have suggested benefits for autistic children, those with special needs, and adults suffering from mental health problems such as dementia, schizophrenia, and thought disorder but more research is needed. You can find examples of studies on the research page of the British Association of Dramatherapists (Www. badth. org. uk).
How can I find a drama therapist?
In the UK all registered drama therapists are members of the British Association of Dramatherapists (Tel: 01242 235 515; Www. badth. org. uk).
In the US, contact the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT) (Tel: (585) 381-5618; Www. nadt. org).
Feng shui and geomancy
Feng shui (pronounced Fong shway) Is an ancient art that has been practised in China, Japan, Tibet, India, and elsewhere from long ago to the present day. The word Feng Means ‘wind’ while Shui Means ‘water’, and Feng shui Relates to the balancing of energy flows in order to create a harmonious living environment and increase the chances of health, happiness, and prosperity.
In recent years, Feng shui Has become increasingly popular in the West where it is often associated with simply moving furniture around, clearing clutter, and placing wind chimes, gold coins, dragon symbols, or models of toads in strategic places in the home or office.
However, this rather trivialises the art of Feng shui As traditionally it was seen in a much wider context and intended as a way of understanding and building a harmonious relationship between humankind, the natural world, and the heavens. Feng shui Was used to understand subtle energy flows as a way of working with the natural landscape to arrange the best sites for buildings, burial places, and more, and of creating harmonious work, home, and public environments. Even today, many buildings in the Far East are designed and built according to Feng shui Principles.
How does it work?
In the same way that acupuncture aims to balance the flow of vital ‘life force’ energy, or Qi, In the physical body, Feng shui Aims to work with Qi, yin And Yang, And the five natural elements in the surrounding environment in order to create harmony and flow. (For more about the meaning of all these terms, take a look at Chapter 4 on Traditional Chinese Medicine.)
Geomancy, Which comes from the Greek Geo Meaning ‘earth’ and ManteiaMeaning ‘divination’, is a system for interpreting the shapes and patterns of grains of sands, scattered pebbles, or handfuls of dirt, or pencil markings on paper. The interpretation is based on both intuition and the actual positions of the pebbles and other materials and the patterns formed.
In the 19th-century, Feng shuiWas translated by missionaries as geomancy, but in fact the
Two are not the same because Feng shuiIs employed as a form of science, with complex calculations, to order environments rather than as a form of divination for answering questions.
Geomancy was popular in the Middle Ages as a form of fortune telling but was also sometimes used to decide the appropriate form of medicine for a sick person!
The state of flow, or Qi, Is assessed by means of two special tools, the Luo Pan, A circular compass marked in rings with astrological, date, and other details, and the Ba-Gua, A diagrammatic chart based on elements from the famous divination book, the I Ching, Or Book of Changes. The Ba-Gua Is superimposed on the room, building, or plot of land being considered to see if any of its eight sections, each of which correspond to a different aspect of life (such as wealth, family, career), is missing. If so, steps are taken to put this situation right by changing the structure or moving furniture.
What’s it good for?
Feng shui May be used for new or existing buildings, health centres, and clinics, and it is also used in the home.
What’s the evidence?
No real scientific research exists on Feng shui. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people feel better in homes and rooms that have ‘good’ Feng shui, And some reported cases exist of people’s health improving after their environment has been modified according to Feng shui Principles.
How can I find a Feng shui practitioner?
Many different schools of Feng shui And different organisations representing practitioners exist. Check out the type and length of training that a person has had and their experience in actually applying Feng shui In a real-life setting.
One of the most reputable schools, whose practitioners offer consultations all over the world, is the Imperial School of Feng Shui (Tel: 0208 950 8282; Www. imperial-fengshui. com).
For other UK and US Feng shui Practitioners and associations, enter Feng shui Practitioner into a computer search engine or consult Www. fengshui Directory. com or Www. fengshui-usa. com. (Please note: I don’t have any personal connection with these directories and am not endorsing them. I provide them simply as a resource and starting point in your search for a practitioner.)
For some self-help Feng shui, Have a look at the tip at the end of this chapter.
