Find an Art Therapist

Art therapy is the integration of psychotherapy and creative expression. Unlike traditional talk therapy, art therapy allows clients to bypass verbal defenses, giving them a way to express complex emotions visually or through tactile experience.

Through media such as drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, or journaling, clients process emotional material that might otherwise remain trapped beneath conscious awareness. Especially for trauma survivors, art therapy allows emotions stored in implicit memory to surface gently, without being retraumatizing. For many, it becomes a vital component of trauma-informed care or somatic therapies, integrating seamlessly with approaches like EMDR or sensorimotor psychotherapy.

In art therapy, it’s not about artistic skill. Instead, the focus is on externalizing inner experiences and allowing the subconscious to communicate through creative channels, providing emotional release, insight, and healing.

While many assume that art therapy is only for those who love art, this modality is highly effective even for individuals who do not consider themselves "artistic." In fact, many clients are surprised at how freeing art therapy can be precisely because there’s no pressure to perform artistically.

Populations who benefit include:

• Children struggling with emotional regulation, developmental delays, or trauma
• Teens facing anxiety, school pressures, peer conflicts, or identity struggles
• Adults who feel blocked or stuck in verbal therapy
• Trauma survivors (including sexual assault, complex PTSD, or medical trauma)
• Neurodivergent individuals (ADHD, autism spectrum, or sensory processing difficulties)
• Grieving individuals processing loss and complicated bereavement
• Caregivers and healthcare workers experiencing compassion fatigue or burnout
• Medical patients coping with chronic illness, cancer, or recovery after surgery
• Dissociative clients who experience emotional numbing or avoidance
• Highly defended individuals who intellectualize or struggle with verbal emotional expression

For clients who have difficulty expressing emotions in words, art therapy offers a powerful alternative route for emotional healing.

An art therapy session blends clinical expertise with creativity, offering a highly individualized and emotionally attuned experience. A typical session may include:

• Initial assessment: The therapist reviews emotional goals, symptoms, trauma history, and comfort with different art materials.
• Session structure: Clients engage in a mix of guided art-making and verbal processing.
• Materials: Options may include paints, clay, collage, charcoal, sand tray, or journaling.
• Therapist role: The art therapist may use non-directive, client-led approaches or offer gentle prompts based on clinical needs.
• Post-creation reflection: Clients explore the emotional content revealed through their art with the support of the therapist.
• Sensory regulation: The therapist carefully paces sessions to avoid overwhelming dysregulated clients, especially those with trauma histories.
• No artistic judgment: There are no grades, critiques, or expectations for the final product. The focus remains entirely on the emotional process.

In this safe, accepting environment, clients access feelings often hidden beneath the surface, allowing for meaningful therapeutic breakthroughs.

Art therapy is evidence-based for a wide range of emotional, psychological, and trauma-related challenges. Conditions that respond well include:

• PTSD (childhood trauma, abuse, developmental trauma, complex PTSD)
• Anxiety disorders (panic attacks, social anxiety, generalized anxiety)
• Depression
• Grief and complicated bereavement
• Medical trauma (cancer recovery, surgery, chronic illness adjustment)
• Body image issues and eating disorders
• ADHD, autism, and sensory processing challenges
• Self-esteem and identity exploration
• Chronic illness and chronic pain
• Attachment trauma (including adoption and foster care histories)

Whether addressing deep developmental wounds or recent losses, art therapy provides an accessible and gentle pathway for emotional processing.

Art therapy is particularly effective for trauma processing because many traumatic memories are stored non-verbally, especially those from early childhood. This makes verbal-only therapies insufficient for some survivors. Art therapy addresses trauma by:

• Accessing pre-verbal trauma storage, allowing early trauma to emerge safely
• Providing safe distance, where clients externalize emotions into artwork rather than reliving them directly
• Bypassing avoidance, offering expression without requiring detailed verbal narrative
• Regulating the nervous system through tactile and sensory grounding
• Facilitating integrative processing as the therapist helps translate visual symbols into meaning when the client is ready
• Offering gentle pacing, ideal for dissociative clients who may otherwise feel overwhelmed

For trauma survivors who feel stuck, frozen, or emotionally disconnected, art therapy for trauma often unlocks healing where talk therapy alone has not succeeded.

True art therapy is provided by highly trained clinicians with specialized credentials. These include:

• Master’s degree in Art Therapy from accredited graduate programs
• ATR (Registered Art Therapist) or ATR-BC (Board Certified Art Therapist) credentials
• Licensed mental health professionals (LPC, LMFT, LCSW, Psychologist) who have pursued additional certification in art therapy
• Certified trauma-focused art therapists for working with complex trauma cases
• Pediatric art therapists with training in child development and family systems

These credentials distinguish art therapists from art teachers, recreational instructors, or general counselors using occasional art exercises.

