What is Art Therapy and how does it work?

Art Therapy is a unique and creative form of psychotherapy that uses art materials and media as its primary mode of communication.

Clients referred to Art Therapy don’t need skill or experience in art, “you don’t need to be good at art” as the images are freely made, enabling more innate and immediate connection with feelings and emotions.

The overall aim of Art Therapy is to access creativity, enabling a sense of self-awareness and healing through change and growth, through safely releasing painful or buried emotions, to ease distress, to gain new awareness and to resolve conflicts and trauma.

Many difficult and poorly understood emotions can find release through the art making process. The Art Therapist is trained to gently guide the client through challenging and sometimes frightening aspects of creative transformation. In the Art Therapy space, these difficult thoughts and feelings can be safely held and examined outside the person through the symbolic process and image, before being understood and transformed.

Although influenced by psychoanalysis, Art Therapists have been inspired by theories such as attachment-based psychotherapy; and developed a broad range of client-centred approaches such as psycho-educational, mindfulness and mentalisation-based treatments, compassion-focused and cognitive analytic therapies and socially engaged practice. Exploring the links between neuroscience and Art Therapy has also been at the forefront of some of the British Association of Art Therapist’s (BAAT) conferences. Importantly, Art Therapy practice has evolved to reflect the cultural and social diversity of the people who engage in it.

In Art Therapy the client is supported by the relationship between the image and the therapist. The Art Therapy process and artwork are always kept safe and confidential.

Art Therapy is a positive and enriching process, providing a physical and emotional space to help make sense of one’s life and relationships. Although it is not recreational as such, it can be insightful, pleasurable and life enhancing for people who do not have particular problems, but who wants to explore and expand their own creative instincts.