What is experiential therapy?
For some teens struggling with painful memories, talk therapy isn’t enough. For these teens, experiential therapy—a hands-on approach to treatment—can be beneficial.
Instead of quietly discussing thoughts and feelings in a therapist’s office, teens undergoing experiential therapy get up and moving. For example, an adolescent might role-play upsetting situations from their past or work out troubling issues by spending time in a forest with a qualified wilderness therapist.
While experiential therapy for teens is most often used as a complement to traditional talk therapy, it is sometimes a stand-alone treatment. Some clinicians specialize in a specific form of experiential therapy, while others employ a variety.
The theory behind experiential therapy
Traumatic experiences endure in our minds as painful emotions. Such feelings can be so overwhelming that we push them into the dark corners of our psyche, where they fester. The resulting unresolved pain can cause us immense psychological suffering until we have the courage to confront it head-on. This is frequently accomplished through traditional talk therapy.
Some teens, however, feel too intimidated to spill their guts to a stranger. In these cases, experiential therapy techniques are beneficial because they are often less threatening than talk therapy.
Experiential therapy for teens encompasses a variety of methods that bypass conscious awareness, allowing teens to express emotions in nonverbal and creative ways, such as through art or movement. For example, in a role-playing exercise, a teen might act out a difficult conversation or past trauma, allowing buried emotions—like fear, anger, or sadness—to surface. Once out in the open, such feelings become much easier to process.
Examples of experiential therapy
Animal-assisted therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a form of experiential therapy in which animals help therapists achieve treatment goals. These nonhuman assistants range from large animals like horses and dogs to small animals like hamsters and rats.
For many teens, opening up to a stranger can be daunting—even if that person is a therapist. Therapy animals can help mitigate this initial resistance. Many adolescents have fond memories of bonding with a dog or cat who loved them unconditionally. When teens see an animal in a therapist’s office, they’re reminded of these experiences, which helps them relax and makes therapy seem less intimidating.
Music therapy
Another common form of experiential treatment is music therapy. Ever since humans discovered they could use bird bones to make flutes, music has been used to evoke emotion. Music therapists tap into this power of music to help adolescents heal the fractured parts of their psyche.
For example, a therapist may ask a teen to recall songs from their childhood and the memories they associate with them. Or a therapist might encourage a teen to perform a song that illustrates a current conflict. Some therapists have teens listen to specific songs and ask them to describe the emotions the songs evoke. Combined with therapeutic inquiry, these kinds of exercises not only are cathartic but can be catalysts for penetrating insights into problems an adolescent is struggling with.
Art therapy
Art therapy involves externalizing thoughts and feelings by representing them through painting, sculpting, or other forms of artistic expression. It can be liberating for a teen struggling with a mental health condition to paint on a canvas what they can’t express in words.
Art therapy allows youth to work through trauma and other psychological issues without having to talk about them in traditional talk therapy. This can be a tremendous help, especially for adolescents who struggle with verbal communication.
Outdoor therapy
Outdoor therapy (also known as nature therapy or ecotherapy) moves traditional talk therapy to the great outdoors. In other words, the therapist’s office is replaced by natural settings like parks, forests, or beaches.
As you probably know, being out in nature has proven physiological and psychological benefits, including boosted mood and reduced stress and anxiety. Such effects can significantly enhance the effectiveness of therapy.
One common technique used in outdoor therapy is the mindful nature walk, during which clients minimize their mental activity by focusing attention on the sounds, smells, and sights of the natural environment. Because the setting of outdoor therapy is less formal than that of traditional therapy, teens often find it more conducive to emotionally opening up.
Dance therapy
Dance therapy, also known as movement therapy, is a body-centered approach that helps teens express and process emotions through physical movement. In these sessions, instead of talking about their feelings, teens are encouraged to move their bodies, which can help them release emotions they may not even realize they’re holding onto. For teens who tend to get stuck in their heads, dance therapy can be a highly effective, nonverbal way to get in touch with feelings.