Many people mistakenly assume that art therapy is simply an art class with a therapist present, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, art therapy is a clinically structured psychotherapy that uses creative media as a tool for emotional processing, healing, and psychological insight.

In an art class, the focus is typically on developing technical skills, learning artistic techniques, and producing finished works of art. The primary goal is artistic improvement or creative enjoyment. Feedback often centers on aesthetics, style, or craftsmanship, and the emotional or psychological state of the student may not be addressed at all. Art classes can be recreational and enjoyable but are not designed to explore underlying emotions or psychological patterns.

By contrast, art therapy focuses entirely on the therapeutic process. Clients engage with art materials not to create a polished product but to externalize thoughts, feelings, and experiences that may be too difficult to express verbally. The artwork serves as a bridge to unconscious material, emotional memories, or unprocessed trauma. The therapist is trained to create emotional safety, read symbolic content, guide reflection, and help integrate insights gained through creative expression into the client’s emotional healing. There is no critique, grading, or emphasis on artistic skill — the emotional process is always the goal.

When compared to traditional talk therapy, art therapy offers a different path to healing for clients who struggle to express complex emotions through words alone. While talk therapy relies heavily on verbal narrative and cognitive processing, this can feel limiting for clients who intellectualize emotions, dissociate, or have pre-verbal or developmental trauma stored non-verbally. Art therapy bypasses these barriers by engaging the brain's sensory and emotional systems directly, often allowing clients to reach deeper emotional layers more quickly or safely.

In many cases, art therapy complements traditional talk therapy beautifully. Some clients use art therapy as a primary form of treatment, while others incorporate it alongside cognitive-behavioral therapy, EMDR, or somatic psychotherapy for a more integrative healing experience. For those who feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to articulate what they’re feeling, art therapy offers a compassionate, accessible alternative that speaks to both mind and body.

Yes — many art therapists successfully offer online art therapy sessions adapted for telehealth. Online sessions may include:

• Therapist guidance for selecting appropriate art materials at home
• Use of easily accessible media like drawing, digital art, journaling, or collage
• Verbal processing via video call while artwork is created and shared virtually
• Modified interventions for trauma, anxiety, or grief processing
• Limitations with materials like clay, sand tray, or certain tactile modalities

While certain sensory elements may be limited, virtual art therapy has proven highly effective for many adults processing grief, anxiety, or trauma.

The duration of art therapy depends heavily on the complexity of the client’s needs:

• Short-term treatment: 10–20 sessions for anxiety, grief, or adjustment issues
• Longer-term work: 6–12 months for complex trauma or early developmental trauma
• Open-ended therapy: Some clients continue long-term for personal growth, self-discovery, or ongoing trauma work

Because trauma processing often requires deep safety and trust, many clients find that the pace of art therapy feels more manageable than traditional, purely verbal therapies.

Yes. An expanding body of research supports the effectiveness of art therapy for treating:

• PTSD
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Grief and bereavement
• Medical trauma and coping with illness
• Emotional dysregulation in children and adults

Many leading trauma experts now recommend art therapy as part of integrative trauma care, often alongside somatic experiencing, EMDR, or sensorimotor psychotherapy. The American Psychological Association (APA) and other clinical organizations increasingly recognize art therapy as a legitimate and evidence-based psychotherapy treatment.

You may want to explore art therapy if you:

• Struggle to express emotions through words alone
• Feel numb, disconnected, or emotionally stuck in therapy
• Have a history of childhood trauma, dissociation, or attachment wounds
• Feel highly anxious or emotionally overwhelmed
• Want a safer, more indirect path to process difficult emotions
• Are looking for holistic, integrative approaches to therapy

Art therapy may provide the emotional safety you need to finally access and heal deeply stored emotional wounds.

Coverage for art therapy depends on how services are billed:

• Many insurance plans cover art therapy when provided by licensed mental health professionals
• Look for art therapists who have both ATR-BC certification and state licensure (LPC, LCSW, LMFT, etc.)
• Services are often billed as psychotherapy using art therapy techniques
• Some schools, hospitals, and nonprofit agencies offer low-cost or subsidized art therapy programs

Checking both the therapist’s credentials and your insurance plan’s behavioral health benefits can clarify coverage options.

Art therapy helps clients of all ages access healing through creativity when words fall short. A skilled art therapist provides clinical expertise, safety, and emotional attunement throughout the creative process. Whether you're navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, or emotional growth, art therapy offers a uniquely powerful path toward healing.