What Happens in Art Psychotherapy?

For many people considering Art Psychotherapy, one of the first questions is simple: what actually happens during a session?

You may wonder whether you will be expected to make art, what the therapist does while you are working, or whether an image will be interpreted. There can be particular uncertainty if you have not used art materials for many years or do not think of yourself as artistic.

A session may involve talking, working with art materials, looking together at an image, or moving between these different forms of expression.

In sessions with me, the use of art materials is always optional. Some people make images regularly, others use materials occasionally, and some choose to work entirely through conversation.

What is Art Psychotherapy?

Art Psychotherapy is a regulated psychological therapy in which image-making may form part of the therapeutic process alongside conversation.

As an HCPC registered Art Psychotherapist, I am trained to work both verbally and through the use of images. The artwork is not judged or evaluated, and the purpose is not to develop artistic skill or produce something for display.

Instead, image-making offers another way of approaching experiences that may be difficult to express entirely through words. The meaning of an image is not assumed in advance, but explored in relation to the person who made it and the therapy in which it emerged.

My approach to Art Psychotherapy

I am both an HCPC registered Art Psychotherapist and a practising visual artist. Image-making remains an active part of my own life, giving me a sustained familiarity with materials, creative uncertainty, and the ways an image can develop beyond what was consciously intended.

This informs my respect for images as more than illustrations of ideas that have already been formed in words. Within therapy, however, the attention remains upon your experience and your images. I do not assess their artistic qualities or use my own preferences as a standard for what you create.

My approach is depth-oriented and attentive to the emotional, relational, symbolic, and imaginal dimensions an image may hold, without reducing it too quickly to a single interpretation.

Beginning an Art Psychotherapy session

Therapy sessions last one hour and usually take place at a regular weekly or fortnightly time.

There is no fixed agenda for what you should bring. You may arrive with something specific in mind, such as a recent event, a relationship, a dream, a difficult feeling, or a question that has stayed with you. At other times, you may begin without knowing what you want to discuss.

We might start by talking. You may then feel drawn to make an image, or something in the conversation may suggest that using materials could offer another way of approaching what is present. Alternatively, you may begin with image-making and speak afterwards about what emerged.

Neither starting point is more correct. The session develops in response to what feels appropriate rather than according to a prescribed sequence.

Working with art materials

Art Psychotherapy may involve materials such as:

• pencils or pens

• coloured pencils

• pastels

• paint

• collage

• clay or other three-dimensional materials

Simple materials are entirely sufficient. A pen and a sheet of paper may be as useful as a wide selection of paints or pastels.

You may know what you want to make before beginning. At other times, you might choose a colour, make a mark, or follow an impulse without having a finished image in mind.

Some images appear deliberate and recognisable. Others may be abstract, fragmentary, uncertain, or difficult to understand. An image does not need to look accomplished or make immediate sense in order to have a place within the therapy.

The way you approach the materials may also become part of what we notice. You might feel hesitant about beginning, concerned about making a mistake, frustrated by the materials, or drawn towards a colour or form without knowing why.

These experiences are not assessed as artistic successes or failures. They may instead offer another way of learning about how you approach uncertainty, expression, control, choice, or the possibility of being seen.

Do I need to be good at art?

No artistic experience or ability is required to work with me in Art Psychotherapy.

The image is not marked, criticised, or compared with anyone else’s work. There is no correct way to use the materials and no standard that the finished image needs to meet.

Someone who has not drawn since childhood can participate just as meaningfully as a practising artist.

Questions about skill, judgement, or “doing it properly” can nevertheless bring up important experiences connected with creativity, performance, approval, or failure. These can become part of what we explore, without you being pressured to make art.

I consider this question more fully in my article, Do You Need to Be Good at Art for Art Therapy?

What happens in Art Psychotherapy while I am making an image?

There is no single way in which image-making takes place during a session.

At times I may remain quiet while you work, allowing you space to concentrate and follow the process. At other times we may continue talking, or you may pause to describe what you are noticing.

I do not usually advise you on how to use the materials or what to create. The choices you make, including uncertainty about how to begin, can form part of the process. I may intervene if something appears unsafe, but otherwise my role is to remain present and attentive rather than direct the image.

You do not need to explain the image while making it. Nor do you need to know what it means.

The process may feel absorbing, playful, uncomfortable, surprising, or emotionally affecting. Sometimes nothing particularly dramatic occurs. The image may simply provide a different focus for attention within the session.

When you have finished, we may place the image where both of us can see it and spend some time looking. You may want to speak immediately, or it may be helpful to remain with it quietly for a while.

Will the therapist interpret my image?

