Expressive Arts as a Wisdom Path: A Journey of Creative Transformation

Step into a four-day immersive journey into the transformative power of expressive arts. In Expressive Arts as a Wisdom Path, you will experience the intermodal expressive arts process firsthand—moving from image to movement, movement to sound, sound to story, and story to meaning.

Schdule for April 14–17, 2026

• Tuesday 1-5 pm
• Wednesday 9 am - 6 pm
• Thursday 9 am - 6 pm
• Friday 9 am - 3 pm
  Rather than learning about expressive arts only through theory, you will enter the creative process yourself. Through this deeply experiential approach, you will discover how the arts open pathways to insight, emotional expression, and creative wisdom.
  As you move through the process, you will develop an embodied understanding of how expressive arts can support transformation—so you can more confidently bring this experience into your work with clients, students, or communities.
  In this training-retreat, the arts are not simply tools.
  They are guides.

Taught by Kathleen Horne, MA, LMHC, REACE®, REAT®, Tamara Teeter Knapp, MA, NCC, LMHC, REACE, Susan Paul Johnson, PhD., REACE®

Registration closes on March 31, 2026

Using Expressive Arts Florida Institute’s flexible five-step model, you will receive professional training in both therapy and facilitation in a way that is embodied, relational, and deeply integrative.

Training includes focus on group work (10 hours) individual work (10 hours) and applications in therapy and facilitation (5 hours)

This course has been approved for 25 CEUs for LMHC, LMFT, or LCSW in the state of Florida. For those licensed outside the state, we provide a Certificate of Completion that you can submit to your CE Board. Please review the FAQ section below for more information.

This training offers focused attention to group work and individual applications, along with practical approaches you can bring directly into clinical, educational, healthcare, spiritual, or community settings. Support and structure is provided to help you connect deeply with your inner wisdom in order to create that living thread in your work as a therapist or facilitator.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Experience and articulate the transformative impact of immersive intermodal Expressive Arts Therapy or Facilitation.
• Demonstrate fluency and confidence in sequential and layered modalities — including visual art, movement, music, voice, rhythm, drama, guided meditation, and nature-based practices.
• Understand and explore intermodal expressive arts as a wisdom path, recognizing its capacity to guide both life and professional practice toward greater wholeness.
• Apply and practice Expressive Arts Florida Institute’s five-step model of intermodal expressive arts facilitation in a variety of contexts, enhancing professional competency as either a therapist or a facilitator.
• Engage in multiple modes of learning—including small-group practice, whole-group experiential process, and didactic sessions—to integrate theory, experience, and reflective application.
• Contribute to and sustain a supportive community environment where shared creative practice, witnessing, reflection, and dialogue nurture personal growth, deepen awareness, and foster a sense of belonging.

We will gather in a spacious, welcoming setting with beautiful outdoor areas and a peaceful labyrinth to explore. Our central, yet quiet, location on the campus of First Congregational Church, provides a setting conducive to deep engagement and connection. Sarasota, itself, is a creative community comprised of galleries, studios, boutiques, and dining. The pedestrian friendly downtown streets and charming pocket neighborhoods are just a short drive away. We hope you will sample the diverse and colorful threads that create Sarasota’s unique tapestry of inspiring natural beauty and world-class arts and culture.

Many of our students choose to stay in Airbnbs, and there are quite a few great options available in the area.

If you prefer a hotel, several students have had a wonderful experience at Carlisle Inn, which is also the closest hotel to the venue.

If you’d like to stay downtown, here are two popular options:

• Aloft Sarasota (a Marriott International property)
• Art Ovation Hotel (a Autograph Collection property)

Both of these hotels are within walking distance of downtown restaurants, shops, and the bayfront, making them a great option if you’d like to explore the area.

To make your trip even easier, we’ve also created a discussion thread inside the course where students can connect with one another if they’re interested in sharing accommodations or coordinating rides.

- Emerging expressive arts seekers who are discovering this path and looking to deepen their understanding and practice.
- Experienced expressive arts practitioners and therapists seeking personal renewal, new skills, and innovative approaches.
- Therapists, educators, healthcare professionals, spiritual directors, coaches, and facilitators interested in integrating more creativity into their work.
- Artists in any modality seeking deeper meaning, connection, or healing through their art and well-being.
- Practitioners of creative arts therapy modalities interested in exploring an integrated, intermodal arts experience.
- Expressive arts students and professionals working toward registration with IEATA as a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT®) or Registered Expressive Arts Consultant Educator (REACE®).
- Licensed mental health clinicians (LMHCs, LCSWs, LMFTs) seeking CEU credits for ongoing professional development.

Our courses are immersive personal journeys, where you learn by experiencing. It is very important to us that the experience is a good fit for you. It is helpful if you have some familiarity with intermodal expressive arts before diving in, but it is not required.  
If you have no prior experience, that's okay, but we have created a comprehensive self-study course that will provide you with a thorough orientation to the expressive arts field and to our style of training. This course is a great place to start - Creative Wisdom: Introductory Online Training in Expressive Arts. https://programs.expressiveartsflorida.com/store

This program has been approved for 25 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT) in the State of Florida through the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling.
All students who attend the class and complete the assignment will receive a Certificate of Completion. For participants who are licensed outside of Florida your Certificate of Completion may be submitted to individual state or local licensing boards for review. Acceptance of continuing education credit is determined solely at the discretion of each licensing authority.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

First Congregational Church Of Sarasota, 1031 South Euclid Avenue, Sarasota, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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