همسویی و درمانی: دیدگاه ترانس شخصی هنردرمانی بیانی

Arts-based practices can help individuals to stay centered, aligned, present and alert to the moment. In therapies that utilize arts-based practices, the art making itself might be viewed as a vehicle to help create a therapeutic alliance or a therapeutic attunement. This article explores transpersonal aspects of arts-based therapy through the lens of theory and practice and the principles of play, improvisation, aesthetics, space, time, and mind/body connections. Other considerations explored here are aspects of experimentation, risk taking, discovery, and meaning making.

In the practice of expressive arts therapy many factors are often considered, such as principles of play, improvisation, aesthetics, space, time, and mind/body connections. The term “expressive arts therapy” is used here to describe an integrated approach to the use of the arts in psychotherapy. As Estrella (2005) explains, “Expressive therapists use a multimodal approach – at times working with the arts in sequence, at other times using the arts simultaneously, and at still other times carefully transitioning from one art form to another within the therapeutic encounter” (p. 183). The overriding consideration in expressive arts therapy is a sensitivity to each client's needs, rooted in the capacity of the human imagination to reveal creative solutions to complex problems (Knill, Baba, & Fuchs, 1995; McNiff, 1981 and Rogers, 1993). Other considerations utilized in expressive arts therapy can include aspects of experimentation, risk taking, discovery, and meaning making. In addition, intersubjective relational qualities of understanding, support, deep listening, a willingness to hold and give space, the ability to tolerate chaotic or unpredictable states, and empathy are integral parts of the therapeutic interaction. There is much written in the expressive arts therapy literature that focuses on transpersonal aspects such as spontaneity, heightened sensitivity to inner states (and outer observations), deep connectivity to self and other, and awareness of energetic and embodied shifts in consciousness (Halprin, 2003, Knill et al., 1995, Lewis, 1993, McNiff, 1992, Moreno, 1959 and Rogers, 1993). This article will look specifically at these transpersonal aspects of expressive arts therapy practice or what will be referred to as “therapeutic attunement.” In the therapeutic encounter it is the ability to stay centered, aligned, present, and alert to the moment that helps to create a therapeutic connection. It is in these connected moments that an alignment between therapist and client or a “therapeutic attunement” begins to emerge. This can be thought of as “flow” ( Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) or “therapeutic presence” (Robbins, 1998) or simply “play” ( Winnicott, 1971). It is this kind of mutual resonance experienced as connectivity, unity, understanding, support, empathy, and acceptance that can contribute greatly to creating a sense of psychological healing. The art of being with another person and listening to what is said and what is implied becomes an act of “tuning in.” In similar ways artists, musicians, dancers, poets, and actors are trained to open and tune their senses toward an authentic expression of the human condition in order to effect a kind of awakening in the witness, audience, listener, or reader. In similar ways therapists and artists are both looking to understand and “tune into” the human condition. As a therapist enters into the intimate world of the patient the artist enters into the intimate world of material, space, sound, and a deep connection with other participants. Before a therapeutic alliance can be established a therapist must become centered and aligned within him or herself (Robbins, 1997). As Robbins states, “As the process unfolds, I try to listen to my centre. This is the most authentic place that I can engage with another. It is the essence of myself and the source of my energy” (p. 32). If a therapist can establish a centered alignment then they can begin to engage with another individual on a deeper and more connected level and enter into a therapeutic attunement. Therapeutic attunement involves a kind of transpersonal, interpersonal, and intrapersonal connection. This article will look at the ways artistic engagement can facilitate this kind of connectivity through embodied awareness, improvisation, and play. Attunement Attunement is defined here as a felt embodied experience that can be individualistic as well as communal, that includes a psychological, emotional, and somatic state of consciousness. Attunement can also be thought of as “bringing into harmony” or a feeling of “being at one with another being” (Attunement, 2007). Attunement is most closely referred to in transpersonal psychology as a “unitive” experience, sometimes amounting to a felt sense of union with other people, other life forms, objects, surroundings, the divine, or the universe itself (James, 1902/1982). Attunement can also be compared to peak experiences, which have been defined in the transpersonal psychology literature as sensory and perceptual experiences that are typically short-lived, yet profound, and are accompanied by a sense of enhanced perception, appreciation, or understanding (Maslow, 1964). In this framework one may feel lifted out of oneself, in the flow of things, self-fulfilled, engaged in optimal functioning, and filled with a sense of connectivity to self, others, and the world. Episodic peak experiences have historically been reported in the anthropological literature regarding ritualistic arts experiences and specifically documented in trance dances and drumming (Eliade, 1964, Harner, 1980, Rouget, 1985, Tucker, 1972 and Winkelman, 2000). The psychologist Richard Erskine (1998) calls attunement “a kinesthetic and emotional sensing of others – knowing their rhythm, affect and experience by metaphorically being in their skin, and going beyond empathy to create a two-person experience of unbroken feeling connectedness [sic] by providing a reciprocal affect and/or resonating response” (p. 236). The literature of attachment theorists (Erskine, 1998, Gallese, 2001, Sonkin, 2005 and Stern, 2004) is where the term attunement most often shows up, such as “affect attunement,” “intersubjective attunement,” or “misattunement.” It is interesting to note that the term “misattunement” is associated with negative states or negative consequences in human development. This interpretation will be discussed in more detail below.

