When it comes to the world of therapy, many people are familiar with the traditional therapeutic approaches out there. Most of those therapeutic approaches utilize a talk therapy method to process traumas and work through symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Talk therapy works on identifying issues in your life that are causing you distress, working through behaviors that are negatively impacting your life, and discussing feelings and emotions that are caused by stress, relationships, trauma, or a major change (Lindberg, 2023).

Traditional talk therapy doesn’t work for everybody though, and research has shown that there are other ways to tap into people’s neural pathways to help make changes around mental health disorders and trauma.

This blog explores ways to tap into other forms of creative expression as therapeutic tools and the neuroscience behind these techniques and why they work therapeutically.

What is Art Therapy: The Connection Between Art and Therapeutic Approaches

Art therapy uses a combination of art and psychology to help people tap into their emotions and uncover underlying issues or traumas.  Art therapists are trained in various art modalities and have a clinical background to help clients move through their traumas using creative expression.

Techniques Used in Art Therapy

Within art therapy, various techniques and creative activities are implemented to facilitate healing, self-discovery, and personal growth. These methods cater to different preferences and needs, allowing participants to find the most suitable form of expression in order to promote healing and mental wellness (Kid First, 2025).

Technique	Description
Drawing	Participants create drawings to express emotions or experiences. This technique often serves as a starting point for deeper conversations.
Painting	Individuals use colors and brushwork to explore and communicate feelings, offering insight into their emotional state.
Sculpting	Working with clay or other materials allows for tactile exploration, enhancing self-awareness and emotional release.
Collage Making	Creating a visual story through cut-out images enables participants to express feelings or themes related to their lives.
Mask Making	Creating masks can symbolize different facets of identity or emotions, encouraging reflection on personal experiences.
Music and Movement	Incorporating music, dance, or movement can enrich the creative process, allowing for expression through rhythm and motion.

The Science of Creative Expression

Research has shown that engaging in a variety of art therapy modalities can have a positive impact on different regions of the brain. The act of creating art can lead to various positive changes in brain chemistry and structure, and art therapy has been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

As individuals engage in artistic expression and creative activities, the brain releases neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which contribute to a sense of well-being. In addition, art therapy takes a bottom up approach to treating trauma in that different art therapy techniques can be used to treat different areas of the brain, starting from the brain stem and moving “up” to the prefrontal cortex.

The table below shows the parts of the brain and their functions.

Brain Region	Function
Prefrontal Cortex	Involved in decision-making, problem-solving, and self-control.
Amygdala	Processes emotions and emotional memories.
Hippocampus	Essential for memory formation and recall.
Right Hemisphere	Associated with creativity, spatial awareness, and artistic tasks.

The table below illustrates the effects of art therapy on specific mental health conditions:

Mental Health Condition	Brain Impact	Potential Outcome
Stress	Reduction in cortisol levels	Decreased stress response
Anxiety	Modulation of amygdala activity	Reduced feelings of anxiety
Depression	Increased activity in the prefrontal cortex	Improved mood and cognitive function

Art Therapy & the Expressive Therapies Continuum

The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) is one way to look at how clients interact with the materials and the artmaking process as they move through the therapeutic process and their creative journey. The ETC helps to outline different levels of processing and interactions to identify where the client is in the creative process.

The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) takes a bottom up approach to working through traumas and they tend to begin with tapping into the body and how the body processes trauma. As the client moves through their experiences and moves through the ETC, they go from being aware of what is happening in their body to the art they are making to the cognitive symbols of that to creativity. By going from the inner automatic parts of the brain to the cognitive parts of the brain, art therapy helps the client move from where they feel trauma in their body to how they perceive it in their mind and the world.

This image is a graph explaining the different levels of the Expressive Therapies Continuum and how people are moving through their traumas while interacting with different materials and modalities. (Rossetti, 2020)

Level 1: Kinesthetic/Sensory

The kinesthetic aspect of this level primarily looks at how an individual releases energy through bodily expression.  This could look like doing claywork, scribbling with a marker, or doing physical body movements.

The sensory part assists clients in experiencing what it is like to smell the markers and to experience the physical touch of the clay or the modality you are working with, such as finger paints or scented markers.

This level can be helpful for those struggling with sensorimotor development, accessing preverbal memories, and expressing difficult emotions. The process of the artmaking and interacting with the materials is often more therapeutic than the actual product.

Level 2: Perceptual/Affective

The perceptual level focuses on the product of the artmaking rather than the experience itself. The client begins exploring their perceptions of the artmaking with the therapist.

The affective side focuses on the specific thoughts, visualizations, and expression of emotion in the discussion of the final product.

Within this level, art therapists can support clients in examining their perceptions in new ways and strengthening communication and expression of emotions. The client is beginning to make connections to their feelings and emotions and develop new thinking patterns that lead to overall personal growth.

