What to Expect from an Art Therapy Session
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy, facilitated by licensed or certified art therapists. It sounds pretty straightforward: it integrates creative expression with mental health counseling, yet many people, especially adults, find it hard to picture what an actual session looks like.
I’m Cassidy, a Philly-based art therapist and counselor, and I am here to talk about what actually happens in a typical art therapy session.
Check-in (5-10 minutes)
Your art therapist will check in, ask how your week has been, and allow space for any important updates or topics. Then, you and your art therapist will decide what you would like to spend the session working on. If you have been in traditional counseling, or talk therapy, this step will be familiar.
Art-Making (10-30 minutes)
Once you’ve checked in, it’s time to make art. This can look very different depending on both the individual and the art therapist. In my experience, some people do better with a few prompts to choose from, with materials pre-selected for each, and some people come in and want to do their own thing. Both are equally acceptable! If you ask for prompts, the prompts should have something to do with what you are in therapy to address. For example, if you are in art therapy for trauma, there are specific interventions for that. One art therapy prompt I use often for trauma is “Create your safest place.” Some people choose to draw a safe place, whether real or imagined. Others might prefer to paint, sculpt, or even build a diorama to represent their safest place! The point is, there is no “right or wrong” way to do anything in art therapy. It’s all about the process.
It may take a few sessions to get comfortable with this portion. Some people aren’t sure whether they should talk while making art or not. (The answer is, it’s completely up to you!) Some people need more structure than others or may take longer to get comfortable with the art materials, and that’s all OK. If you’re ever feeling unsure about something, your art therapist will be happy to help guide you, just let us know.
Discuss the Artwork (10-30 minutes)
Once you are finished or at a good stopping point, you and your art therapist can discuss what you’ve created. This part is intimidating for a lot of people, and it makes perfect sense — it is a vulnerable thing to share a piece of art. Many people are their own worst critics and will overthink their final product. But when your art therapist looks at your art, we see so much more than the final product. We are probably thinking of a million questions:
“What were they feeling when they made this?”
“I wonder if this color means anything?”
“What is happening in this image?”
“Is this what they expected to create?”
“This pencil line looks super hard. Are they anxious?”
These are some of the questions your art therapist is likely to ask. I tend to open the floor first and allow my clients to share about their art before asking questions. Art therapy can be very narrative. One common misconception is that art therapists will look at your art and psychoanalyze you. In reality, your art therapist should never assume something has meaning and should remain curious rather than diagnostic. For example, I would never say “you used the color gray a lot, you must be depressed.” Instead, I would approach it with curiosity: “I’m noticing a lot of gray in your image. What do you think this means?”
Close the Session (5-10 minutes)
This is the time for any final thoughts, a-ha moments, or things that came up that you would like to work on the following week. It is a chance to transition back into your day. If the session was particularly heavy, or if you’re someone who prefers a transition activity, you might do a short meditation or breathing exercise. If that’s not your thing, you might just confirm next week’s session and be on your way. Again, this step will feel familiar for people who have been in traditional talk therapy.
That’s about it! Art therapy is not too different from traditional talk therapy, but can add so much value. It’s perfect if you’re someone whose thoughts tend to get jumbled, or if you feel like you have so much to talk about in therapy but once the time comes you freeze. It can be an amazing tool for topics that feel too difficult to talk about with words. And, it can even be fun.
Check out the button below to see some myths and facts about art therapy! ⬇️
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If you feel stuck in traditional talk therapy or want to explore art therapy, I encourage you to give it a try! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me! Send me an email at cassidy@keystonearttherapy or give me a call at (267)-507-1692.
