White handprint with a circle at the base, surrounded by graph paper and drawings on a black background.

ART THERAPY

Art Therapy is a mental health profession that integrates art-making, the creative process and psychological theory within a therapeutic relationship.

Guided by the clinical framework of the Expressive Therapies Continuum, it engages sensorimotor, emotional, perceptual, cognitive and symbolic ways of processing experience. 

Art Therapy offers a way to express what may be difficult to access through words alone while supporting self-awareness, emotional resilience and meaningful change.

Diagram illustrating the different aspects of creativity, including cognitive, perceptual, kinesthetic, symbolic, affective, and sensory components, with brief descriptions of each.

Expressive Therapies Continuum

The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) is a framework art therapists use to understand how using different art materials and creative processes can support healing by activating the brain and body.

Open art journal with mixed media artwork, including colorful paint splashes, a black and white moon and planets sticker, and patterned paper elements.
An art studio workspace with shelves of art supplies, paints, brushes, and books, and an easel holding a colorful abstract acrylic painting.
Purple egg in a nest made of layered, rolled cardboard pieces on a light-colored surface.

BOOKS

Handbook of Expressive Arts Therapy by Cathy A. Malchiodi

Cows Can Be Purple by Sadie E. Dreikurs

The Embodied Art Therapist: Theory and Practice for a New Paradigm by Mia de Béthune, et al.

Existential Art Therapy: The Canvas Mirror by Bruce L. Moon

Expressive Therapies Continuum by Lisa D. Hinz

Child Art Therapy: Understanding and Helping Children Grow through Art by Judith A. Rubin

RESOURCES

American Art Therapy Association https://arttherapy.org/

Illinois Art Therapy Association https://www.illinoisarttherapy.org/

Art Therapy Credentials Board https://atcb.org/

The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association® ieata.org