Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy, in which a therapist treats a mental problem like anxiety or depression by talking with an individual to help them understand their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and live a happier life. But in art therapy, the art therapist doesn’t only use verbal communication. They also use art by involving the patient in drawing, painting, sculpting, collages, and other types of creative activities to communicate nonverbally.
How art therapy works
When you go through a trauma or emotional difficulty, the prefrontal cortex—the part of your brain that controls talking, logical thinking, and analysis—deactivates. At the same time, the limbic system—the part of the brain that processes sensations and emotions—activates. When you try to revisit, explore, and resolve a trauma using the tools of the prefrontal cortex—talk, logic, reasoning, the chronological recall of events—it’s more difficult to get in touch with the emotional basis of the trauma. Art, on the other hand, engages the limbic system, allowing you to more readily access, explore, and resolve trauma. And because you’re creating art—a visual object—you’re able to readily share your experience with the therapist.
As with any type of therapy, the process involves sharing difficult experiences with a therapist and receiving their empathy—a process that is itself healing. Therapy also allows you to reframe a difficult experience, finding how to feel good in the midst of a bad experience. And in art therapy, the art itself is therapy—just the act of making something, of using your hands instead of starting at a screen, is deeply therapeutic.
In a typical session of art therapy, the therapist and client focus on emotional struggles and how to understand and resolve them. There is a treatment goal, identification of the issues involved, and an exploration of where those thoughts and feelings come from. Art therapy activities are then used to process all of that.
Art therapy activities: scientific support
Scientific research supports the unique effectiveness of art therapy:
More art activities, less stress
Researchers at Drexel College of Nursing and Health Professions studied 39 people, ages 18 to 59, inviting them to participate in 45 minutes of art therapy activities. They measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol before and after art therapy. An art therapist was available during the activity to help. More than half of the participants had very limited experience in making art, but more than 75 percent of the participants had lower cortisol levels after the art therapy activities.
The fact that art therapy benefitted those with artistic experience and those without didn’t surprise the researchers. “That is the core idea of art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting,” said Girija Kaimal, EdD, assistant professor of creative arts therapies, and lead author of the study.
“It was very relaxing,” said one participant. “After about five minutes, I felt less anxious. I was able to obsess less about things that I had not done or needed to get done. Doing art allowed me to put things into perspective.”
Easing into menopause
A study published in the journal Art Therapy in 2023mlooked at the effect of art therapy activities like drawing and collage on newly postmenopausal women. At the end of the12-week study, the women felt less stress and anxiety, had a better body-image, more confidence in their ability to accomplish tasks (self-efficacy), and had shed pounds and lowered blood pressure. “Women who are in the postmenopausal stage of life appreciated having a special time and space set apart just for them that permitted mindful art,” said the lead author of the study.
Improving cancer symptoms
In a study of 320 women with breast cancer, half participated in art therapy activities and half didn’t. After eight weeks, those involved in art therapy activities had less mental fatigue, more motivation, and more well-being in their relationships. In another study, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, cancer patients who participated in an hour of art therapy activities had improvements in pain, tiredness, shortness of breath, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, lack of appetite, and well-being.
Relief for caregivers
Art therapy activities can also help cancer caregivers, both professional caregivers like oncology nurses and family caregivers, according to a study from the Creative Art Therapies department in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. The 34 caregivers were divided into two groups: One group participated in a 45-minute session of art therapy activities facilitated by an art therapist. The other group spent the 45 minutes coloring.
After the session, both groups reported feeling more positive emotions, along with more pleasure and enjoyment, and fewer negative emotions like anxiety, stress, and burnout. Even brief art-making interventions can be beneficial for stressed caregivers of cancer patients, said the study’s senior author in the European Journal of Oncology.
Soothing severe depression
German researchers studied 79 patients with severe depression, many of whom were so disabled by the disease they were not able to work. They were divided into two groups: One group created a picture of how they felt on a particular day and then talked to the art therapist about it. The other group didn’t do this.
After 10, hour-long treatments, those involved in the art therapy activity improved in many depressive symptoms, including poor sleep, the inability to take initiative, a low level of emotional involvement in life, and anxiety—an improvement so marked, they could resume work.
“Painting pictures based on themes and discussing the pictures with the therapist promotes self-reflection and brain stimulation that takes place outside the conscious mind,” said Christina Blomdahl, PhD, the art therapist who led the study.
Therapeutic art
You can also use art to heal on your own, a process called therapeutic art. Therapeutic art would not typically be the first choice for those who have a mental health problem that requires a therapist, like major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Therapeutic art helps you cope when you’re having a difficult time. It’s also an option for those who prefer not to see a therapist, or who may not be able to afford a therapist.
A good exercise to introduce you to therapeutic art:
- List the emotions you are feeling today, like sadness, grief, or uncertainty.
- Next to each emotion, list a color that best represents the emotion.
- Now—using colored pencils, crayons, or paint—use the listed colors to create an image that helps you process those emotions.
This exercise allows you to immediately acknowledge and process the emotions you’re feeling. Instead of just saying you’re anxious (for example), the image you create will help you get underneath the emotions you feel.
You can also use the exercise to reflect on your emotions. What emotions did you list? Is there an emotion stronger than the others? What is the opposite emotion you can bring to the drawing or painting, like joy? What color is joy? How can you bring more joy into your life today?