Level 3: Cognitive/Symbolic 

The cognitive/symbolic level focuses on information processing. The focus is on verbally processing the art that you are making.

Information processing, spatial and categorical relations, and verbalization are the focus of the cognitive level. This is the space where the client is working on problem-solving, and the art therapist is observing how the client works with the material. If a client is struggling with planning out and executing their piece, the art therapist will help them explore on a more cognitive level how to move through this block.

The symbolic side looks at how metaphor and symbolism are utilized by the individual within their artmaking and how they describe it verbally.

This is the time when the client is starting to work on problem-solving and dealing with things not going their way and figuring out how to move and flex through stress and frustration.

Level 4: The Creative Level

The fourth level is the creative level and is a synthesis of the other levels of the continuum. This is when the client is going to tap into their creativity when making art. They begin to utilize the tools and techniques they have learned through the other modalities and work on integrating all of the levels in their artistic journey.

The people who created the Expressive Arts Continuum have it plotted out with these levels in the graph to see where their clients are in the art making process and where they are in processing through their feelings, experiences, and/or traumas. It is also a way to see if the art that is being made aligns with where they are on the continuum.

The Role of The Art Therapist

The role of the art therapist is to be an observer to the client’s art-making process. Art therapists are there to provide directives or activities in the session. It is not the role of the art therapist to analyze and give artistic feedback to the client about what they are making. Art therapy is not like an art class in which you create something to be graded and critiqued. It is more about the experience of the client and art therapist exchanging ideas about what the client has created and an exploration of the metaphors in the art. Thus, the role of the art therapist is simply to serve as a guide to help the client move through their personal journey using the levels of the Expressive Therapies Continuum to process their traumas and/or other mental health concerns.

If someone is interested in doing art therapy and one of the anxieties or barriers to trying art making is fear of criticism or judgment, it is important to note that is not the goal of this type of therapy; rather, the goal is to provide a safe space for clients to explore their creative side. It also provides an alternative way to process traumas other than talking.

 Art Therapy in a Group Setting

Art therapy is not just for individual sessions with a single client and their therapist. Art therapy can be incredibly powerful tool when used in a group setting to build social connections that contribute to a transformative journey. The movie Sing Sing, which came out in 2023, is a great example of using creative arts in a group setting. This movie is about a group of men who are engaging in creative arts as a way to process their traumas while learning healthy, positive ways of expressing themselves and their emotions. The movie follows a group of men as they participate in a theater program within Sing Sing Prison. The movie shows how this group of men came together in a creative and safe space to express themselves and to heal through their traumas. They learn respect, the importance of community, and how to be intimate with each other in ways that feel safe and supportive. This is a beautiful example of how creative arts can be used in a group setting to help clients on their healing journey. This is just one of many examples of how the creative arts can be used in a group setting.

Art Therapy Success Stories

It’s one thing to read about the therapeutic benefits of art and the Expressive Therapies Continuum can be in helping people process through their traumas, but it’s another thing to hear it from people who have experienced it themselves. Here are a couple of examples of people who have utilized art therapy to process through traumas and make meaningful changes in their lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0lAUatwArc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5GpwCGO8Nc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etanmN_9wU8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1CEL_l8hTc

If you are reading this and are interested in finding an art therapist to see, a great place to start is the American Art Therapy Association.  Not only do they have a comprehensive explanation about what art therapy is, they also have resources and a list of registered therapists. The American Art Therapy Association can be found at https://arttherapy.org/.

Additionally, if you are a current client at Sentier, you may explore incorporating creative expression into your work with your therapist. This may look like listening to music and lyrics that are meaningful to you or drawing or painting to give color and life to your emotions. Please note, our therapists are not licensed Art Therapists but are able to incorporate creative and expressive art into their work with clients.

Blog written by Sentier Therapist, Ashley Groshek, LMFT

Sources

Corliss, J. (2024, June 5). What is cognitive behavioral therapy?. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-202406053047#:~:text=A%202022%20review%20focused%20on,imagery%2C%20and%20pain%20response). 

Kids First. (2025)The science behind Art therapy: How it impacts the brain. . https://www.kidsfirstservices.com/first-insights/the-science-behind-art-therapy-how-it-impacts-the-brain#:~:text=Research%20in%20neuroscience%20has%20shown,which%20contribute%20to%20brain%20health 

Lindberg, S. (2023, February 14). What is talk therapy?. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/talk-therapy#fa-qs 

Rossetti, C. (2020, September 10). Art therapy & the expressive therapies continuum. Relating Through Art. https://www.relatingthroughart.com/relating-through-art-blog/art-therapy-the-expressive-therapies-continuum