Coaching is one of the fastest growing professions in the U.S., projected to increase by over 5% annually, especially where that guidance uses the arts to inspire personal growth, community change, and transformation. To meet rising demand, CIIS announces the launch of our new Master of Arts in Expressive Arts Coaching & Community Building, which prepares skilled practitioners for this dynamic and expanding field.

The M.A. is the first of its kind in the nation — a rare graduate degree in a field dominated by shorter certificate programs that are more limited in their scope and application. Students in the M.A. program will benefit from expert faculty with decades of experience working in coaching and the expressive arts, and learn multiple theories of and approaches to coaching.

Some of the highlights of the curriculum include social prescribing (think: “prescribing” healthy activities such as attending a concert, joining a pottery class, or becoming part of a mural project); creating connections in groups and communities through interactive arts-based processes; and the skills of one-to-one coaching.

We feel that Expressive Arts Coaching & Community Building will prepare future leaders in the field. We are thrilled to launch this online, interactive community of learners and join the movement of artist-scholar-practitioners embracing the arts as gateways to transformation and health.
- Christine Brooks, Chair, Expressive Arts Coaching & Community Building

The new M.A. will launch with its inaugural cohort in January 2026 and applications will open in August of this year.

Graduates of this highly collaborative and experiential program will gain the awareness, knowledge, and skills to start or grow their careers coaching individuals or groups; work in advocacy, institutions, or community settings; or incorporate their new knowledge into an existing expressive arts practice. With a graduate degree, as opposed to a certificate, they will also be qualified to teach at the university level and train future generations of coaches and expressive arts practitioners.

The fully online program is designed for working adults with a four-semester, part-time format that complements busy lives, while instilling academic and artistic excellence into the coursework.

Chair Christine Brooks, who brings more than 20 years of teaching and coaching expertise to her role, shared her excitement about this new program: “We feel that Expressive Arts Coaching & Community Building will prepare future leaders in the field. We are thrilled to launch this online, interactive community of learners and join the movement of artist-scholar-practitioners embracing the arts as gateways to transformation and health.”

Program faculty and supporting community members will celebrate the launch with an online event on April 23 from 11:30-1:00 p.m. PDT where they will unveil the curriculum; offer a sample of experiential expressive arts processes; discuss career opportunities; and introduce the global arts-in-health movement that deepens conversations about the transformative potentials of the arts in everyday life. 

Register for the Launch Party

Scholarship Opportunity

To celebrate this exciting new program, students in the first cohort will receive CIIS' Inaugural Scholarship, which provides $2,200 per semester for the duration of the program.