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Expressive Arts Therapy Diploma

Expressive Arts Therapy is an inter-modal, person-centered, phenomenological approach towards personal and social transformation, which emphasizes the use of presence and imagination in problem solving and wellness.

Using a multi-faceted art and therapy-based skill set, expressive arts therapists create a change-making container through the safe, playful, and holistic weaving of arts modalities including visual art, movement, drama, music, ritual, film and poetry. Students explore the work through a combination of theoretical and experiential underpinnings and processes.

Expressive arts work amplifies awareness of mind, body, spirit, and emotions to arrive at insights in a holistic, integrated way.

The work can be engaging and fun, while also evocative and challenging. The invitation to explore life through arts-based inquiry leads practitioners and participants in and out of a liminal space, where new perspectives may be embodied, explored, and applied. Somatic, land based, systemic, ecological, transpersonal, and trauma-informed perspectives are integrated as we seek to cultivate inner and outer wholeness in life.

The program runs 2.5 years from start to finish and includes two in-person summer immersions and one spring immersion, as well as online coursework over 16 months, 600 hours (300 direct client contact hours) of supervised practicum experience, and academic support to develop a culminating research project in your particular area of interest.

New diploma cohorts launch annually in July, with program completion anticipated at the end of December of a student’s third year, and convocation following in February.

Expressive Arts Therapists may apply their work in a wide variety of settings that provide individual and group therapy including private practice, social service agencies, hospitals, seniors ’centres, and educational institutions to name a few. Expressive arts therapy is recognized as a valid form of psychotherapy by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO).

For students interested in a comprehensive immersion in art therapy and expressive arts therapy, we offer a 1000+ hour dual diploma including comprehensive training in both domains.See more information about our dual diploma program here.

For more information on Expressive Arts Therapy training, contact WHEAT Institute at info@wheatinstitute.com or register here. A copy of our course of study schedule and fee schedule is available upon request.

Application Deadline

There are a limited number of seats available and spots will be reserved as applications are received. 

Register now for the 2026 cohort launching July 2026. 

You can find more details about our admission requirements and application process on our Programs page.

Current Fees

There is no GST on any of our fees or tuition. All fees are listed in Canadian (CAD) dollars. Training is tax deductible, see more information here.

Tuition Fees for Expressive Arts and Expressive Arts Therapy Diploma: $29,800.00 CAD

  • $225.00 CAD Non-refundable Registration Fee due upon registration (part of the application process)
  • $200.00 CAD Non-refundable Supply Fee due upon acceptance  
  • $149.00 CAD Non-refundable Training Completion Fund (TCF) fee due upon acceptance. See details of the purpose of this fund here.
  • $50.00 CAD Graduation Fee due in final term

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Land Acknowledgement

WHEAT Institute and Painted Sky Studio are located on Treaty Territories and Ancestral Lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininiwak, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Dene, and Inuit, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.

 

We acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past and respect the spirit and intent of the Treaties and Treaty Making. We dedicate ourselves to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation, and collaboration.