I do not decode images or tell you what they mean.

There are broad cultural and psychological associations connected with colours, shapes, objects, and symbols, but these do not provide a fixed explanation of an individual image.

A house, tree, animal, mountain, or particular colour could have very different meanings for different people. Its significance also depends upon what was happening when it was made and how the person who created it experiences it.

I may offer an observation or response. I might notice that one part of the image seems very different from another, ask what it was like to make a particular mark, or wonder whether something connects with what we have been discussing.

These responses are offered as possibilities to consider, not authoritative interpretations.

You may immediately recognise something meaningful in the image. At other times, it may remain unclear. Understanding can develop later, perhaps after returning to the image in another session or noticing how it relates to subsequent experiences.

An image does not need to be forced into a verbal explanation. Sometimes its value lies partly in its ability to hold something that cannot yet be fully said.

Talking and reflecting

Some sessions may feel similar to other forms of psychotherapy because they take place primarily through talking. Where an image is present, it may become a third point of attention within the relationship between client and therapist. Rather than speaking only about an experience, you can look at something that has taken form outside you. This may make it possible to approach difficult material with a little more distance.

At other times, the image can make an experience feel more immediate or emotionally present. It may bring together feelings, memories, and associations that had previously seemed separate.

We might reflect upon:

• what it was like to make the image

• what you notice when looking at it

• feelings or memories it evokes

• elements that feel important, confusing, or unexpected

• how your relationship with the image changes over time

There is no requirement to analyse every part. Some images invite sustained reflection, while others may simply mark a particular moment in the therapy.

What if I do not want to use art materials?

In my practice, working with art materials is always optional.

You may be interested in my depth-oriented and relational approach while preferring to work verbally. Choosing not to make images does not mean that you are failing to participate fully in therapy.

Some clients never use art materials. Others begin entirely through conversation and become curious about image-making later. A person who regularly makes images may also go through long periods when verbal exploration feels more appropriate.

There may be times when I mention image-making as a possibility, particularly if something appears difficult to express verbally. This is an invitation rather than an instruction, and you are free to decline.

The purpose is to provide more than one way of approaching experience, not to replace conversation or make image-making compulsory.

The role of images over time

An image made in therapy can be returned to later.

You may notice something that was not apparent when it was created, or find that its meaning changes as the therapy develops. Several images made over time may reveal recurring forms, colours, relationships, or movements. This does not mean that we search the images for hidden clues. Instead, they become part of the history of the therapy and can offer a visible record of experiences that may otherwise be difficult to remember or describe.

An image can sometimes hold contradictory feelings together without requiring them to be resolved immediately. It may express both attraction and fear, closeness and distance, hope and grief. In this way, images are not treated as problems to be solved. They can be lived with, revisited, and understood gradually.

How does online Art Psychotherapy work?

I offer online Art Psychotherapy to adults across the UK.

Because we meet online, you provide and work with art materials in your own space. These can be simple items you already have, such as paper, pencils, pens, pastels, or paint. There is no requirement to purchase specialist or expensive materials.

Materials should be safe and appropriate for use in your surroundings. It is also important to arrange your workspace so that liquids, paint, or other materials do not pose a risk to your computer, phone, furniture, or other belongings.

I am less likely to advise you on how to use the materials artistically, although I may intervene if I notice something that appears unsafe. You remain in control of the materials, your immediate environment, and how your images are stored.

The camera can be adjusted if you would like me to see the image while it is being made, or you can show it when you feel ready. We can also work without my seeing the image immediately.

Working online means that the images remain with you. You decide where they are kept and whether you want to return to them between sessions.

For some people, using materials at home offers privacy and familiarity. It may also make it possible to continue a process after the session, although there is never an expectation that you complete work outside the therapy hour.

Online work naturally differs from sharing a physical studio space, but it can still support a meaningful relationship involving the client, therapist, and image.

Could Art Psychotherapy suit me?

Art Psychotherapy may be of interest if you find that words do not always capture your experience, are curious about images and imagination, or would value more than one way of expressing yourself in therapy.

You do not need artistic experience, nor do you need to decide in advance whether you will use art materials regularly. This can remain an open possibility and form part of what we discuss when considering whether to work together.

Further information about Art Psychotherapy

A session may be entirely verbal, centred upon an image, or move between conversation and image-making. In sessions with me, art materials remain an optional way of approaching experience rather than a requirement.

You can find further details about my approach, professional background, session arrangements, and the process of beginning on the Art Psychotherapy page of my website.

You are welcome to contact me with any questions or to arrange an initial consultation. Details can be found at the foot of each page on this sight.