Artists, musicians, dancers, poets, and actors are all trained to tune into the rhythmic, in-the-moment flow in order to express something about the human condition. Spontaneity, heightened sensitivity to inner states (and outer observations), attunement to self and other, and awareness of embodied energetic shifts are some of the common links between expressive arts therapy and artistic expression in all forms. In expressive arts therapy, tuning into the moment creates an opportunity for the clear articulation of creative impulses to emerge and the possibility of achieving a therapeutic attunement. As one taps into creative flow, there are no mistakes, only new possibilities. When I am improvising at the piano the most important thing is deep listening. Each note has a story to tell. When I am fully in the flow it is as if a new energy has entered my body/mind connection. I am no longer thinking, but acting and reacting, deeply listening to the unfolding universal story. When I use art materials it is usually as an improvisational act. I tune into the blank paper or canvas, and then the material, the paints or oil sticks, or pencil. And then I simply begin, following the motion and the breath. I am again simply listening deeply and letting go to what is calling me next. As the image begins to emerge there is again a moment when mind and body transcend ordinary time and enter into a dialogue with the universal pulse. Again I am fully in the flow of the moment. As I tune in, there is also a moment when the image begins to call to me for what “It” needs. At this point the image is telling me “more blue here,” “long straight line here,” “swirls, red, black circle, left corner, right corner.” I am not a trained artist and my focus in using art materials is not to create a finished product to be hung in a gallery or sold at auction. My interest is in what the inner creative impulse is trying to communicate. Perhaps in another tradition it would be called listening to the voice of God, inner wisdom, or guidance. Jung called this process entering into the collective unconscious or active imagination. It is the same when engaging other modalities. In poetry I begin with the word and keep posting the next word and the next until there is a phrase, and then a flow, listening deeply to the emerging energies. Again I am opening to the inner divine, listening deeply to the rhythm and pulse. Again there is a transcendent moment when it is no longer mind or body speaking but perhaps universal spirit. The arts act as a vehicle for universal truths to be expressed. In all of these experiences I begin with my breath. We begin and end life with breath. Breath tells us that we are alive. Breath is our most basic rhythm. When we can tap into the flow of centered breath and we are open to following impulses as they arise, then the possibilities of altering consciousness present themselves. This is what most spiritual traditions continually come back to in order to facilitate a deeper, more meaningful, and awakened experience. In these times of rapid technological change and collective anxiety, paying attention to the continuum of images, sounds, stories, and movements that are constantly emerging from the deep well of creative impulse is an important way to remain fully awake and alive and approach life with all its uncertainty in new imaginative ways. In the therapeutic context paying attention to embodied awareness and playing improvisationally with material, sound, space, and rhythmic and arrhythmic energies can allow client and therapist to enter into a synchronistic flow, a mutual resonant field or a therapeutic attunement. This tuning-in process can prove useful for new growth and change to occur.