You’re not always sure how to strike a balance between emotional expression and emotional containment in treatment

It’s hard to get a handle on the balance between emotional expression and emotional containment in therapy. You know as an expressive therapist that expression is vital and almost expected in your work with clients, but you aren’t as sure about containment as a primary goal.

Then again, some clients seem unable to do anything other than express, and this needs to be remedied…somehow.

You understand affect as feelings, but you don’t grasp what perception is all about, though you’ve heard of it within the context of the Expressive Therapies Continuum. How can the two opposite components of the Perceptual/Affective level serve to help you guide clients to a happy medium when it comes to emotional expression and emotional containment???

And how can you learn more about the mysterious Perceptual component?

You can find the answers within your own body

You’ve bought a book and watched a webinar, but those things left you with more questions than answers. The truth of the matter is that the Perceptual/Affective level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum is best understood through embodiment.

This is how Expressive Therapies Continuum co-creators Vija Lusebrink and Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn taught their students; all levels were explored and internalized through embodied means before students learned to see the levels in action during client sessions.

Why is embodiment so important? Because Perceptual and Affective experiencing are phenomenon that occur within the body; these two complementary ways of processing data are primarily emotional in nature and lack words, and understanding them first-hand in your own nervous system will help you recognize when a client is engaging with Perceptual or Affective content.

My name is Megan, and I help therapists understand the polarities of emotional functioning through the Expressive Therapies Continuum

I studied under the co-creators of the Expressive Therapies Continuum and have a special fondness for helping other therapists learn about the specifics and nuances of this framework for making responsive, outcome-informed decisions in client-centered care.

The Perceptual/Affective level of the ETC is especially fun to help others discover, as the poorly understood Perceptual component and oversimplified Affective component deserve reconsideration as the essential and sophisticated ways of knowing that they really are.

Supporting clients in the ongoing task of finding emotional balance requires that both Perceptual and Affective processes are used, and therapists can achieve this so much more readily when they’ve become familiar with these information processing styles within their own nervous system.

This is why books and webinars can’t fully help you grasp Perceptual and Affective information processing; books and webinars don’t exist within your body. The kind of learning those tools promote isn’t suited for recognizing in-the-moment cues about emotional expression and containment.

However, an experiential workshop WILL nurture your ability to differentiate between Perceptual and Affective information as it occurs in your nervous system. Learning about your own preferences on the Perceptual/Affective level will help you attune more empathetically when you work with clients and understand how these things feel within the body; knowing this can boost your capacity for responsiveness in treatment.

Experience the Perceptual/Affective level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum and discover the heart of emotional regulation

Are you ready to engage in Perceptual and Affective experiencing so you can cultivate embodied familiarity with the two polarities of emotional functioning? Your ability to provide resonant therapeutic experiences that guide and honor a client’s emotional world will be enhanced by hands-on learning that takes the abstract concepts of perception and affect and transforms them into discernable encounters within your own body.

Join me for a three-hour continuing education event that highlights Perceptual and Affective information processing, defining them through experiential engagement and reflective processes.

We’ll uncover emotional expression and containment as the primary tasks at this level of the Expressive Therapies Continuum, and learning more about the utility of perception and affect in therapy will help you understand the healing functions of each.

You will develop greater appreciation for Perceptual processes, which are difficult for Westerners to detect due to cultural bias. Simultaneously, you’ll cultivate a more refined definition of Affective processes beyond feelings.

ALSO available to you is an optional 1-hour post-workshop discussion group for leveling up your learning even further. We’ll take what you experienced in the workshop and move it into the realm of mindful observation, giving you foundational familiarity with the visual discernment necessary for recognizing how somatic data in client artwork reveals itself and guides therapist responsiveness.

Optional post-workshop discussion group

Introduction to Expressive Therapies Continuum Pre-Assessment Skills, Part II: Perceptual & Affective Data

This opportunity is only available to workshop participants. The optional 1-hour (1.0 CE hour) post-workshop discussion group will focus on leveling up your understanding by processing your experience with an eye toward the observational skills needed for assessment within the structure of the Expressive Therapies Continuum.

Our time will be spent learning to decipher elements of visual expression that often go unnoticed when the therapist is concentrating on meaning-making; detecting the language of the nervous system is a skill that can take time to acquire, but this discussion group will serve as a starting point for beginning to bypass meaning-making biases in favor of enhanced objectivity and clarity with regard to client visual data.

Enhanced objectivity and clarity can translate into increased curiosity about and openness to a client’s internal experience, which will improve a therapist’s assessment and progress monitoring skills.

All workshop participants are invited to engage in the discussion group for rounding out their experience and augmenting their ability to apply workshop concepts within the context of empathically attuned client care.   

This post-workshop discussion group will begin 15 minutes after the conclusion of the experiential workshop. The discussion will be recorded; registration for it includes access to the recording through January 13, 2026.

