The body of work as a legitimate form of independent scholarship.

This chapter will outline key principles that underpin the use of creativity within final-year projects of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. It will set forth a rational for directing students towards using a particular form of arts-based research that aids critical thinking and reflexivity whilst engaging in art practice. The programmes referenced in this chapter are delivered at the University of Derby. The undergraduate programme – Creative Expressive Therapies – is outlined in detail within other chapters of this book. The post-graduate programmes include Art Therapy, Dramatherapy and Dance and Movement Psychotherapy. Those postgraduate programmes are regulated by various professional bodies and lead to students being able to practice in their chosen field. What those programmes share is the placing of creativity, art-making and performance at the heart of their pedagogic philosophy and practice. What they also share is a focus upon the therapeutic use of creativity and the therapeutic use of self. Whilst the undergraduate programmes are positioned within an arts in health and arts in education paradigm, the post-graduate programmes are broadly psychotherapeutic in their approach to creativity and therapeutic relationships. Either way, a better understanding of the role of the therapeutic use of creativity and self is enhanced by embedding both into the process of independent scholarship.