What is Art Therapy?
With countless so-called “art therapy” colouring books available for children and adults, many people are left wondering: what is art therapy, and what can it actually offer?
Art therapy is much more than colouring, drawing or simply talking. It is a form of creative psychotherapy that offers an alternative way to communicate. For many people, it reduces the pressure to verbally describe, repeat or relive difficult thoughts and experiences. Instead, it creates space for exploration, reflection and emotional understanding.
Art therapy is a protected form of psychotherapy that allows creativity to shape the therapeutic process. Like all therapies, it is grounded in a trusting relationship between client and therapist. It is rooted in psychodynamic theory - the idea that unconscious early life experiences, including relational patterns formed in childhood, continue to influence our relationships, beliefs and thought patterns today.
By combining psychological theory with creativity, art therapy allows unconscious beliefs and experiences to emerge safely through image, symbolism and metaphor.
How art therapy supports the brain and body
Using art materials or creative thinking allows us to move more freely between different parts of the brain. For those who have experienced trauma or significant loss, the brain can remain under higher levels of stress, which may lead us to stay alert, guarded or constantly sensing danger.
Art therapy can help release this stored energy while gradually rebuilding our ability to self-soothe. Through the support of a trained art therapist, the creative process becomes a safe way to regulate emotions and reconnect thinking with feeling.
From my experience working with children and young people, creative work also supports the development of co-regulation skills and emotional literacy. Children often discover and understand their feelings through sensory exploration - using texture, colour and movement - before they have the words to describe them.
Why the creative process matters
The process of using art materials is incredibly important. Everyone who interacts with a material is vulnerable to feedback experienced through the sensory system. This can gently evoke memories, past experiences or beliefs we hold about ourselves. For this reason, art therapy requires a trained professional who can help contain and guide the process safely.
Different materials offer different qualities. Clay, paint and drawing tools can be closely linked to the central nervous system and sensory processing systems. Art therapists recognise the importance of touch in child and human development.
For example, working with clay may connect to early attachment experiences and sensory regulation, whereas marker pens may evoke feelings of clarity, confidence, visibility or the need to be seen. Both approaches can be powerful ways of exploring emotions, but they need to be thoughtfully considered in relation to each person’s needs and therapeutic goals.
Art therapy for adults
For adults, art therapy offers an opportunity to reconnect with creativity and rediscover safe ways to be playful. Working creatively can create enough emotional distance to explore deeper themes and core beliefs, including those connected to shame or early experiences.
Sometimes, as a way of protecting ourselves, we disconnect from difficult feelings within the body. This is an intelligent survival response. The creative process provides a gentle way to begin feeling those emotions again, while integrating them with rational and cognitive understanding.
There is no one way to do art therapy
There is no single way for an art therapist to work. However, all art therapists share an understanding of the importance of the creative process and its connection to emotional wellbeing.
Art therapy recognises the depth and layers that connect mental processing with bodily responses. It adapts to each individual’s needs, offering a flexible and deeply personal therapeutic experience.