Certification in Image Management and Expressive Image Therapy

Expressive image therapy is an entirely new modality in the expressive therapies, also known as expressive arts therapy or creative arts therapy.  Other modalities in expressive therapy include creative arts such as music, art, dance, drama, writing, or poetry, each used as  a form of therapy to achieve therapeutic goals.  Expressive therapy is declared, affirmed, and based on the belief that people can heal through use of imagination and the various forms of creative expression.  Expressive therapy is active and experiential, intended to work in cooperation with traditional talk therapy.  

Certification in image management and expressive image therapy is currently available only through the Conselle Institute of Image Management, a post-secondary school granting certification in image management with experiential applications.  Conselle provides manuals, worksheets, sort cards, and visuals.  With time, those active in the field will develop degree programs in cooperation with appropriate colleges and universities.  Image management consultants certified in the image industry do not qualify nor identify themselves as therapists, but as specialists in expressive image therapy in their work with clients, often in cooperation with a licensed mental health provider.  

Who Are Licensed Expressive Image therapists?

Expressive image therapy is a mental health treatment.  Expressive image therapists hold a master's or doctoral degree in a mental health profession and having qualified as a Licensed Professional Counselor, then acquiring additional in-depth educational-training in image management and therapeutic applications.  Currently the only source of that educational-training in image management is through the Conselle Institute of Image Management, a post-secondary school granting certification in image management with experiential applications.  The first Licensed Professional Counselor to become certified in image management and experential therapies through the Conselle Institute of Image Management is Marilyn S. Neel LCSW, LMFT.

What do Expressive Image Therapists and Specialists Do?

Expressive image therapists or specialists are human service professionals who work with the elements of image, namely dress, grooming, and body language including etiquette to achieve therapeutic goals in mental health and wellness.  Expressive image therapists or specialists first assesses a client's needs and then determines which method(s) or technique(s) might best meet those needs.  Expressive image therapy is carried out in many different ways, the manner, method, or technique selected depending on individual needs, concerns, abilities, or problems and therapeutic goals.  Guided by the therapist or specialist, the method is all about the experience, leading to increased self-awareness, self-expression, and self-competencies enabling the individual to function more comfortably and more effectively in everyday life.  The theoretical foundation of expressive image therapy lies in visual design, fashion, communication, psychology, sociology, psychotherapy, interactive and creative processes.  Upon becoming certified with the Conselle Institute of Image Management, the therapist or specialist has 16 different ways or "Clinics" to choose from in carrying out experiential expressive image therapy.  If expressive image therapy interests or excites you, NOW is the time to consider a career in expressive image therapy or expanding your career to include expressive image therapy.  It's never too late to become who you want to be! 

Image Education for Your Clients 

Expressive image therapy for Individuals and process groups presents the physical, psychological, social, and artistic aspects of dress and grooming as a natural way to fill basic needs while developing a healthy body image and self-concept, leading to increased self-confidence.  Group sizes are three to six people per therapist, depending on the method of treatment.

Experiences We Provide Clients

Individuals and group members learn to focus on positive and practical thought, using clothing design, selection, styling, and grooming to express personal values, attitudes, interests, and personality traits, roles and goals. This information is tailored or individualized in harmony with personal coloring and body type as expressive ways to normalize relationships with the body.

Individuals and group members also learn to redirect emotional concerns or negative behaviors toward corrective solutions. They receive homework and workshop assignments, supported by discussion and illustrated print materials.  Together, these facilitate additional discovery and consolidation of new awareness, deeper insights, knowledge, and skills, no longer relying on others for approval or validation.

What Is A Virtual Closet? 

Over the many years of presentations and in preparation for experiential expressive image therapy, Judith Rasband MS, AICI CIM has amassed a half-million dollar demonstration collection of clothes and accessories.  The collection is not a random bunch of sale items.  Each piece in the collection was purchased by choice, by intent, and is updated as needed.  Portions of the collection are divided into outfits, coordinated clusters, and whole wardrobes all for the purpose of creative wardrobe styling experience.  Portions of the collection are divided by topic into sets of samples regarding concepts and strategies in line, shape, color, texture, and pattern, values communication, lifestyle, and personal style.  Selected sets are used in overcoming a negative body image, in adjusting to a changing body image, in lifting depression, in eliminating social anxiety, defiance disorder, emotional problems due to aging, and more.  Clothes are selected and arranged on a rolling rack in a systematic order according to the needs of the individual or group and the goals of the therapeutic presentation.  It is a rack of specially selected and arranged clothing that constitutes the "Virtual Closet."  Clients are delighted by this amazing hands-on visual aid and continually request more of this type of therapeutic experience.

What Is Wardrobe Styling?

Call it wardrobe styling, fashion styling, or personal styling, this is more hands-on therapeutic experience our clients love to participate in. Clients gain practice in wardrobe styling by "playing" with hundreds of clothes and accessories from our demonstration collection arranged in a classroom as in a boutique.  Clients may style outfits for themselves or for others according to guidelines to achieve harmony between the clothes and the client.  They are invited to talk through their creative thinking and may receive feedback as desired.  Practice leads to wardrobe styling as clients "play" with their own clothes to create outfits that visually express the inside of themselves on the outside, knowing that what's worn on the outside affects the inside of the individual.  They strive to create outfits that are both authentic for themselves and appropriate for their lifestyle.  In the course of treatment, we may shop for and add new clothes or accessories to their outfits, as needed to achieve the goals of the therapeutic experience.