A one-day Expressive Therapy Programme was conducted under the “Research Programme of Coastal Community Centre for Socioeconomic Development (CSD)” in conjunction with the School of Social and Economic Development on 15 May 2014 at Taman Agropolitan, Setiu. Expressive Therapy (ET) is an approach to psychotherapy and counseling that encourage clients in self-discovery and view changes as a result of intrapersonal processing. ET simultaneously aims to develop long-term skills that enable clients to regulate their emotional responses more capably during times of stress. In this workshop, counselors used the techniques of art therapy (image) and drama therapy (story telling) to explore their clients. The main purpose for this workshop was to use the scale of expressive therapy among 200 participants (female and male) in Setiu conducted by ten counselors from UMT to change their mind-set.

The leaders for the workshop were Associate Prof. Dr. Zakaria Mohamad and Dr. Sh Marzety Adibah binti Al Sayed Mohamad from Research Programme of Coastal Community Centre for Socioeconomic Development (CSD). Overall, the workshop was successful in achieving its objectives as a starting point for researcher in UMT to make expressive arts therapy to change their mind-set , increase their self-esteem, confidence in entrepreneurial activities and to be self-reliant. This therapy offers a tangible and lasting product that provides a valuable component to therapy as well as being helpful in releasing emotions among the community. The relationships among the community can also be increased. They can accept each other and realize is every person has their own weakness and strength. These should be valued and respected by others.

– Dr. Sh Marzety Adibah binti Al Sayed Mohamad