to mouth the words while others san

to mouth the words while others sang. They felt misunderstood and judged
negatively. The self-image that remained was, “I can’t draw,” “I’m not musical,”
“It’s no fun anymore.” Music and drawing then were confi ned to singing in the
shower or doodling on a note pad.
N. Rogers believes our society has squeezed the tasty juice of the creative
process right out of most of us. We need to fi nd ways to recapture spontaneous
freedom of expression without looking to others for approval. We cheat ourselves
out of a fulfi lling and joyous source of creativity if we cling to the idea
that an artist is the only one who can enter the realm of creativity. We all can
use the arts to focus on self-expression and personal growth.
GUIDELINES FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN GROUPS
AND IN COMMUNITY BUILDING
N. Rogers’s (1993) group work differs from her father’s in that she offers group
guidelines at the beginning of any workshop or experiential class so that participants
understand the concepts of creative expression and the basic guidelines
for group behavior. Group evaluations and feedback over 25 years revealed
that participants consistently felt that the following guidelines were
helpful:
• Be aware of your feelings and your own body, and take care of yourself,
including talking with the facilitators.
• There is no right or wrong way to do art.
• All instructions are always suggestions.
• Do not judge others, and keep the general bounds of confi dentiality.
N. Rogers also developed guidelines for community group behavior. Because
most of these courses are 4- to 8-day intensive experiential groups, the group
process has some predictable stages. These guidelines have proven helpful in
addressing each stage.