ABSTRACT
Because spirituality is a felt experience, implementing experiential and creative strategies for understanding one’s experience can add depth and nuance to the discussion of spirituality. The use of creative arts in counseling allows clients to verbalize complex and difficult processes; this facilitates the process of understanding and integrating one’s perspective, while making the somewhat abstract nature of spiritual or religious experience more concrete (Gladding, 2011). Certain play therapy strategies, such as art interventions, allow clients to project conflicts and “big” concepts into contained spaces providing a greater sense of safety in working through the issues with which a client struggles (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). The authors describe the tactile experience of most play or art-based interventions often used to facilitate the integration of spirituality and trauma to promote healing (Gentry, 2014). Strategies for use with children and adults are explained and a case example is given.
