Join Us to Learn More About the Expressive Therapies Continuum!

9 Hours of Continuing Education Provided in this Course

The Expressive Therapies Continuum is a valuable framework for thinking about and applying expressive arts therapy to our work with people with all ages. But has the discussion and research really included all the expressive arts? It is a framework that was developed in 1978, a visionary model for ALL the expressive therapies, not just art therapy. This short course expands our understanding of the original ETC, bringing it into the 21st where neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, attachment work, cultural values, neurodiversity, and lived experiences are important impacts on this framework.


While this model defines many components of expressive work, let's all admit the books, articles, and presentations of the ETC often leave practitioners confused. We hope this short course will clarify and expand the Continuum, taking into consideration contemporary psychotherapy and arts-based approaches. In order to apply the ETC to expressive arts therapy in the 21st century, we need to be inclusive of context, intersectionality, brain-body research, arts-based research, and cultural values, beliefs, and definitions.


Information About This Course!

  • Overview of the Webinar Series

    Three 75 minute sessions, with lecture and brief hands-on experiential work, networking and break-out rooms, and Q and A.

  • When Are the Live Sessions?

    Sessions on Tuesdays, July 8, 15, and 22, 2025, from 12 noon to 1:15 pm EST.

  • How Many CE or PD Hours Are Included?

    9 Continuing Education/ Professional Development Hours are included in your registration fee, upon completion of the live webinar series, and final evaluation forms. We will update this page with specific continuing education information for counselors, psychotherapists, creative arts therapists, expressive arts therapists, and other practitioners.

  • Is There a Certificate of Completion for My Course?

    Certificate of Completion and can be applied to EXAT and EXA-CE designations or applied to working toward your REAT credential

  • What Else Should I Know?

    Watch live, network with others, talk to faculty...or watch on your own time and enjoy unlimited access to replays. Your choice!

  • Our Webinars Are Interactive!

    And access to the Thinkific course site where we put together resources, links, articles, films, and more for your multidimensional learning experience.

Institute Faculty

Institute Faculty Cathy Malchiodi PhD

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT, REAT is a research psychologist, a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and a licensed mental health counselor and licensed professional art therapist. She is the executive director of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute and is an investigator with the US Department of Education, integrating trauma-informed expressive arts into classrooms. She has also worked with the Department of Defense since 2008 to bring expressive arts therapy programming and psychotherapy to combat military and their families and Veterans with posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Malchiodi studied with Francine Shapiro and is qualified in EMDR Level I and Level II. Cathy has assisted more than 500 agencies, organizations, and institutions in developing trauma-informed programming including the United Nations, Department of Defense, Kennedy Center, Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins University. An international presenter and workshop leader, she given over 750 invited keynotes and workshops throughout the US, Canada, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. She has authored 21 books, including the bestselling Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process and Handbook of Expressive Arts Therapy. Her books have been translated in over 20 languages. A life-long learner, Dr. Malchiodi's latest research and practice includes sensory processing and neurodiversity affirming models of psychotherapy to address trauma through expressive approaches to intervention.

Instructor(s)

Institute Faculty | Supervisor Emily Johnson Welsh

Emily Johnson Welsh, EXAT, REAT, LPAT-S, ATR-BC, LPCC-S, RYT  has over 16 years’ experience providing expressive arts therapy support and developing resources in trauma-informed approaches and integrative wellness. She is a graduate of Lesley University’s Expressive Arts Therapy and Mental Health Counseling program in 2008 and is a licensed and board-certified art therapist, licensed clinical counselor supervisor, registered expressive arts therapist and a Yoga Alliance Registered teacher. As faculty for the Trauma-informed Expressive Arts Therapy Institute for over 10 years, she brings a current knowledge of expressive arts and body-based approaches that focus on building resilience and community. She provides technology-assisted distance supervision for those working towards the EXAT, EXA-CE, REAT (Registered Expressive Art Therapist), ATR (Registered Art Therapist), and LPAT (Licensed Professional Art Therapist in Kentucky).  Emily’s accomplishments in the field include presentations at conferences for the American Art Therapy Association, Buckeye Art Therapy Association, Kentucky Association for Play Therapy, and International Expressive Art Therapy Association;  authoring and co-authoring chapters in the book Art Therapy and Healthcare (Guildford Press, 2013) ; co-designing and co-facilitating the online artmaking workshop  “Art Therapy + Happiness Project;"  being awarded "Cure Champion" by the American Cancer Society for my accomplishments in bringing expressive art therapy and yoga programming to families fighting cancer. Most recently, Emily enjoys balancing her expressive arts therapies private practice, Art Yoga Love, LLC, serving children, families, and adults, with yoga studio ownership and teaching! She is also enamored with being outside, animals of all sorts, the wonders of parenting, and hopes to never stop finding gratitude in these daily adventures.

Instructor(s)

