Based on the work of Lusebrink (1990), called “scribble chase” (an art therapy pro-cess also discussed in Chapter 4 in individual treatment) illustrates the various as-pects of the ETC and the mode of representation model proposed by Johnson and Sandel (cited in Johnson, 1999). Depending on how the therapist guides the process, this activity can also include multimodal work involving movement, music/sound, or storytelling and creative writing.
The activity begins with a scribble drawings created in dyads; the participants each take turns making a scribble with chalk on paper while the other attempts to follow the lines with another chalk. Because no specific imagery is intended, it usu-ally results in drawings with a maze of chaotic lines similar to those of a child’s scrib-ble. This initial experience is often perceived as playful and reminiscent of the kines-thetic/sensory level of the ETC.
Next participants are asked to take their scribble drawings and find images in them. Lusebrink (1991) notes that finding forms in the scribble and then adding ad-ditional colors, lines, and details to these forms first involves the perceptual level and may lead to other levels of the ETC, including cognitive, symbolic, and creative lev-els. To guide participants to experience other cognitive/symbolic levels, the therapist may encourage the individual to describe the images created, “talk with the image,”
or write a story or poem about the image. This sequence of activities, from movement-oriented scribbling to finding forms to developing a story, also reflects Johnson and Sandel’s continuum from kinesthetic to symbolic and lexical expression.
Other modalities, in addition to writing, may be used to help the individual explore and expand on the images created through the scribble chase activity. For example, Expressive Arts Therapy and Multimodal Approaches 115
the therapist might ask the individual to make a sound or movement for each image in the picture.
This activity can be adapted to groupwork by facilitating participants to com-bine their images into a single drawing or mural. At that point the group can be encouraged to create a story about the joint drawing or improvise a short drama or musical piece to express the content of their artwork. Participants might be encour-aged to make sounds or movements simultaneously and group dynamics, rather than person insight or expression, would be emphasized as a goal of the experience. Fig-ure 9.2 is an example of this group process; two dyads (four people) completed indi-vidual scribble drawings, found images in their scribbles, and finally selected several images from all four of their drawings to use in a group mural. The joint artwork is called “A Whale Out of His Element” and the group gave a short performance using dance, each member using simple movements to describe a detail of the mural.
Through this experience the participants were not only able to learn more about how they interact within a small group but also to expand on their understanding of the themes and images contained in their group art piece through storytelling and creative movement.
CONCLUSION
An expressive arts therapy or multimodal approach to art therapy capitalizes on the integration of two or more forms of art expression into treatment. Although many
116 CLINICAL APPROACHES TO ART THERAPY
FIGURE 9.2.“A Whale Out of His Element,” group mural using scribble images chosen by par-ticipants.
theoretical frameworks of psychology are used within this approach, expressive arts therapy and multimodal work are considered to have a unique philosophy separate from that of art therapy. However, although recognized as separate philosophy, ex-pressive arts therapy shares methods of practice that are similar to that of art ther-apy. A multimodal, art therapy approach to treatment, like other art therapy ap-proaches described throughout this text, offers creative modalities through which individuals can express thoughts and feelings, communicate nonverbally, achieve insight, and experience the curative potential of the creative process.
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