About Us

CTAA was formed in late 1995. A detailed document that chronicles our history is available at the preceding link.

CTAA is an integrative umbrella organisation which includes creative therapists, community art workers and people interested in using creative media in education, rehabilitation, health, community health, counselling and psychotherapy.

CTAA has four main aims:-

• To promote creative therapy in New Zealand.
• To bring creative therapists and people interested in creative-expressive therapies together to provide support, personal growth and professional stimulation.
• To form a group to move towards establishing training opportunities.
• To work towards developing professional standards.

What is Creative Therapy ?

Creative therapy includes music therapy, drama therapy, psychodrama, art therapy, dance therapy and other therapies.

Creative therapy is a healing process that offers at least three ongoing relationships: client/self; client/creative medium; client/therapist.

Creative therapy can be a highly effective tool for people with issues such as:

• resolving grief
• addressing physical and learning difficulties
• mastering personal crisis
• improvement of relationships
• development issues/ difficulties
• stress
• physical and emotional trauma
• mental illness
• addictions
• family problems
• improvement of social skills
• depression
• environmental pressures
• improvement of self esteem
• aspects of spirituality
• improvement of self image
• life transitions
• death and the dying process

The creative therapy process actively engages the needs, feelings and thoughts that underly conscious and unconscious behaviour.

Creative therapy helps people explore, express and give form to their needs and feelings.

Creative-expressive therapists offer their clients psychological safety while helping them explore choices within creative-expressive processes.

Creative therapy can include using creative-expressive media for personal development and self discovery for the purpose of assessment, formulation, diagnosis and treatment.