What are the Healing Arts?
The healing arts are creative practices that promote healing, wellness, coping and personal change. Some more traditional forms of the healing arts that you may be familiar with include: arts such as music, art, dance/movement, poetry/writing, and drama therapies. While these may not initially jump out as being therapeutic, these approaches combine artistic expression with psychological awareness and communication, which can be quite powerful when led by professionals trained and experienced in both areas.
As we know, health and self-development can take many forms not limited to those mentioned above. Other activities that demonstrate a positive impact on the arts to health and healing might include:
- Mind-body therapies
- Laughter and humor
- Meditation and spirituality
- Relating to pets
- Cooking or gardening
- Engaging in any creative process
- Making small changes in our environment
It is easy to see how all of the above contribute to your health and wellness in the broadest sense — not just the curing or healing of illness or disease — but improving your personal growth, self-awareness and overall flexibility when it comes to managing emotions in your day-to-day. When combining these healing arts with more traditional types of treatment, patients will often report higher satisfaction with their overall medical care. They are not only ridding themselves of illness or disease, but essentially becoming more rounded individuals with a greater sense of self-care skills that better prepares them to handle future times of need. Studies also indicate that healing arts and integrative therapies can fill gaps in treatment effectiveness, particularly for patients with complex, chronic health conditions and those seeking health promotion and disease prevention.
Where Can You Study the Healing Arts?
In Canada, Art Therapy graduate and undergraduate programs are growing in popularity. Institutions featuring Art Therapy programs include:
- Prairie Institute of Expressive Arts Therapy
- St. Stephen’s College
- Concordia University
- Kutenai Art Therapy Institute
- Toronto Art Therapy Institute
- ISIS CANADA
- Vancouver Art Therapy Institute
- Langara College
More information on these programs including who to contact regarding enrollment requirements can be found by clicking HERE.
For those who prefer a hands-on approach to healing arts education, Studio Chi provides a number of training and workshop programs. These include Shiatsu Practitioner & Shiatsu Therapist diploma programs, acupressure training, Reiki and tuning fork certificate programs. Studio Chi offers a warm atmosphere, encouraging respect, communication, safety and confidentiality for everyone. As alternative healing modalities gradually gain greater recognition and acceptance, the ancient practice of shiatsu and acupressure is becoming a vital hands-on component within the future of our healthcare system.
Why Study the Healing Arts? Potential Career Options
As we’ve discussed in detail above, there are many exciting training opportunities for careers in healing arts today.
Careers in healing arts like shiatsu therapy, acupressure, and sound therapy and so much more. Depending on the career path you choose, the potential for income and overall professional development will vary. In cases where a client/patient may expect or require alternatives to conventional medicine practices, you may wish to supplement with additional training and education in the holistic health services area.
If you (or someone you know) are interested in learning more about these or other healing arts programs, get started with professional training within this fast-growing industry!
