ICPPD is offering a one year professional diploma in expressive arts, described as ‘unique and pioneering in Ireland’. This programme delivered over 10 days is for professionals, or others interested in using creative processes to support expression with clients they are working with.
Christine Moran, academic director at ICPPD and an expressive arts facilitator, writes - “I have never been artistic; I have always been creative. I think we are all creative beings. We all have within us the ability to express ourselves in creative ways, as carpenters, technology designers, decorators, parents, entrepreneurs. In whatever roles we have in life we can find creative ways to solve our difficulties or express our creativity. As creative beings it is important to have means of expression or we get stuck and sometimes become ill. Our inner juiciness dries up, we abandon our playful, curious inner child. Sometimes we need to express things in a way that is beyond our normal knowledge. There are times when we need more than words to describe the multidimensionality of what we are feeling.”
Christine goes on to say – “As a child I loved nature, the feel of autumn leaves under my feet, the smell of cut meadow, the taste of ripe blackberries, the sound of wind and raindrops, and the sight of a majestic oak tree or a wren. There was a sense of mystery and magic and of being part of a bigger creative landscape.
"As a teenager I became acquainted with other aspects of creativity, singing, music, dancing. There was something powerful and electrifying, when I got in touch with my body’s rhythm, menstrual cycle, sexual attraction, survival, and the sensuality of being feminine.
"As a teenager negotiating the transition from child to adult is not an easy task. I remember my creativity and writing in a diary as a resource back then.”
Speaking about her adult life experiences, Christine says that poetry was a form of expression that supported her during a time of overwork and fatigue. “When we are exhausted, burned-out and lacking in energy we have lost our focus and our path, we need to gather our energies in our cauldron. We need to ground so we can recover.”
Speaking about the professional diploma at ICPPD, Christine says, - “Expressive Art is about art making, the process of self-expression through movement, music, dance, art, clay, writing and other media. These forms of expression are used as a way of crafting what is in our psyche, soul, as a means of energetic release for wellbeing.
"It is a privilege to witness and to hear the feedback from participant’s experiences of healing, connecting with self, rediscovering lost aspects often through enjoyment and fun.”
Contact www.icppd.com for details of this and all programmes at ICPPD.
