In today's social work practice, professionals increasingly encounter individuals facing various challenges and difficulties. It is crucial for social workers to transcend traditional boundaries that can be limiting and insufficient and seek new ways to provide assistance. Expressive and creative arts media, such as music, movement and dance, visual arts, photography, theatre, and fairy tales, offer a unique opportunity to transcend verbal expression and enable individuals to communicate their emotions and inner selves beyond words. Through a qualitative analysis of obtained results gathered from nine social workers actively utilizing expressive and creative arts media in their practice insights were gained into the application of creative approaches in the field of social work, their effects, advantages, limitations, as well as into the necessary competencies and knowledge required by social workers. It was discovered that social workers employ various expressive and creative arts media tailored to the needs, competencies, and preferences of the individuals they work with, as well as based on their professional judgment and expertise. The primary purposes of using these media are to facilitate expression, explore the user's life world, co-creating desired solutions, promote emotional calming, and yield positive outcomes such as increased self-confidence, relaxation, enhanced connectedness, improved collaboration, and self-reflection. The utilization of arts-based interventions strengthens the relationship between social workers and individuals, fostering a sense of safety and trust, thereby facilitating greater openness and receptiveness. However, the use of expressive and creative arts media also presents challenges, including organizational and procedural aspects, content-related issues, personal challenges, and initial resistance from individuals towards engaging in artistic approaches within the process of support and assistance. To utilize expressive and creative arts media, social workers must possess knowledge and skills effectively and appropriately in social work and have some familiarity with the field of socio-cultural work. While creative approaches may be introduced during formal education at the Faculty of Social Work, there is a need for further self-education and participation in professional training opportunities. Social workers emphasize the necessity for curriculum adaptations at the Faculty of Social Work and increased availability of training programs specifically focused on arts-based interventions. Such training should be tailored to the profiles of social workers and be easily accessible and decentralized.
|
