This article originally appeared in the Health and Medicine print issue, originally in stands January 2025. It has not bee updated and some information may be out of date.
The University of Utah’s College of Fine Arts opened new introductory creative therapy courses. Led by Associate Dean of Research Becky Zarate, these courses will take on four different mediums including music, visual art, dance and drama.
Katie Lahue — Music Therapy
Katie Lahue, head of creative therapies at Primary Children’s Hospital, is a music therapist, who has been involved in the profession for 10 years now. She explained that Utah has a very small number of creative arts therapists, so she got connected quickly.
“Once the intro classes got approved, I was very eager to be able to support this project and get more students involved,” Lahue said.
She explained how the professional identity of creative arts therapy is advocating for the field.
“To help students who want to learn about what we do and spread that advocacy really, really excites me in the lives of who I am as a professional and as a person,” Lahue said.
Even within the last year, Utah has grown in its usage of mental health services. When it comes to creative arts therapies, the line becomes blurry as to what it is and the benefits that come from it. Lahue described music therapy as “the clinical and evidence-based use of music within a therapeutic relationship to accomplish non-musical goals.”
“So I’m not teaching somebody to become a musician in music therapy, but I might be teaching them how to play an instrument to work on their self-confidence or their self-expression,” she said.
Lahue explained the importance of these courses and what they can provide for students.
“We really want students in these intro courses to understand their personal relationship to music or the other arts and understand how it helps them,” she said. “And kind of be able to … advocate for it, talk about it and hopefully pique their interest in maybe pursuing it as a career.”
Malissa Morrell — Art Therapy
Malissa Morrell is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has been practicing in art therapy for 20 years. She has been an adjunct professor at the U for about 10 years and is currently working on her PhD.
Morrell’s practice began in Los Angeles where there’s hundreds of practicing, credentialed arts therapists. She explained that compared to Utah — which has just over 20 — that working in the field here has become a form of pioneering. She described that the addition of these courses is also an addition to the building of that.
“I’m always excited that we get to build our community,” Morrell said. “And it seems like this might be part of that, which is cool.”
When putting art therapy into words, Morrell described that it’s a way of expression allowing those who struggle to explain their trauma or emotional state in words.
“There’s so much that happens in our bodies and our minds and our experiences that just flies under different kinds of radars,” she said.
Morrell explained that the new generation can go far with these classes and the new knowledge produced by them.
“It’s one of my greatest joys to see people learn and get passionate and gain skills,” she said. “I just think that this kind of collaboration across the different departments in the College of Fine Arts, and then with the mental health component, it just seems like the way of the world right now, with lots of collaboration and integration and interdisciplinary work.”
Sara Schmidt — Dance Movement Therapy
Sara Schmidt is a dance movement therapist, working at Primary Children’s Hospital. She said she was ecstatic to start these new courses at the U, especially with the nature of the dance therapy track being catered to master’s programs.
“I think we have the market in Utah, the arts are a huge thing here,” she said.
Schmidt has a large history of dance and movement, having been a modern dancer since she was three years old. She said that history is what pulled her towards the field.
“I do think that human therapy is for everyone because we all have a body,” Schmidt said.
She said these new courses are going to be a learning experience for everyone and she’s excited to see what’s produced from it.
“It is so exciting to me as someone who was like, ‘Oh, I’m a dancer,’ but I’m a dancer who dances for myself, for my own anxiety, for my own stress,” she said.
Schmidt wants the students to fully envelop the course. “I want them to be able to walk away going, ‘Oh my gosh. I have tools and I have knowledge, and I have understanding of how my body communicates with me personally.’”