Drama therapy
Also known as psychodrama, this type of experiential therapy involves releasing the negative emotions associated with past upsetting experiences by acting them out. Transforming old psychological wounds into drama brings them into the here and now, where a teen can effectively deal with them. The teen and their therapist can also explore better ways to handle such situations should they reoccur.
Benefits of experiential therapy techniques
- Purges past pain: Many teens hang on to traumatic experiences, such as being humiliated by a school bully, but an inability to release such pain can contribute to mental health conditions like anxiety disorder. Experiential therapy helps youth become aware of any resulting suppressed emotions so that they can adequately process them.
- Boosts empathy: Some forms of experiential therapy, such as psychodrama, help teens experience situations from other people’s points of view, allowing them to see that others’ perspectives are as valid as their own.
- Reduces avoidance behaviors: Sometimes, certain situations are so triggering that an adolescent habitually avoids them. But continually avoiding everyday situations makes it challenging to function. By reliving triggering scenarios in experiential therapy, teens can become more comfortable facing them.
Is experiential therapy effective?
Research has shown that experiential therapy is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy, which is fantastic news for teens who are intimidated by traditional talk therapy.
It is also used to treat a range of conditions, including the following:
- Personality disorders
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Phobias
- Addiction
- Anxiety disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Grief and loss
- Depression
- Relationship and family issues
- Shame and guilt
- Stress
- Anger issues
- Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Chronic pain
- Eating disorders
Experiential therapy interventions
An experiential therapist might use any or all of the following techniques, depending on what they aim to accomplish and the modalities they specialize in:
Expressive dance
In a typical expressive dance session, teens are asked to move however they feel. They are often instructed to do so with their eyes closed, which helps focus them on how their body reacts to the music rather than how they look or whether they’re “doing it right.”
After the exercise, the therapist invites the teens to reflect on their experience and talk about the feelings it evoked. Expressive dance can be particularly helpful for teens who feel disconnected from their emotions.
Empty chair
The empty chair technique is used to help individuals confront and process unresolved emotions or conflicts with someone from their past or present. In this method, an empty chair is placed in front of the client, symbolizing the person with whom they have unfinished emotional business.
The therapist encourages the client to imagine that person sitting in the chair and to speak directly to them, allowing the client to express emotions they may have suppressed or feel unable to share in real life. The client is given the time to say whatever they wish without interruption or judgment. Verbalizing feelings in this way releases pent-up emotions and can lead clients to a deeper understanding of how unresolved issues affect their lives.
The therapist may then ask the client to switch roles by sitting in the empty chair and imagining they’re the other person. This helps the client explore other people’s perspectives, fostering empathy.
The empty chair technique is particularly effective for teens who struggle to express their feelings directly. It helps facilitate healing by making abstract emotions more concrete and manageable.
Experiential family therapy
Family role-play is an experiential therapy technique in which individuals assume the roles of fellow family members to better understand the dynamics at play. During a session, the therapist might ask a teen to take on the role of a parent or sibling.
By role-playing other family roles, adolescents can gain great insight into how their family members interact and why conflicts happen. This technique can also reveal unspoken tensions that contribute to underlying issues.
Final thoughts
Experiential therapy is ideal for teens who find traditional talk therapy intimidating. Many teens are overwhelmed at the thought of sitting in a therapist’s office and sharing intimate details. Experiential therapy removes this barrier to getting help by letting teens engage with the therapeutic process in a way that doesn’t feel like therapy.
With its variety of approaches—including animal-assisted therapy, art therapy, and family role-play—every teen can find a method that resonates with them. And though some of the techniques involve revisiting old wounds, experiential therapy isn’t about fixating on the past. Instead, it’s about effectively processing the past to create a more vibrant future.
If you think your teen would benefit from experiential therapy, give Avery’s House a call. We offer comprehensive teen residential treatment, including experiential therapy.
Our compassionate and experienced therapists and clinicians are devoted to a singular mission: helping struggling adolescents find a way out of psychological pain so they can forge fulfilling and successful lives.