Institute Faculty | Supervisor AriAnna Carroll, LMHC, REAT, EXAT

Ari is a licensed mental health counselor, registered expressive arts therapist, and an EMDR certified provider. She is a certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator and is working towards completing all levels of training in the Oaklander Model of Gestalt Play Therapy. Since graduating from the Expressive Arts Therapy Program at the University of Louisville in 2004, she has supported groups and individuals of all ages in a variety of settings including schools, residential care settings, in-patient treatment centers, rehabilitation programs, and out-patient mental health therapy settings. Ari is currently in private practice, the first in Iowa to put expressive arts therapy at the heart of client care. She specializes in providing youth and family-based services, in addition to working with adults that have an interest in resourcing expressive arts. Ari offers technology-assisted supervision for those working towards the EXAT, EXAT-CE, and REAT (registered expressive arts therapist), encouraging growth through supportive dialog, inquiry into theory and approaches, and active practice of expressive arts modalities. As a life-long percussionist, she has a special interest in integrating rhythm and sound oriented approaches into therapy. As parent to a neurodivergent child, she is invested in continued learning relating to neurodiversity affirming practices and advocacy. She enjoys exploring the relationship between expressive arts therapy, neuroscience, and sensory-oriented insights, and how this informs practice that encourages wholistic engagement, integration, and healing. Her accomplishments include creating community-oriented therapeutic expressive arts programming for adults and youth, supporting those with interest in private practice development, certification in Rhythm 2 Recovery, a therapeutic method that integrates rhythm and reflection for social emotional health, and partnering with schools in support of neurodivergent children and families, serving as co-creator and facilitator in presentations and support groups for parents/caregivers of twice-exceptional youth within her community. Ari creates harmony between practice and play with her family, pursuing outdoor adventures and shared creative outlets, appreciating the journey ahead of the destination.

Course Curriculum

This continues to grow as we go along...

    1. Walkthrough the Thinkific Course site and Its Features

    2. ▶️ ZOOM LIVE + REPLAY Format: What to expect?

    3. Tech Support for Your Course Taking Experience!

    4. Syllabus, Goals and Objectives of this Course

    5. Special Note About Art Materials and Expressive Arts Experientials

    6. A Brief Overview of Expressive Arts Therapy and How it Works

    7. What is Expressive Arts Therapy?

    8. What is Trauma-Informed Practice?

    9. Seven Principles of Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy

    10. What is Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy?

    11. Reference List: ETC in the 21st Century

    12. Disclaimer

    13. Introduce Yourself Here!

    1. Expressive Therapies Continuum: The OG and Where It All Began

    2. Expressive Arts Therapy and a Basic Description of the Expressive Therapies Continuum

    3. Art Therapy and the ETC

    4. Vija Lusebrink and the Expressive Therapies Continuum

    5. Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn

    6. Three Part Harmony of the Expressive Therapies Continuum: Cathy Malchiodi

    7. What is the Scribble Chase Process?

    8. Download the Basics of the Scribble Chase Experiential Here

    9. Neurosequential Model and the Expressive Therapies Continuum: Bruce Perry Brain Framework

    10. Neurodevelopmental Chart and Arts Therapies

    1. ▶ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    2. PDF and JPG Versions of Handout for Session One Experiential

    3. Need Help Getting Through the Course?

    4. TOUCH: First to Develop and Way More than Meets the Skin!

    5. Pat Ogden Shares about Somatics and Reference's Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's work

    6. Research Download: Clay and sensory Kinaesthetic Engagement (2025)

    7. Research Download: Brain Activation Measured from Diverse Materials as Related to the ETC (2024)--First study of its kind!

    8. Article Download: Knowing Myself- An Art Therapist's Personal Exploration of the ETC (2025)

    9. The “Little Person” in the Brain Who Helps to Direct Our Movements

    10. Lecture Recording: More Background on the ETC

    11. Lecture Recording: Media Dimension Variables (MDV) Part of ETC Framework and Haptics

    12. Lecture Recording: Rhythm and Movement as Foundations

    13. REPLAY of Session One Experiential Live Zoom HERE!

    14. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's Developmental Movements Version of Wording Slide to Share

    15. Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! ---*Required

    1. ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    2. Handout Download for Use during Experiential

    3. The Evidence: Synchrony and Co-Regulation Through Novel Drumming Task

    4. Download this Research Article on Synchrony

    5. How Rhythm Shapes Our Lives

    6. Rhythm and Synchrony Basics: Presentation by Cathy Malchiodi PhD

    7. Telling A Story through Rhythm

    8. The 4 Functions of Rhythm in Expressive Arts Therapy

    9. Rhythm is Foundational to Human Interaction and Communication: A Developmental Perspective

    10. CBC Presents: Neuroscience Reveals how Rhythm Helps Us Walk, Talk — and Even Love

    11. Research Download: Rhythm May be Key to Linking Language and Cognition... (2022)

    12. Slide Graphic: Your Brain on Drumming

    13. Research Download: Beyond Syncopation: The Number of Rhythmic Layers Shapes the Pleasurable Urge to Move to Music

    14. Sounding on the Levels of the ETC

    15. Lecture Recording: Shifting, Functions of Expressive Arts, Senses and Circle of Capacity

    16. Lecture Recording: Sound, Embodiment and Sensory Integration

    17. Lecture Recording: Rhythm and Synchrony in Relationship

    18. REPLAY of Session Two Experiential Live Zoom HERE!

    19. Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! ---*Required

    1. ▶️ ZOOM Link and Supplies!

    2. The Expressive Arts Therapy Continuum by Sandra Graves-Alcorn | Interface with Play Therapy and Symbolism

    3. Article Download: The Role of the Expressive Therapies Continuum in Human Creativity in the Age of AI (2024)

    4. Research Download: The expressive therapies continuum and mentalization-based art therapy for individuals diagnosed with a cluster B/C personality disorder: A successful marriage!

    5. Article Download: Clarifying the Creative level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum: A different dimension (2022)

    6. Right brain or left brained? Not really....

    7. Video Presentation: Culture and Cognition

    8. Video: Cultural Neuroscience: How Culture Shapes our Brain

    9. RECORDING: Resilience, Capacity, and Sensory-Based Expressive Methods!

    10. RECORDING: Culture, Intersectionality, and Storytelling in Expressive Arts

    11. REPLAY of Session Two Experiential Live Zoom HERE!

    12. Please UPLOAD* and POST to Discussion! ---*Required

    1. Final Steps to Your Certificate

    2. Course Evaluation

    3. Regarding the Use of Material in this Course

    4. Certificate of Completion Qualification

    5. One Last Step

Starts July 8th- don't delay!

  • $159.00