Art Therapy: Activities, Ideas, & History

By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

Art therapy uses artistic activities to promote growth and self-acceptance in people, thereby helping them with their psychological problems and mental health disorders.​

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When I started ninth grade, I was overwhelmed by so much of high school. The seniors seemed so much older and more mature, the building was bigger and confusing, and I wasn’t sure of what my place would be in the school culture. One thing I was sure of, though: ninth grade would be the last time I had to take an art class. And thank goodness! None of the different kinds of visual and physical art that I had tried in art classes over the years had come easily to me;

in none of them had I shown much potential. I could not wait to be done with trying to be good at art.

Looking back, I can see how my perfectionistic tendencies and my inhibitions around really putting my true self out there probably conspired to keep me from pouring myself into that kind of artwork and finding my own potential as an artist. At the same time, while I now can channel that creativity and sense of self into creating music, making with my hands in this way continues to elude me. This makes me all the more impressed by people who find deep fulfillment in creating art and who readily show their souls in their work. It also builds my admiration for art therapists, people who accompany others in their journeys of self-discovery and healing through artistic activities. Let’s look together at what this work entails and how it might be helpful to people with and without significant mental health challenges.

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What Is Art Therapy? (A Definition)​

Art therapy is the therapeutic use of artistic activities to cause change, personal growth, and self-acceptance in people, thereby helping them with their psychological problems and mental health disorders (Schouten et al., 2015). It is one of several kinds of creative therapies, which also include music therapy, drama therapy, and dance therapy.

The chief difference between creative art therapies and traditional talk therapy is that much of creative art therapies is based in nonverbal experiences and in lived experiences (Schouten et al., 2015). Activities such as drawing, painting, or sculpting are understood to be a way to unlock important things to talk about but are also understood to be therapeutic activities in and of themselves. For example, while talking about one’s feelings about one’s family might be therapeutic, the process of grappling with those feelings while painting a portrait of one’s family is its own therapeutic intervention, too.

Because it can be such a different experience from talk therapy, art therapy is often used in combination with traditional talk therapies to try to increase the ways that a client can access and work with their important experiences and emotions (Schouten et al., 2015). For this reason, it can be found across many treatment settings, from residential and inpatient programs to therapeutic groups led by high school counselors to private therapy practices. Its role as a complementary of adjunctive treatment is well established – art therapy seems to augment the effects of standard psychotherapy in many of these contexts (Schouten et al., 2015).

Since art therapy can happen across such a wide range of contexts – and this includes prisons and hospitals as well – many different people end up providing art therapy, and they have a wide range of backgrounds and training experiences (Ulman, 2001). In fact, they may only be united by working under the general assumption of art therapy – that creating visual arts with your hands, while in the company of somebody invested in helping you heal and grow, will benefit you.​

In the field of art therapy, this variety of backgrounds seems to create at least one tension among practitioners – should one prioritize the “therapy” in art therapy or the “art” in art therapy (Ulman, 2001)? Some therapists want to see the process – and not the finished artistic product – as the point, since this is more in line with the general focus in the world of research on identifying what activities and processes result in real psychological change (Naumburg, 1973). On the other hand, other providers see the completion of the act of creating as being the main point – without seeing this process through, they argue, the client has not completed their therapeutic experience (Kramer, 1973). From this perspective, there is something essential in having completed a project and being able to look at it as an achievement and a symbol of one’s growth.

Benefits of Art Therapy​

Art therapists propose that the primary benefit of art therapy is that the artistic process of self-expression allows us to grapple in intuitive and innovative ways with our inner self, ways that we cannot achieve outside the artistic process (Snyder, 1997). While psychotherapy can help people access their hidden or painful thoughts and feelings, there is thought to be an additional benefit to expressing those parts of oneself in artistic or creative ways. Additionally, some aspects of ourselves that we may struggle to verbalize or fully comprehend can emerge through the creation of art, becoming clear to us thanks to this non-intellectual, embodied experience (Snyder, 1997). Since artwork is inevitably a form of self-expression, it is also a working-through of one’s ego, allowing for continual changes in how we see ourselves and our internal conflicts (Kramer, 1973).