Light therapy
Nature Cure practitioners and Naturopaths (see Chapters 8 and 13) have for centuries held that sunshine and natural daylight are essential for health. Modern science has shown that this belief is correct, for we now know that some daily light exposure is necessary to stimulate the body’s production of Vitamin D (check out Chapters 8, 12, and 13 for other mentions of this) and also to maintain normal hormonal and mood balance. Recent studies have shown that lack of light during winter months can contribute to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which triggers depression and lethargy.
In light therapy, you sit in front of a light box or underneath a full spectrum light, both of which emit bright, white, and usually full spectrum light that has been filtered of ultra-violet rays (the ones that cause damage to skin and eyes). Alternatively, in heliotherapy (sunlight therapy – see Chapter 
you increase safe levels of exposure to natural sunlight.
How does it work?
As light passes through the eye, it travels along the optic nerve to stimulate the area of the brain linked to mood, appetite, sex drive, and so on. It also stimulates the pineal gland, which plays a role in regulating the body’s hormones. Light therapy is thought to help reset the body’s internal clocks and improve mood and hormonal balance. Natural sunlight also triggers Vitamin D production and has an anti-bacterial effect.
What’s it good for?
Light therapy has been shown to improve SAD, thereby relieving depression, lethargy, and appetite and sleep disturbance. Sunlight therapy is used to strengthen bones and relieve skin infections and respiratory conditions (traditionally, it was used as a part of the treatment for tuberculosis).
Light is measured in lux units. A typical sunny day has a brightness of around 5,000 to 10,000 lux. A cloudy day, or the average home or office interior, has light of around 500 to 1,000 lux. Light boxes used in light therapy vary according to
The amount of lux that they emit. 2,500-10,000 lux is needed for therapeutic effect. The higher the lux, the less time that you have to spend in front of the boxes. Proper UV filters are essential to protect your skin and eyes.
What’s the evidence?
A small amount of research evidence exists on the use of light therapy in the treatment of SAD, and a few studies suggest that it may be helpful for skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. More research is needed.
How can I find a light box?
Light boxes may be purchased for home use from reputable suppliers such as Outside In (Tel: 01954 780 500; Www. outsidein. co. uk).
Follow instructions with the light box carefully to avoid damaging your eyes. Also, don’t use late at night as doing so can make sleep difficult. If you develop eye sensitivity to the light, then decrease or stop use.
Music therapy
Music is a part of every cultural tradition and has long been used to uplift the spirit and for pleasure and enjoyment. The therapeutic use of music began in the aftermath of the Second World War when traumatised and injured soldiers reported feeling better after listening to music. The music may be listened to, played, or sung on a one-to-one level or in groups.
How does it work?
Music in different keys and rhythms has been shown to have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, respiration, and brain waves, as well as to promote relaxation and mood.
What’s it good for?
Music therapy has been widely used with children and adults with learning difficulties and mental, emotional, or physical health problems.
What’s the evidence?
Research has confirmed some of the physical and psychological benefits of music therapy, including decreases in heart rate and blood pressure, boosting of the immune system, and improved ability and mood in children and adults with learning difficulties, depression, and so on.
How can I find a music therapist?
Music therapy has been an accepted profession in the UK, US, and Australia since the 1950s. In the UK, music therapy is quite widely available within the National Health Service (NHS). For more information in the UK, contact the British Society for Music Therapy (BSMT; Tel: 0208 441 6226; Www. bsmt. org) or the Association of Professional Music Therapists (APMT; Tel: 0208 440 4153; Www. apmt. org). In the US, contact the American Music Therapy Association, (AMTA; Tel: 00 (1301) 589 3300; Www. musictherapy. org).
Within NHS settings, music therapy is free but some music therapists also work privately. Music therapy may also be offered as part of anthroposophi-cal medicine (see the ‘Anthroposophical medicine’ sidebar earlier on in this chapter).
Play therapy
Play therapy uses a range of creative techniques, including art, story telling, dramatherapy, puppetry, masks, clay work, music and movement, creative visualisation, and sand play (known as the Tool Kit) used particularly with children with emotional, behavioural, and mental health problems. The therapy is based on principles developed since the 1960s, by Virginia Axline, Violet Oaklander, and others who were influenced by the work of different psychologists.
