Using Creativity to Make Practicum a Transformative Experience

Abstract

Students enter their practicum experience with the assumption that they will learn the skills needed to help clients. However, growth in counseling can be bidirectional; both the client and the student-counselor can benefit. The purpose of this article is to describe a creative arts assignment that helps students express how a client changed them, not just as counselors but as a person. We start with a review of the literature to elucidate the benefits of using creative arts in counselor education. The instructions for and logic behind the assignment are provided. Feedback and trends from three interviews with students who completed this creative arts project are described. We conclude by connecting the literature with the benefits our students experienced.

Keywords:

• creativity
• practicum
• internship
• counseling
• supervision
• classroom

Acknowledgments

This research was approved by the internal review board at California State University-Fullerton.