Institute for Therapy through the Arts

Therapy Groups

ITA’s dynamic and engaging therapy groups use the arts to create an environment where peers are working collaboratively. Therapists help clients learn to accept the ideas of others and compromise, while creative arts therapy provides unique opportunities for clients to create and perform together through interactive music-making, story-creation, visual art projects and movement. Experienced and caring therapists promote dialogue between group members and address social skill development, facilitating opportunities to enhance empathy, initiation and cooperative play. Groups are formed continuously in order to meet the ever-changing needs of clients. ITA therapists determine if group placement is appropriate after the intake evaluation is conducted.

CBT/DBT Skills Training Art Therapy Groups
For Adolescents and Adults
The Institute for Therapy through the Arts is offering CBT/DBT art therapy groups for adolescents and adults on Monday evenings. This 8-part series will introduce a new skill each week and an art experience incorporating that new skill. CBT/DBT (Cognitive/Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Skills are beneficial in helping you manage strong emotions, develop healthy coping strategies and enhance interpersonal relationships. Art therapy directives offer a hands-on, process-oriented learning experience to develop strategies for emotional and behavioral growth and regulation.

Kids Can Be Heroes
Comic Art and Costume Play for Pre-Teen Boys
Be your favorite character while exploring self-identity, building self-esteem and developing social skills through the world of comic books, superheroes, and fantasy literature. Ideal for 10-13 year old males with mild to moderate emotional or social difficulties.

BEATS
Building Expression with Autism through Song
Increase attention and task-oriented behavior necessary for social and school environments through movement to music, instrument play, and singing. Ideal for children ages 3-5 with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Game On
Gameplay for Young Adults with Intellectual and Cognitive Disabilities
Discover the power of play. Have fun while using games as teaching aids to learn social and communication skills, team-building, and accommodation, collaboration, and flexibility practices.

TEAM
Therapeutic Expression in Adults through Music
Build connection with a close group of peers using your favorite music. Ideal for young adults ages with social communication difficulties and moderate intellectual disabilities. Group in inclusive of all levels of physical abilities.

Community Programs

The Institute for Therapy through the Arts (ITA), provides services to community-based organizations including hospitals, assisted living centers, residential communities, adult day vocational and workshop programs for individuals with neuro-developmental disorders, child welfare agencies, and healthcare and wellness facilities throughout the Chicagoland area. Services include:

• Art Therapy
• Dance/Movement Therapy
• Drama Therapy
• Music Therapy

ITA provides individual and group therapy sessions, which can range from 45-90 minutes in length. Services include a formal assessment, goal development, data collection and progress reports. ITA therapists are also available to co-treat with other professionals who work in community settings, including social workers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, counselors, psychologists, and physicians.
Community Programs in the creative arts therapies can address issues relating to:

• Cognitive Impairment and developmental delays
• Aging complications
• Acute and chronic mental illness
• Physical limitations
• Trauma
• Memory
• Grief and loss
• Brain injury
• Neurological disorders
• Communication disorders
• Self-identity and self-esteem
• Substance abuse
• Anxiety and Depression
• Learning Disabilities
• Sensory Processing Disorders
• Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

ITA tailors their community programming to meet the needs of each facility and aims to provide a creative service in support of each partner’s mission.

Partnership begins with a discussion between the facility and ITA management, where an assessment of need is conducted and information on how one or more of the creative arts therapies might address these identified needs is provided. Treatment goals are then developed in consultation with the facility administration, staff, and/or clientele. Programming is implemented in the form of a treatment plan, placing emphasis on the process involved in reaching the goal, rather than focusing on the product of therapy. Goals are reevaluated on a regular basis, and treatment data is summarized and presented to the facility. Often organizations are able to use this information when seeking funding to underwrite services.

School Programs

The Institute for Therapy through the Arts (ITA) provides a wide range of services in educational settings, all of which can be tailored to meet your school’s individual needs. Services include:

• Music Therapy
• Drama Therapy
• Dance Movement Therapy
• Art Therapy

ITA provides individual and group therapy sessions, which range from 30-60 minutes in length. ITA provides services to self-contained special education and mainstream classrooms and serves students with a range of learning needs. ITA services include a formal assessment, goal development, data collection and progress reports. ITA will also conduct evaluations to assess for including music therapy on a student’s Individualized Education Plan. In such cases, ITA therapists will attend IEP meetings and prepare the necessary reports. ITA believes in a collaborative approach, and will work with your school district to come up with a treatment model that best meets your expectations, needs, and goals. ITA therapists are also available to co-treat with other professionals who work in educational settings, including social workers, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists.

ITA is proud to have developed and published a systematic assessment, goal writing, and progress reporting process for music therapy in school settings, specifically for children with developmental delays.

ITA’s therapists are experienced delivering high-quality creative art therapy services to a wide variety of educational settings, including autism programs, multi-needs classrooms, internalizing behavior classrooms, and complex learning disability classrooms.

ITA serves children in educational settings from pre-school to high school in both public and private schools, therapeutic day schools and alternative high schools. For students with Developmental Disabilities, ITA has developed a program targeting social skill development using its own manual, the MTSSA (Music Therapy Social Skill Assessment) which can be implemented in group settings. ITA therapists are experienced writing IEP goals based on the results of this assessment and the Illinois State Social and Emotional Learning Standards. Goal areas for treatment can focus on social awareness and interaction, emotional expression, receptive/expressive language, and sensory regulation. ITA believes in a collaborative approach and will work with your school district to come up with a treatment model to best meet the expectations, needs, and goals for each student.