Finding Creativity in Healing

The Power of Shared Experience

The Spark of Performance

The first time I went to see Les Misérables on Broadway, I was probably 18 years old. We had played the music in band, and I already loved it. But nothing prepared me for the power of the live performance. When Jean Valjean sang Bring Him Home, the theater fell into stillness. His voice was prayerful, aching, and so full of longing that it brought me to tears. By the end of the song, the audience was on its feet in a standing ovation. Mid-show.

I walked out of the theater in a daze. My sister looked at me and asked what had happened. She couldn’t comprehend the astonished look on my face. What had happened was this: I had been swept up into something larger than myself.

I later learned there was a name for what I experienced: Collective Effervescence. Émile Durkheim coined the term to describe the energy that emerges when people come together. But that night, it wasn’t sociology. It was a room full of strangers holding their breath through that final note, then rising together, tears still wet on their faces.

Following the Music of Collective Effervescence

That wasn’t the only time I felt that surge of connection through art.

At my daughter’s college, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the marching band performs Amazing Grace as their signature piece. First they sing it, weaving together all their voices. Then they play it with such force and passion that you feel it in your body. Every time, the audience is visibly moved, and the tears come.

In my marching band days, I felt it every time we performed. My piccolo was tiny, almost laughable against the brass and drums. But when we played, it became part of something sweeping and powerful. A sound that carried across the field and into the stands. At competitions, when every note and step aligned, I felt lifted. Our hard work blending into a clean, unified performance. The applause from the audience and the nods from judges filled me with pride, not just for myself but for all of us. It was a shared moment of satisfaction and joy. The kind that only happens when individual effort becomes collective energy.

And then there are the concerts. Adele, Alanis Morissette, Barbra Streisand, and The Eagles. Each time, thousands of people sing familiar songs with one voice. Certain songs always heighten the experience: Alanis singing Ironic, Barbra singing Somewhere, Adele singing Hello, The Eagles singing Hotel California. Those moments lift you out of yourself and into something shared and unforgettable.

What IFS Teaches Us About Creativity

These moments taught me that creativity isn’t only about what one person makes. It’s about what we create together. Artist and audience, performer and listener, writer and reader. When we step into those shared experiences, something bigger than ourselves takes over.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) names creativity as one of the 8 Cs of Self, one of those qualities we access when our parts feel safe enough to let go. I think of it as what happens when the inner critic quiets and something playful steps forward. But creativity doesn’t stay inside us. It ripples out. And when we experience it together, in a theater, in a stadium, singing the same words, it becomes something bigger than any of us could make alone.

The joyful, connected parts of us come forward, and we access Self-energy together. This shared creative experience becomes a space where healing can happen.

Why Creativity Matters in Healing

Collective effervescence is what we feel together. But creativity is what makes it possible. The song. The performance. The art. Without the creative act, there’s nothing to gather around. These experiences remind us that we don’t heal in isolation but in community.

In therapy, creativity isn’t just about art projects or expressive techniques. It’s about finding new ways of seeing. Making space for parts to experiment. Letting Self-energy bring something fresh.

A Reflection for Your Journey

For me, collective effervescence is creativity multiplied: the power of art to move us, together, toward healing.

• When have you felt part of a collective creative experience?
• How does shared creativity help your protective parts relax? What walls come down when you’re carried away in an experience of music or art?
• Where might you invite more creative connection into your healing journey?

This post is part of my monthly series exploring the 8 Cs of Internal Family Systems, a framework that shapes how I teach, write, and support healing. The 8 Cs are qualities described by Dr. Richard Schwartz, founder of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Lynn A. Haller

Lynn A. Haller, MSW, LCSW, is a trauma-informed therapist, educator, and author based in rural Pennsylvania. With over 25 years of experience working with children, families, and adults navigating complex trauma, Lynn brings Internal Family Systems (IFS) concepts to life through story. The Hallway of Doorknobs is her first children's book, inviting young readers to meet their protective parts as characters they can understand and befriend. When she's not writing or in session, Lynn can be found at the theater, on a hiking trail, or moving through her daily workout—a practice she believes is essential to mental health. She lives with her daughter, a nursing student.

Latest posts by Lynn A. Haller (see all)

• Cover Reveal - April 14, 2026
• Finding Curiosity in Healing - April 13, 2026
• Finding Creativity in Healing: Draw a Bird for Me - April 6, 2026