Adam Blatner

The creative arts therapies come  out of the healing traditions; and like psycho-drama (in which I’m involved), what they’re aiming for goes way beyond the sick role. The sick role is the idea that one is well and the other is sick and creative expression would be healing. But creativity need not assume anything wrong with one party, only that all people could do with some creativity expansion. It’s like “fitness.” Just as everyone could do with a bit of exercise, so also everyone can enjoy creativity expansion!

That is, the creative arts therapies have a market beyond therapy, beyond any suggestion that there’s anything wrong with people. But equally they critique the elitism of the arts. With the electronic media, creative people can enjoy whichever of the creative arts they choose to express their vision.
 
For those who are competent, this opens up a new market: People who may not with to be considered as artists, professionally. We are coming out of a time when one must invest great deals of time and energy—and have some remarkable talents—to produce art. But with the computer and the internet, people can find their audience and indulge their do-it-yourself hobby.

"Creativity Expansion" is a market for those who want to expand their practice—and this would allow people to choose what they want to explore—art, drawing, painting, fabrics, sculpture, movement, dance, poetry, drama, self-revelatory performance, etc. They can dabble in several modes. Most ordinary people feel the arts requires high degrees of effort plus talent, and they feel that rules them out. The art therapies bridge over, as if to say, "Hey, you can do something too. It doesn’t much matter how many people out there like it! What matters is that you expressed yourself!

Normal, healthy people need this too, for many reasons. It helps them to feel that they’ve "tasted" life in more ways! Most feel the best they can do is travel and see, but actually "doing" is more satisfactory in some ways. It’s not as expert, but people can say, "Hey, I did it!" I’m proposing the gradual establishment of awareness that there is and can be more of a hobby for everyone: creativity expansion.