Professional Applications of the Expressive and Creative Arts Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies

The Expressive & Creative Arts Graduate Program offers integrative courses and training in the use of the Arts as a vehicle for personal growth, well-being, and transformation, for a variety of Professional Settings and Applications. As part of our holistic approach to education and wellness, courses present approaches working on levels of the physical, the cognitive, the emotional and the spirit. Emphasis is on helping to support wellness, self-realization, and wholeness.

A Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) in the professional applications of the expressive and creative arts is offered - in the Department of Counseling, Leadership and Expressive Arts. This CAGS is specifically designed for individuals who have a Master's degree in psychology, social work, counseling, healthcare, education, fine arts, humanities, or a related field from another university and would like to learn how to incorporate the expressive and creative arts into their professional work.

Students may combine this 15-credit program in expressive and creative arts with any of the Master of Arts degree programs to earn the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in the Professional Applications of Expressive and Creative Arts, including Salve Regina University's Master's programs in Counseling. This is not a substitution for the Clinical-level Mental Health Counseling CAGS.

Our program utilizes multi-modal and intermodal expressive arts creative process as ways to enhance the range and depth of the training. The focus in this Certificate of Graduate Studies program is on the integration of the visual arts with movement/dance, sound/music, and expressive writing as a tool for transformation and the evolution of consciousness. Attention is given to this intermodal approach and how the various modes of expression can be used in the fields of the helping professions as well as a variety of other professional applications.  Combining this CAGS in Expressive Arts with a Master's degree in the mental health field creates a complementary path of study in Expressive Arts Therapies. 

Emphasis is given to the theoretical applications of each modality, and the scientific basis that supports the integration of the expressive arts and creative arts into multiple contexts. The program offers students an opportunity for hands-on personal work. The ability to participate in this experiential work is an essential aspect of the program.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for the Graduate Certificate program may be fulfilled by the following:

1. Taking the primary foundation course, HLC-514 Foundations of Expressive Arts & Creative Arts As Transformation, or
2. Taking the following three foundation courses: HLC-535 Introduction to Expressive Sound and Music, HLC-582 Introduction to the Expressive and Creative Arts As Transformation, and HLC-584 Movement, Creativity Consciousness: An Introduction, or
3. Completing the foundation courses in the University's Expressive Arts Institute.

Students must apply for admission into this CAGS program through the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies.  Acceptance is competitive and based on a minimum 3.0 (B) cumulative grade point average on the graduate or undergraduate transcript and a minimum 3.30 (B+) grade point average in any prerequisite expressive arts course as it is completed.  Students must also have the ability to fulfill the requirements of the program according to accepted standards of the profession as deemed essential by the expressive arts faculty.

The application process includes a statement of interest, a professional resume, an official transcript of the master's or bachelor's degree, and two letters of recommendation.

If a student falls below a minimum 3.30 (B+) grade point average in any of the prerequisite expressive arts courses, he/she will not be allowed to take any further expressive arts courses unless the program coordinator makes a case-by-case exception.