Art Therapy
A creative pathway to authentic healing & growth
Words don’t always capture what we’re feeling. Art therapy offers another way in — a space where creativity and conversation come together to support healing. Through the process of making art, you can regulate emotions, explore your inner world, and tell your story in ways that feel safe and meaningful. You don’t need to be “good at art” — just open to trying.
Art therapy is a specialized form of psychotherapy that integrates the creative process of art-making with the foundations of counseling. Using materials like paint, collage, clay, or drawing, clients are invited to explore emotions, patterns, and experiences that may be hard to access through words alone.
In the art-making process, you may experience patterns of behavior that reflect your current struggles, or you may see symbols in the artwork that relate to your life. Art can provide a mirror to ourselves as we cultivate self-understanding. Through art therapy, you may discover unrecognized emotions, resolve inner conflicts, reduce stress, and foster self-esteem and self-awareness. The focus is on the process of creation and learning from the product, rather than the goal of creating aesthetically pleasing art.
Art therapy is versatile and adaptable, making it suitable for individuals of all ages, from children to adults.
Benefits of Art Therapy
Exploring identity and sense of self
Practicing mindfulness and presence
Working through painful experiences
Preparing for changes and transitions
Learning about personal boundaries
Building self-awareness and self-acceptance
Developing emotional regulation skills
Strengthening communication
-
Check In : Touching base on what has happened since the previous session, what is coming up for you presently, and how it may inform the creative exercise
Art Making: The art therapist may prompt a creative activity, or allow the person to choose their own form of expression
Processing: Reflect on what surfaced through the art making experience and in the artwork- emotions, themes, insights. We explore how this relates to our current experiences and mental health, developing emotional regulation, problem solving and insight.
Closure
-
Nope! In Art therapy, we use the creative process so that we can learn about ourselves, or as a tool to elicit emotions that we experience as we create. Either way, it is less about the product, and more about the process.
-
That’s completely fine, Many clients combine both — we may talk while you create, or use the art as a jumping-off point for reflection. You’ll never be forced to make art if you don’t want to.
-
Art Therapists require Master’s Degree training in art and therapy. They then are credentialed by the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATR-Registered Art Therapist; ATR-BC- Board Certified Registered Art Therapist). Learn more from the American Art Therapy Association.
-
Golden Art Therapy & Counseling is located in Falls Church Virginia and served the greater DC metro area, or clients located anywhere in Virginia (yes, art therapy can be done virtually). Golden is easily located to clients in:
Arlington County
Fairfax County
McLean
Tysons
Alexandria
Washington DC