"Expressive Arts Therapies" with Mavis Wong

My guest on the podcast this week is Mavis Wong. Mavis grew up in Hong Kong before spending time studying in Australia, United States, Singapore and Europe. She currently lives and works in Hong Kong as a registered Expressive Arts Therapist, musician, and founder of Expressive Arts Lab, experts in integrated music and visual arts education programs.  Mavis has a long list of qualifications, including but not exclusively, a Registered Art Therapist, Master of Expressive Arts Therapy, Bachelor of Multimedia Design and Piano Performance from Royal School of Music in London Mavis offers a personalized expressive arts approach to support, educate different communities and promote mental health through diverse arts experiences. Her clients include, but not exclusively, those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) children, cancer survivors, stroke patients, and dementia patients. Expressive Arts Therapy is a unique form of psychotherapy, mainly through music, visual arts, drama, dance, and creative writing, to allow the recipients to express their inner feelings and thoughts effectively, and to find a way out of the problem with the assistance and guidance of the therapist, helping to improve their social interaction, emotion recognition, and expression. ​ Mavis goes into detail in the podcast.Timings Mavis 3:40 I grew up in HK …  I graduated with a degree in expressive arts therapy from Hong Kong… double degree in Music and Visual Art…5:32 I am a Registered Expressive Art Therapist, Musician and a founder of my own company… 7:19 My clients are special education needs students …Autism, ADHD and sometimes …stroke patients… and dementia elderly7:41 Expressive Art Therapy is a multi-modal Intervention Approach  - Integrating psychology with various art modalities11:10 We mainly focus on the process… they will gain the power of self healing… we are non-judgmental about the art work… we focus on the process…13:20 We try to use different art modalities… we do have an eight week program… the objective is modulated to fit the client17:24 The therapeutic effect will be more obvious if you do an eight week intervention…16:13 I come up with the objective with the school: Social Interaction and Emotional regulation first…23:31The main experience is the Art… 24:42 We come back to the comfort zone… explore the classroom… imagine….leads to the art creation…28:43 [Choice] For dementia, elderly and stroke patients its like “Treasure” … 32:02 We will keep inviting them… to be part of the group… 34:52 Creativity is connecting … in their brain…36:29 [Routines]A cup of tea, …I’m trying to stay healthy…37:40 I keep practicing different instruments… Piano, Violin and the Ukulele…40:22 [Zoom] Zoom lessons are a challenge…41:59[Setback] My first business is a Music and Arts Centre… we try to use the “ Dalcroze  Eurthymics”….. this is a milestone why I choose Expressive Art Therapy…44:42 [Overwhelm] I will play my piano – it really helps… relax, calm down (Bach) for excitement (Jazz) it’s my comfort zone…46:57 [Becoming Focused] Eating – I like Eating… energy comes into my body…Books : Dalcroze Eurthymics Method  Books :Expressive Arts Therapies : For General UseContact Mavishttps://www.expressiveartslab.comEmail: [email protected] Vincent:Newsletter: https://vincent1cd.substack.comPodcast: https://overfortywellness.buzzsprout.comPro Coach:  https://procoach.app/vincent-hiscoxEmail: [email protected]: Vincent Hiscox