Are all those sentences simply wishful thinking? There is plenty of research to suggest otherwise. One line of research focuses on art therapy for people with medical conditions, such as cancer; it has found that medical patients who participate in art therapy have a higher quality of life and seem better able to cope with psychological challenges associated with their diagnoses (Regev & Cohen-Yatsiv, 2018). Another line of research looks at art therapy with older individuals experiencing dementia. People with dementia, despite their psychological challenges, can create and enjoy visual art, and they appear to experience many positive benefits from art therapy, such as improvements in their neurological symptoms, their self-esteem, and their social interactions (Chancellor et al., 2014).
 
If you would like to learn some more information on how this kind of art therapy is delivered, you might enjoy watching this video:

Video: The Why and How of Art Therapy

History of Art Therapy

Art therapy as a distinct field of psychotherapy draws its inspiration from the psychoanalytic idea that there are parts of our consciousness that are, well, unconscious to us (Kramer, 1973; Naumburg, 1973). These aspects of our thinking may not even be producible in words but instead exist in our heads as images. Just as dream interpretation may help us understand our unconscious experience, art therapy may also unlock access to these deeper parts of our psyche. Art therapy follows closely in the psychoanalytic tradition by privileging a focus on imagination and fantasy instead of seeing these characteristics as idle preoccupations, they are understood as invaluable windows into our deeper thoughts and feelings.
 
While art therapy may have formally evolved in the twentieth century, taking inspiration from psychoanalytic thinking, it also draws on longstanding traditions of self-expression through artistic creation and the understanding across cultures and time personal growth and self-knowledge are common outcomes of creating art (Vick, 2003). Whether it is people with significant mental health disorders seeking healing or people without those challenges seeking peak experiences of self-actualization, the making of art seems to be commonly understood as a path to self-growth.
 
It was only in the second half of the twentieth century, however, that therapists began to describe this explicitly as a therapeutic process for psychological difficulties (Naumburg, 1973). At this point in time, therapists began to argue that certain psychological processes articulated by psychoanalytic theory, such as the adaptive defense mechanism or coping skill of sublimation, were activated by creating art (Kramer, 1973).

Art Therapy Activities

A common art therapy activity, especially with child clients, is the use of finger painting (Arlow & Kadis, 1993). An art therapist might tell the child, “Paint something that is important to you”, and then observe the child’s process and the nature of the artwork they create. Once they are finished, the child might be asked to talk about the painting or reflect on how it relates to their daily life.
 
Another common activity is to ask a client to draw a picture of their family doing something together (Gil, 1994). It is expected that this kind of activity will reveal assumptions and patterns in one’s family functioning – who is in charge, who is most involved or most peripheral in the family, and so on. Again, an art therapist will listen closely for how the client describes why they created the image the way they did.
 
A third activity often used by art therapists is the creation of masks (Andrews, 1992). This is often used to access client’s beliefs about who they are supposed to be – the face they must show the world in order to survive. Creating a mask can highlight the true self that a person is often hiding or protecting from the rest of the world.

Art Therapy Ideas​

The main ideas behind art therapy were well-summarized before the field even really took off (Amster, 1943). Art therapy is a way to build a therapeutic relationship – I can attest to this, having spent lots of time drawing things side-by-side with child clients. It is also a space for identifying anxieties and defenses, uncovering feelings that have been difficult to verbalize, and surfacing unconscious thoughts and feelings. Finally, it provides a valuable outlet for the productive expression of all this psychic material. Importantly, art therapists believe that only undergoing these processes with a skilled therapist – one who knows what kind of project to suggest, how to observe the client during creation, and what questions to ask afterward – will yield psychological change (Waller, 2006).
 
A related idea underpinning art therapy is that the artistic process, in contrast to traditional talk therapy, more readily creates interactions between the body and the mind (Czamanski-Cohen & Weihs, 2016). In this way, people experience not only the cognitive level but also the physiological level as they engage their whole bodies in the creation of art.

Art Therapy for Trauma

It is clear from the scientific literature that art therapy can be helpful for people with trauma. When used alongside talk therapy or just on its own, art therapy seems to help people with trauma to experience less depression and fewer trauma symptoms (Schouten et al., 2015).

Art Therapy for Adults

More broadly speaking, art therapy for adults in general seems to have beneficial effects (Maujean et al., 2014). It is important to note that these studies have not been conducted with the most rigorous methods associated with psychotherapy research, so we cannot draw conclusions as strong as we would for traditional talk therapy.