More information about this experiential workshop & post-workshop discussion group

About the Presenter

Megan VanMeter is licensed by the counseling boards in the U.S. states of Arizona, Indiana, and Texas, and she also holds board-certification status through the Art Therapy Credentials Board.  She has developed an online private practice using the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), a nervous system-informed framework, as a basis for assessment, treatment planning, intervention, progress monitoring, and case conceptualization.  Megan earned her master’s degree in art therapy with a specialization in grief and medical counseling from the University of Louisville, where she studied under ETC co-creators Vija Lusebrink and Sandra (Kagin) Graves-Alcorn.

She has served on professional boards and committees at local, regional, and national levels.  A scholar at heart, Megan enjoys doing research, giving presentations, and writing about the Expressive Therapies Continuum. She is hopeful that a new generation of therapists will have the opportunity to learn the ETC via methods similar to the ones her professors used.  Megan is cultivating a community of ETC enthusiasts and provides ETC learning opportunities to help others develop appreciation for both the basics and the nuances of this important framework. 

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Cancelation requests must be made in writing and sent to admin@meganvanmeter.com.  The date stamp on the message will be used for determining the date the cancelation was requested.

A full refund (100%) will be made for cancellation requests received at least 10 days in advance of an event.

A partial refund (50%) will be made for cancelations requests received 5-9 days in advance of an event.

Sorry, no refund (0%) will be made for cancellation requests received 0-4 days before an event.

Cancelation requests received:

• 10+ days in advance = 100% refund

• 5-9 days in advance = 50% refund

• 0-4 days in advance = 0% refund

Technology-related refunds: please see the Terms & Conditions.

Materials & Supplies

1. When you register for the experiential workshop, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to a handout. We’ll be personalizing this document so that it’s specific to your experience of the hands-on exercises. Make sure you have a copy of the handout available to support your learning throughout the workshop. The document is a PDF that can be filled out on your device OR you can print it out and bring something to write with.

2. We will work with paints to help us develop embodied familiarity with the concepts.  As such, please bring anything you’ll need for painting—including everything necessary to clean up or manage your supplies and protect your space during the experiential workshop.  The hands-on portion will entail five 10-minute exercises, so make sure you have enough supports (canvas board, paper, etc.) to paint on.

3. Given the different time zones that will be represented at the event, it’s understandable that people might need to nibble or snack.  Since paints and food don’t go well together, the second hour of this experiential workshop will be best for munching.  We’ll reserve the first and third hours for painting.

Terms & Conditions

By registering for this event, you agree to the Terms & Conditions identified here. You also agree to receive email updates about the event. These will go to the default email address associated with the credit card you used; you might need to check your junk folder.

Per good professional boundaries, do not photograph, capture screenshots of, video record, audio record, livestream, or publish online this workshop, post-workshop discussion group, or any portion of them.  These learning opportunities offered through Megan VanMeter PLLC are under copyright protection.  Your attendance and participation does not constitute the right to take copyrighted material and store, modify, or distribute it in any way.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are using the technology and equipment that best facilitate your online learning experience.  Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for lagging technology/equipment used by any attendee.  Refunds will only be made available if technology and equipment failures on Megan VanMeter PLLC’s end contribute to difficulties with a webinar or workshop.

Please note that Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for misapplication or misuse of the content and information covered in any presentation.  Learning opportunities are provided for informational purposes only; your attendance and participation does not constitute a formal agreement or arrangement for supervision, treatment, training, or any other purpose.

The learning environment offered through Megan VanMeter PLLC is actually a co-created one; your attendance and participation constitutes an agreement to contribute to this through professional behavior. Any attendee who is disruptive to the learning process or derisive toward anyone present will be asked to leave. A refund will not be available in this case. 

Megan VanMeter PLLC is not liable for an attendee’s emotional experience during webinars, workshops, or other learning opportunities. You agree to gauge your comfort level during these events and take appropriate action to achieve homeostasis if your unique circumstances create internal disturbance in response to the content covered. While Megan VanMeter PLLC takes care and precautions to ensure a safe learning environment for others, the psychological nature of the learning opportunities offered may mean that some content could be triggering to some people. Your attendance and participation constitutes an agreement that you understand the potential for this risk.

In the event of embodied/experiential workshops, it is important that attendees wear appropriate attire and take steps to protect their workspace and the equipment within it. Megan VanMeter PLLC does not assume liability for damage to clothing and other belongings; your use of art materials and methods is under your own control, and you are responsible for your property at all times.

Any concerns or complaints should be sent to admin@meganvanmeter.com. A response will be provided within 48 business hours. While no particular outcome can be guaranteed, every effort will be made to resolve the issue(s). Documentation of the concern/complaint, the response, and follow up will be tracked.