Professional Applications of the Expressive and Creative Arts Certificate of 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 spiritual. Emphasis is on helping to support wellness, self-realization, and wholeness.

A Certificate of Graduate Studies (CGS) in the professional application of the expressive and creative arts is offered in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, and Expressive Arts.  The CGS program is designed for individuals who have a bachelor's degree in psychology, social work, counseling, healthcare, education, leadership, 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.

This experiential training program provides students with an opportunity to specialize in the intermodal uses of the expressive and creative arts in counseling, education, the arts, healthcare, the corporate environment, or any human service profession. This concentration is designed for students who wish to work professionally with individuals and groups to foster personal growth, wellness, and creative development. Combining this CGS Certificate in Expressive Arts with a Master’s degree in the mental health field creates a complementary path of study in Expressive Arts Therapies.

Our program utilizes multi-modal and intermodal expressive arts creative processes to enhance the range and depth of the training. The focus of this advanced 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 holistic counseling as well as a variety of other professional applications. Emphasis is given to the theoretical applications of each modality, and the scientific basis that supports the integration of the expressive 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 taking either the following three foundation courses:

• HLC-535 Introduction to Expressive Sound and Music
• HLC-582 Introduction to the Expressive and Creative Arts As Transformation
• HLC-584 Movement, Creativity Consciousness: An Introduction 

or by completing the foundation courses in the University's Expressive Arts Institute.

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

Admissions Criteria

Students must apply for admission into this CGS program through the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies and must be approved by the expressive and creative arts program coordinator. Acceptance into the program is competitive and based on a minimum 3.0 (B) cumulative grade point average on the graduate transcript, whether the degree is completed or partially completed. Students must have at least a 3.30 (B+) grade point average in each prerequisite expressive arts course.