Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapy uses physical and creative activities that promote healing for our minds. It’s used alongside talk therapy to treat a wide range of mental and behavioral health issues.
From kindergarten through high school, we participate in varying arts and physical education classes. They’re invaluable in teaching us social skills, developing passions and hobbies, and creating outlets and releases that we can’t get from sitting in a classroom.
Experiential therapy takes the psychological benefits of these activities and applies them to the therapeutic process. Sometimes, when addressing painful memories and parts of our psyche, our minds can go to dark places. Experiential therapy provides a brighter place to work through the healing process.
Who Is Experiential Therapy For?
Nearly everyone can benefit from one form of experiential therapy or another. Because it’s used as a supplement to a robust therapy plan, it can benefit a wide range of mental health concerns. Experiential therapy is used when treating:
- Trauma
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Anger problems
- Grief
- Substance abuse
- Family conflicts
Much of what you learn during experiential activities are the same things you learn in many other forms of therapy. Things like mindfulness, relaxation techniques, finding healthy outlets, and communication skills can help a wide range of clients.
Even those not enrolled in therapy can benefit from many experiential therapy activities. In general, staying active and fostering hobbies makes us happier. And the activities of experiential therapy can be done even after a client leaves treatment.
What To Expect
While standard types of talk therapy are immensely helpful, many people react well to active therapeutic approaches as well. Experiential therapy involves working through issues through actions
It isn’t limited to one single action, so there are many activities that can be used in experiential therapy. Some of the more popular activities include:
- Acting and psychodrama
- Adventure therapy
- Art therapy
- Poetry and writing
- Equine assisted therapy
- Guided meditation
Nearly every type of talk therapy can be complemented by one or multiple activities of experiential therapy.
[physical activities and art are] invaluable in teaching us social skills, developing passions and hobbies, and creating outlets and releases that we can’t get from sitting in a classroom.
Acting Therapy and Psychodrama
These activities aren’t necessarily for everyone or every situation, as they involve re-creating some difficult scenarios. Psychodrama means acting out past experiences or interactions. By using it in the right context, clients can gain valuable hindsight that they can carry forward to apply in the future.
Acting therapy is often guided by therapists. They can encourage the client to change their perspectives of the past, or try to understand what happened on a different level. This can be done with the client acting either as themself, or as someone else involved in a situation.
Adventure Therapy
Often a part of recreational therapy, adventure therapy involves anything that gets a person outside and moving. This involves hiking, zip lining, wilderness excursions, rock climbing, and more.
Exercise has been proven to help with many mental health concerns. Among many proven benefits, adventure therapy can help clear a person’s mind and potentially introduce them to new, healthy hobbies.
Art Therapy
Many consider creating visual art to be therapeutic and relaxing, and that’s why it’s such a common experiential therapy method. Sometimes saying what you’re thinking or feeling out loud to strangers can be intimidating. When a person enters treatment, they may not be ready to disclose certain things.
Art is a way for a person to express thoughts and feelings in a safe way. It forces you to be creative about what it is you’re trying to show, which can help with changing your perspective about your circumstances and goals.
Poetry and Writing Therapy
Like art therapy, writing therapy forces you to be creative, and creates an alternative way to tell your tale on your own terms. It gives you more time to think about things and reflect.
Therapists often provide writing prompts for poetry, fiction, or nonfiction—all to help people consider different perspectives of their experiences.
Art is a way for a person to express thoughts and feelings in a safe way.
Equine-Assisted Therapy
Equine-assisted therapy is one of the more popular animal-assisted therapies. Clients learn how to work with horses by feeding and grooming them, leading them through an arena, or guided rides.
Horses are very in tune with human emotions and mannerisms from millennia of domestication. Caring for them requires a level of calmness and confidence, along with concentration and altruism. People suffering from mental and behavioral health problems can benefit from focusing their efforts on caring for a large animal.
While equine-assisted therapy is incredibly beneficial as an addition to talk therapy, horses certainly aren’t the only animals that can be used in therapy. Service dogs in therapy sessions help calm many clients and make them feel more at ease. Sometimes, people play with or care for shelter cats.
Guided Meditation
Meditation is an ancient practice used to help ground people, and help them become more mindful. A clear head creates a clear path for healing.
Guided meditation uses words, sounds, and smells to encourage clients to feel relaxed. When we reduce stress, we are more able to be mindful of our thoughts and feelings.
One way to encourage healing and relaxation is through sound baths. The sound healer uses a gentle instrument, often Tibetan singing bowls, that produce tones that promote comfort and healing.
Why Experiential Therapy?
Experiential therapy helps us put our guard downs and confront emotions and experiences in a more comfortable way. They’re able to alter their perceptions of negative emotions and experiences.
But experiential therapy isn’t just to make someone more receptive to talk therapy. Healing actually happens during the experience.
It Applies Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes different levels of what every person needs to thrive. For the most part, a person can’t meet one need if the level under it isn’t fulfilled. The levels are:
- Food and shelter
- Safety and security
- Love and belonging
- Esteem
- Self-actualization
Therapy based on this concept works to find a way for clients to fulfill those missing needs. Experiential therapy greatly contributes to the top two levels: personal esteem and self-actualization.
One can argue that experience-based therapy also helps fulfill the need for love and belonging. Many activities of experiential therapy happen in groups, creating bonds of fellowship that a person may be missing.
Benefits
The possibilities of what you can do during experiential therapy are nearly endless, and so are the benefits. Depending on the activities used and the mental health or behavioral disorders being treated, benefits can include:
- Improved self-awareness
- Better ability to confront ourselves
- Fewer negative emotions
- Improved problem-solving skills
- Improved communication skills
- Increased ability to make proactive choices
- Experience of alternatives to negative habits
When used in harmony with traditional talk therapy methods, experiential therapy can accelerate healing.
Experiential Therapy at Sequoia
Clients at Sequoia Behavioral Health will experience a number of healthy activities as part of an integrative treatment program. We utilize the beautiful backdrop of the Arizona desert for hiking and outdoor activities. In addition, clients will participate in yoga, art therapy, and sound baths during their stay.
Reach out today for a consultation. We offer a wide range of therapy methods meant to get you on the track you want to in life.