British paediatrician Margaret Lowenfield, working in the 1920s, was responsible for developing sand play therapy as a tool in its own right. Her work was further developed in Switzerland by a Jungian therapist, Dora Kalff, in the 1950s. Basically, you’re presented with a tray of sand and a host of toys and figurines and
Allowed, through free-play, to create any forms or patterns that you want in the sand and any arrangement of the toys and figurines. The therapist sees the end result as a reflection of your inner state and can analyse it. Both adults and kids can play! For more information, see www. Sandplay. org and Www. sandplay. net.
How does it work?
Through play, children can express their emotions and perspective of the world and can learn new ways of communicating and behaving.
What’s it good for?
Play therapy may help children with emotional, behavioural, and mental health problems and adults with emotional and relationship issues.
What’s the evidence?
Quite a body of research by psychologists and play therapists supports the use of these techniques.
How can I find a play therapist?
In the UK, contact the British Association of Play Therapists (BAPT; Tel: 01932 828638; Www. bapt. info) and Play Therapy UK (PTUK; Tel: 01825 712312; Www. playtherapy. org. uk). In the US, contact the Association for Play Therapy (Tel: 00 1559 252 2278; Www. a4pt. org).
Sound therapy
Sound therapy uses sound waves at different frequencies for their reputed therapeutic effect on both the body and the mind. Devices may be used to apply these sound waves to the body’s tissues. Alternatively, chanting may be used, as per the as Tibetan, Mongolian, and Hindu traditions.
Machines that emit sound waves for therapy have been in use since the 1950s. More recently, computer and sound recording technology have been used to create tapes and CDs that you can listen to at home as a form of sound therapy. Sound and listening therapies in use today include the following:
Tomatis method: A type of listening therapy devised by French ear, nose, and throat specialist Alfred Tomatis in the 1950s, this therapy uses an Acoustic ear That plays certain sounds into the ear via headphones, causing the muscles to contract and re-training the ear – a kind of ear gymnastics, if you like! For more information, see Www. tomatis-group. com or Www. tomatis. com.
Auditory integration training (AIT): Devised by Dr Guy Berard, also a French ear, nose, and throat specialist, after working briefly with Alfred Tomatis. He went on to develop his own Ears education and retraining system; See Www. drguyberard. com. (For an interesting comparison of
Tomatis and AIT, see Www. autismwebsite. com/ari/treatment/ tomatis. htm.)
Johansen auditory discrimination training: Known as Auditory discrimination training (ADT) In Europe and Hemisphere specific auditory stimulation (HSAS) In the US, this therapy was developed by Danish educationalist Dr Kjeld Johansen over the last 35 years. It involves listening to specially recorded tapes designed to stimulate nerve pathways to the areas of the brain concerned with language ability. For more, see Www. johansen Soundtherapy. com or Www. dyslexia-lab. dk.
I SAMONAS (spectrally activated music of optimal natural structure): This type of listening training, devised by German physicist, sound engineer, and musician Ingo Steinbeck, involves listening to CDs (of music and natural sounds) at home to heal auditory dysfunction. For more, see
I Cymatics: This therapy developed out of work by the Swiss scientist Hans Jenny (he coined the term from the Greek Kyma, Meaning ‘wave’, and Ta kymatica, Meaning ‘related to waves’), and his demonstrations of how sand crystals order themselves into beautiful patterns when vibrated on a metal plate by sound waves. Dr Peter Manners, a UK doctor who met Jenny, believed that sound waves could have a similar effect in ordering the function of human cells. He developed Cymatics therapy, Also known as Bioresonance, Which involves using sound to transform unhealthy tissue back into healthy tissue. This therapy is done by means of devices that emit a specific healing frequency over affected parts of the body. For more, see Www. cymatics. org. uk.
I Vibrational sound therapy: This therapy was created by French musician and acupuncturist Fabian Maman, who devised a method for using tuning forks and coloured lights instead of needles on acupuncture points and along the spine. For more, see Www. tama-do. com.
I Physioacoustic methodology (PAM): This therapy involves computer-generated sound waves played through speakers into a special chair in which you sit – basically musical furniture! – and was devised by Scandinavian music therapist Petri Lehikoinen. For more details, see
Www. soundwavetherapy. co. uk.
I Functional orientated music therapy (FMT): Devised by another Scandinavian music therapist, Lasse Hjelm, this therapy uses musical codes and patterns to improve physical and psychological function. For further information, check out Www. fmt-metoden. se/engfmt/fmt. htm.
