Connecting to the muses

The healing muses: research, theory and practice of creative methods in guidance and counselling

“…The first assumption is that one must be wildly creative to engage with arts and the second is that artists are a separate breed, doing their separate thing which seems unconnected with the realities of daily living. The articles in this and the previous special issue on this topic (Lengelle, Hambly, & Hughes, 2018), however, convincingly show that these stereotypes are false: engaging with the arts is not just the purview of the talented or the quirky and the arts are proving increasingly vital as an avenue for healing. In a recent newsletter review of the book "Creative Calling" by Chase Jarvis, Von Stackelberg (2019) writes, " … the big realization that's coming over the next decade is how important creative expression is for health, and that everyone should do some sort of creative work as close to daily as possible" (p. 1).…”

“…In a recent newsletter review of the book "Creative Calling" by Chase Jarvis, Von Stackelberg (2019) writes, " … the big realization that's coming over the next decade is how important creative expression is for health, and that everyone should do some sort of creative work as close to daily as possible" (p. 1). When writing the editorial, "Connecting to the Muses" for part one of this Special Issue on Creative Methods (Lengelle et al, 2018), we mentioned the importance of art and creativity in engaging the emotions and restoring playfulness to educational practice. In this issue, the articles show similar themes but are also impressive in the research methodology used, their ability to breakthrough aforementioned assumptions and their clear applications for practitioners.…”