This study explores the challenges and advantages of open art therapy studios within high school settings. The research draws on in-depth interviews with the art therapists who implement open studios. This study examines how the studios-characterized by openness, choice, process, and non-stigmatizing access-function as therapeutic and developmental spaces within the highly structured and achievement focused environment of high schools. The findings show how open studios can offer a vital counterbalance to academic pressures, while also fostering psychoeducational goals through self-expression, emotional regulation, and social connection. However, navigating the systemic tensions arising from contrasting institutional cultures requires clear communication, resource advocacy (including materials, space, and scheduling), and continuous collaboration with educational staff. These strategies enable a spectrum rather than oppositional type of relationship between school and open studio. Framed through an ecological lens, the study positions the school-based open studio as an interdependent system shaped by its broader institutional context. Ultimately, highlighting these integration strategies underscores the interventions' therapeutic potential, offering findings generalizable to other institutional open studios, such as hospitals and prisons.
Mental health needs in Arab schools are increasingly recognized, yet little research has examined culturally grounded interventions that integrate art therapy and family involvement. Therefore, this qualitative multi-perspective study explored how art therapy, alongside family engagement, supports students with mental health disorders in Arab schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants, 15 art therapists and 10 mothers, and data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory. Findings indicate that art therapy provides a culturally responsive, nonverbal space for emotional expression, regulation, and meaning-making and that family involvement enhances acceptance of support, reduces stigma, and strengthens continuity between school and home. Importantly, the study reveals how mothers and art therapists actively navigate cultural norms, stigma, and institutional limitations through adaptive.
Reproductive trauma, including perinatal loss, infertility, and birth trauma, is common and pervasively linked to negative mental health outcomes. However, there has been little discussion focusing on training approaches that help mental health practitioners increase clinical competency in this area. Using a mixed-methods design, this pilot study evaluated the impact and experiences of art therapy trainees and practitioners who completed 12.5 hours of arts-based reproductive trauma training in an intensive two-day format. Quantitative and qualitative data, including pre and post survey results, written responses, and artwork, suggest the training was effective in increasing participants' knowledge and perceived clinical competency in this area of perinatal mental health. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future directions are discussed.
This case study examined the culturally responsive practices of an art therapist working with women experiencing domestic violence within a Han Chinese cultural context in Taiwan. Confucian traditions significantly influence the cultural identity of this majority population. The participant, a Taiwanese art therapist residing in Taiwan, reflected on her clinical experiences through two unstructured, in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis revealed three interrelated cultural themes related to patriarchal values and traditional gender expectations, as well as four culturally relevant therapeutic themes. The findings underscore the importance for art therapists to move beyond superficial adjustments and actively engage with clients' sociocultural realities, while maintaining ongoing critical self-reflexivity in their practice.
Renewal of research into psychedelics indicates their ability to provide relief from challenging conditions like trauma, treatment resistant depression, addictions, and end-of-life distress. Psychedelics appear to promote neuroplasticity, stimulate creativity, dampen fear responses, circumvent psychological defenses, soften rigid beliefs, and foster profound feelings of unity. The non-verbal, non-linear, and experiential nature of art therapy makes it well matched for psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT), providing a way to externalize and engage with the ineffable qualities of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (NOSC). This article presents a psychedelic art therapy approach that weaves art therapy principles and interventions into the preparation, dosing, and integration phases of PAT. Recommendations for research are presented, along with training competencies and ethical considerations unique to this work.
Models of school-based art therapy range widely. School-based professions were established through legislative, legal, and professional advocacy. The advancement of school-based art therapy in the United States lags behind the progress noted by other school professionals and school-based art therapy as practiced internationally. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study aims to identify characteristics to support the advocacy efforts toward national implementation. Survey findings from school-based art therapists (n = 103) are reported. Characteristics describing the education setting, position, format, collaboration, and administration of school-based art therapy models are shared. Disparities in implementation based on state licensing and funding impact the effective inclusion of art therapy in schools. Current models provide recommendations for the expansion of art therapy in schools. Highlighted strategies establish clear parameters for art therapy intervention and encourage effective collaboration with staff and parents. Understanding the nuances of school-based art therapy models may yield greater knowledge toward its national advancement.
Individuals with eating disorders experience alexithymia, stress, and mood disturbances. Art therapy offers an alternative modality for emotion processing, though evidence for brief formats is limited. This pilot study examined feasibility, and acceptability following a one-day intensive art therapy workshop for individuals with eating disorders. A manualised workshop comprising two directives was delivered in inpatient and outpatient hospital settings. Pre- and post-session measures of alexithymia, distress, and mood disturbance, and reflections, were collected. The workshop was feasible and well accepted, with high completion and positive feedback. Although no significant change was detected in alexithymia, modest reductions in subjective distress and mood disturbance were observed. Brief, structured art therapy workshops may support accessible short-term emotional regulation during treatment.