I Overtone chanting: This therapy comes from central Asia and is a form of throat singing using just one note to resonate through the cavities of the throat, mouth, and nose. It is widely used by Tibetan and Mongolian monks and was introduced to the West by the composer Karl Stockhausen. For more, see Www. jillpurce. com.
I studied sound therapy with Fabian Maman when he first visited the UK many years ago. He gave us a series of lectures and had us all out in the park performing his unique form of Qi Gongmovement therapy, Tao Yin Fa, Much to the bemusement of passers by! He also offered private sessions to find your ‘fundamental note’ – everyone is supposed to have one – by which he used a combination of tuning forks and intuition
To find the note that most resonated with me and which would ‘help empower the cells in my body’. To be honest this note didn’t seem to make a huge difference to me and I was never quite sure what to do with it nor how much the note varies from person to person and what that may mean. However, several other versions of fundamental sound now exist and proponents claim that it can be a useful tool in therapy.
How does it work?
Sound frequencies are absorbed and reflected by various body tissues as well as received via the ears (for example, they’re used in the making of ultrasound images). Practitioners believe that therapeutic frequencies can be used to improve physical and mental function and to affect certain physical systems such as slowing down the heart rate and lowering blood pressure.
What’s it good for?
Sound therapy has been used extensively for children with autism, learning difficulties, and developmental delays. Listening therapies have also been used by actors and singers to enhance their voice and communication skills.
What’s the evidence?
None of the above therapies have been conclusively verified in clinical trials, although quite a lot of research is available for review on Dr Guy Berard’s auditory integration training Web site (Www. drguyberard. com).
How can I find a sound therapist?
Refer to the list earlier in this section of therapy methods available, which includes Web links to direct you to practitioners of each therapy.
Experiencing Creative Therapies
The cost for the various types of creative therapy varies from free (such as art therapy or drama therapy available on the NHS in the UK) to several hundred
Pounds for some of the sound therapy trainings. The number of sessions varies from one-off to repeated sessions over some years.
If you’re dissatisfied with your treatment, talk things over with your therapist or make a complaint to whatever professional body your therapist may belong.
Helping Yourself with Creative Therapies
Try applying some simple Feng shui Principles to enhance your home or work environment.
Clear clutter as much as possible. Clear work surfaces at the end of the
Day, empty waste baskets, remove debris from the floor, and hang clothes back in wardrobes. You’re also supposed to sleep better if you don’t keep things under your bed!
I Position yourself well. At work, try to place your chair against a wall to provide yourself with comfort and support, and seat yourself so that you have a good view of the door or overall office. Don’t place high shelves or books above your desk as these will ‘weigh you down’. At home, place your bed so that you have a wall behind you and a clear view of the door but make sure that your feet point towards a solid wall when you lie down.
I Add plants and water to your surroundings. Place living plants with rounded leaves in the room to enhance well-being. Avoid sharp-leaved plants as these are believed to create discord. Aquariums or water features, if placed correctly, can facilitate energy flow and prosperity.
I Spread light. Use mirrors cleverly to spread light through rooms and in dark corners. Avoid mirrors in bedrooms, however, unless they’re on the inside of cupboard doors.
I Repair broken items. Don’t keep broken items, cracked vases, and other damaged things in your home as these are believed to be damaging to the flow of vital energy. Repair them or get rid of them.
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M F you decide that, after reading this book, there is absolutely no way that «C You Can go on with your life without rushing out to become a professional massage therapist, I would just like to say… congratulations! You have made a very wise and dynamic career decision. One of the very first places this decision may take you is a massage school of some kind or another. Massage schools each have their own personality, history, reputation, strong points, weak points, and so on. Choosing the right school to spend some important, life-transforming time in over a period of several months or a year is not a decision you should enter into lightly.
Massage Schools in the US.
If you’re going to go to massage school someplace, why not gorgeous New Mexico, where you can hike, ski, soak in hot pools in the desert, and eat some of the best Mexican food anywhere? The Scherer Institute has had nothing but rave reviews from the press and from friends who’ve gone there. Now with a second facility in Taos, they offer a holistic experience that is unsurpassed.
Sutherland-Chan, 330 Dupont Street, Suite 400, Toronto, Canada; tel. 416-924-1107;