Date: July 1, 2026
Hilton Bayfront, San Diego
Session summary
A creative workshop focused on reclaiming personal identity and subjectivity through expressive arts, specifically for those whose voices were silenced by coercive control.
Full Abstract
A hallmark of coercive control is the erasure of personal subjectivity and the inability to witness diverse responses to deep questions of identity as they are reflected in one’s own life path. Expressive arts therapy uses multiple art forms including movement, creative writing, drawing, painting and journaling to help people think individually about their life path. Expressive arts engages the brain’s ability to change throughout life, growth that builds individual resilience and identity by creating new neural pathways. Using the symbol of a branch of a tree, which the participants will draw, they will reflect upon areas of their life that need to grow as well as branches or pathways that need to be trimmed. Participants will be asked how the drawing helps them recognize positive growth and consider what stops it. The workshop has three aims: First, to remind participants that everyone is an artist, an identity they can recover through remembering when they were 4 or 5 years old and could draw, paint, skip, run, and sing, and play act imaginative scenes. A second aim of the workshop is to strengthen participants’ subjective sense of self through the use of I statements in personal responses to the exercises. A third aim is to create a circle of shared meaning among the participants through listening to the diverse subjective responses of others. The emphasis on individual subjectivity enriched through expressive arts, and diversity enriched through active listening to others, challenges pressures to conform and disrupts coercive control.
Speakers
Doctoral Candidate at Meridian University
Doctoral candidate in psychology specializing in expressive arts. With a demonstrated history of working With clients. Skilled in Event Management, Editing, Public Speaking, Fundraising, and Leadership. Strong professional graduated from University of Washington.
#arttherapy
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