This quality improvement initiative examines a collaborative, clay-based art therapy program designed to support postpartum mothers' psychological well-being. Co-facilitated by an art therapist and a ceramic artist, the program blended clinical intention with ceramic skill-building through mindfulness-based directives. A two-session cycle allowed mothers to engage in grounding artmaking and reflect on their finished pieces. Qualitative descriptive analysis of participant reflections, facilitator notes, and post-cycle survey responses revealed themes of emotional release, identity reconstruction, peer connection, and empowerment. Symbolic imagery across clay works reflected complexities of early motherhood including anxiety and overwhelm, grief and loss, identity shifts, and tension between caregiving demands and personal needs. Findings highlight the value of interdisciplinary, community-based clay art therapy in postpartum support and program development.
This study explored art therapists' and group supervisors' perspectives on time-limited art therapy (TLAT) implemented in a research clinic. TLAT is an adaptation of Mann's time-limited psychotherapy (TLP) to art therapy that integrates structured and spontaneous artmaking within a time-bound therapeutic framework. Nineteen art therapists and two group supervisors participated in focus groups and interviews. Grounded Theory analysis yielded seven interrelated core categories: "Evaluating Therapeutic Suitability"; "Holding Therapy within a Structured Time Frame"; "Defining and Maintaining the Central Issue"; "Fostering an Intensive Therapeutic Relationship"; "Using Art for Emotional Processing"; "Sustaining the Therapist's Presence and Active Stance"; and "Supporting Ongoing Emotional Processes." The findings provide a conceptual foundation for the future articulation of a clinical model of TLAT.
Art therapy is increasingly used in early childhood education to support children's emotional, social, and psychological development; however, kindergarten teachers' perspectives remain underexplored. This qualitative study examines teachers' views on the application and impact of art therapy for children aged 3-6 in Arabic-language public kindergartens serving Arab citizens of Israel. Fifteen teachers with direct experience in art therapy programs were purposively selected. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using consensual qualitative research and thematic analysis. Findings indicate that art therapy enhances emotional regulation, self-expression, communication skills, and self-confidence. Teachers also reported challenges related to training, coordination, time allocation, and resources, and suggested strategies to improve implementation and sustainability within contemporary inclusive early childhood educational settings globally.
This is a viewpoint shared by two art psychotherapy educators in the United Kingdom reducing their reliance on bought art materials within their professional training programs. They propose a reimagining and reuse of manufactured materials with an appreciation of regenerative practices. The material culture of art therapy typically endorses an accumulation of material resources rather than a reduced repertoire of choice. A new materialist pedagogy for art therapy recognizes the agency of materials and their volition and active participation within art therapy practice and education. The purpose of this shared commentary is to propose a new perspective on art therapy materials with an aim to reduce single-use consumption.
Digital art therapy has emerged as a promising modality for supporting adolescents, particularly those with trauma histories, by combining expressive artmaking with accessible digital tools. This viewpoint article discusses the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI-based applications into digital art therapy within culturally diverse settings. We highlight the potential of AI to enhance creative engagement, increase accessibility, and facilitate emotional expression among adolescents. At the same time, we critically examine emerging concerns, including unsupervised use of AI tools, limited cultural representation in AI-generated images, and ethical implications related to autonomy and data privacy. We also elaborate on the philosophical foundations guiding digital artmaking-such as constructivist, phenomenological, and posthumanist perspectives-to deepen understanding of how adolescents interact with digital media in therapeutic spaces. The article emphasizes the need for culturally informed, ethically grounded, and trauma-sensitive approaches when implementing AI-supported digital art therapy. Future directions for collaboration between art therapists, technologists, and cultural experts are proposed to ensure that AI-based tools are empowering, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate for adolescent clients.
Traditional education systems often marginalize neurodivergent students through rigid curricula, underfunding, and deficit-oriented practices, effects that are amplified for Black youth navigating intersecting forms of racism, ableism, and structural neglect. This study examines the Peace Room, an open art therapy studio embedded within an urban K-8 public school, as a relational ecosystem where healing and learning converge. Using qualitative case study, reflexive practice, and arts-based inquiry, the research explores how collective artmaking, flexible spatial design, and culturally responsive facilitation promote regulation, belonging, and authorship for Black neurodivergent youth. Findings illustrate that the Peace Room, an open art therapy studio, not only supported students' emotional regulation and identity formation but also shaped interns' development as culturally humble, justice-oriented practitioners. By centering students as coauthors rather than recipients of intervention, the Peace Room emerges as a liberatory third space that reimagines schooling as a site of collective care, relational learning, and creative possibility.
Art making can support couples in relational crises. This study explored the suitability and utility of the PATd framework, and additional art interventions of relevance for couples counseling. A co-designed qualitative study with ten family counselors showed that specific sessions of PAT and selected interventions were preferred, while the full PATd was too extensive for typical family counseling durations. Based on these findings, a tailored set of Curated Art Therapy Interventions to support Couples (CATcouples) was developed. It includes nine sessions across three phases: introduction/mapping, working, and concluding. Throughout the therapeutic process, couples and therapists collaboratively could choose sessions to engage in, based on their specific needs and concerns. Artmaking remains a valuable tool in therapeutic work with couples.