Art Therapy for Teens

Teenagers are at a developmental stage when self-expression becomes both more complex and difficult and more important to them. For this reason, art therapy may be especially helpful for them (Beaumont, 2012). Adolescents are experiencing high levels of self-doubt and identity confusion, so non-verbal ways to express themselves are often well-received (Riley, 2001).

Art Therapy for Anxiety

It is less clear if art therapy is helpful specifically for people with anxiety. This seems to be because research on art therapy and anxiety has focused on a wide range of populations and a wide range of art therapy techniques (Abbing et al., 2018).

Art Therapy for Grief

The evidence may be slightly stronger that art therapy is helpful for processing grief. This is because many traditional therapy approaches to grief involve telling the story of one’s loss – creating artwork may be an effective alternative to verbally recounting the story repeatedly (Beaumont, 2012).

Quotes on Art Therapy

• “Art speaks where words are unable to explain.” – Pam Holland
• “Art is the activity by which a person, having experienced an emotion, intentionally transmits it to others.” – Leo Tolstoy
• “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton
• “Creating artwork allows your mind to be in a safe place while it contemplates the tougher issues you are dealing with. One can use the tools of brush, paint, pastels, crayons etc to expose and even for a short time color those issues in a different light.” – George E. Miller
• “Art is about energy positive and negative. All art has the power to heal because it helps us see who we are, and what we resist.” – Shirley MacLaine
• “Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up. It may be dark, but that’s what comes up. You may want to keep some of it in a drawer but never judge it.” – Nick Bantock

Articles Related to Art Therapy

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

• Narrative Therapy: Definition, Techniques, & Exercises
• Coloring for Calmness: How to Manage Anxiety with Coloring
• Gestalt: Psychology, Principles, & Therapy​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Books Related to Art Therapy

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

• The Art Therapy Way: A Self-Care Guide: 30 minute art therapy activities to calm anxiety, improve mood, de-stress, and connect to your inner voice
• Art Therapy for Anxiety and Depression
• Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities: Creative Techniques to Stay Present, Manage Difficult Feelings, and Find Balance

Final Thoughts on Art Therapy​

I think art therapy is a great option for people who want to process things in their lives but have found traditional talk therapy is not to their taste or is not sufficiently helpful. I hope this article has given you a sense of what art therapy might look like for you or someone you love.

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References

• Abbing, A., Ponstein, A., van Hooren, S., de Sonneville, L., Swaab, H., & Baars, E. (2018). The effectiveness of art therapy for anxiety in adults: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials. PloS One, 13(12), e0208716.
• Amster, F. (1943). Psychotherapy with children. New York: Norton.
• Andrews, L. V. (1992). The masks of power: Discovering your sacred self. San Franciso: Harper Row.
• Arlow, J. A., & Kadis, A. (1993). Finger painting. In C. E. Schaefer & D. M. Cangelosi (Eds.), Play therapy techniques (pp. 161-175). Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
• Beaumont, S. L. (2012). Art therapy approaches for identity problems during adolescence. Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal, 25(1), 7-14.
• Chancellor, B., Duncan, A., & Chatterjee, A. (2014). Art therapy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 39(1), 1-11.
• Czamanski-Cohen, J., & Weihs, K. L. (2016). The bodymind model: A platform for studying the mechanisms of change induced by art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 51, 63-71.
• Gil, E. (1994). Play in family therapy. New York: Guilford Press.
• Kramer, E. (1973). Art as therapy with children. London: Elek.
• Naumberg, M. (1973). Introduction to art therapy. New York Teachers' College Press.
• Regev, D., & Cohen-Yatziv, L. (2018). Effectiveness of art therapy with adult clients in 2018—what progress has been made?. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1531.
• Riley, S. (2001). Art therapy with adolescents. Western Journal of Medicine, 175(1), 54-57.
• Snyder, B. A. (1997). Expressive art therapy techniques: Healing the soul through creativity. The Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 36(2), 74-82.
• Ulman, E. (2001). Art therapy: Problems of definition. American Journal of Art Therapy, 40(1), 16.
• Vick, R. M. (2003). A brief history of art therapy. In C. A. Malchiodi (Ed.), Handbook of art therapy (pp. 5–15). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
• Waller, D. (2006). Art therapy for children: How it leads to change. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11(2), 271-282.

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