Knowledge library

Art therapy for children: from the first concern to reviewing change

How child art therapy works, how needs vary with age, and how families can assess support without testing drawings.

Parents alongside: supporting creativity without pressure

A practical guide for mothers, fathers and carers: creating together, boundaries, conflict, privacy and working with a psychologist.

Art therapy for adolescents: identity, autonomy and a voice of their own

Creative support for young people that respects privacy, relationships, school and digital culture: guidance for parents and professionals.

Creative participation across childhood: preschoolers, schoolchildren and teenagers

Adapting support to experience and needs without rigid stages, comparisons or diagnoses based on drawings.

“I can’t draw”: supporting a child without arguments or grades

Practical conversations for parents and educators: clarifying needs, manageable choice, help without takeover and respect for refusal.

Art therapy in schools: supporting pupils without grading their pictures

Understanding school-based services and coordinating learning, privacy and individual participation needs.

A children's creative group: a guide for educators, not a therapy protocol

Defining purpose, arranging materials and participation, respecting boundaries and ending without judging children through products.

Sensory play and fine motor skills: what are we supporting?

Distinguish sensations, movement skills, creative play and professional care; choose activities and assess claims realistically.

Accessible art therapy for children and young people: culture, communication and neurodiversity

Discussing adjustments that support participation without requiring children to hide their differences.

What is art therapy?

Art, psychological support and the therapeutic relationship: an introduction to the essentials.

Creativity, art lessons and therapy

How to distinguish recreation, learning and professional psychological support.

How art therapy developed

A short historical route without the myth of a single founding moment.

Approaches in art therapy: why the same material can mean different work

Distinguishing theoretical orientation, format and technique, with questions that make a practitioner's proposal clearer.

Your first art therapy session: from introductions to a shared plan

What to prepare, how to discuss needs and discomfort, and how to evaluate the beginning of therapy.

Methods & materials

Drawing: a line as a starting point

Simple ways to explore materials without judging artistic results.

Methods & materials

Collage: choosing, combining, changing

A creative format for anyone who would rather not start with a blank page.

Methods & materials

Clay and modelling: exploring volume

Organising a simple exploration of form with attention to comfort and materials.

Materials for art therapy and creative play: choosing thoughtfully

Pencils, paints, collage and three-dimensional materials: properties, access, space and the limits of product claims.

What does a drawing mean? Conversation instead of decoding

How to discuss images thoughtfully, distinguish observation from inference, and avoid diagnoses based on colour, symbols or composition.

Trauma-informed creativity: safety, choice and the limits of support

What it means to consider traumatic experience in creative spaces, without forced recollection or promises that an exercise will heal.

Privacy and consent: what happens to your words and artwork

A practical guide to participation, children's privacy, image storage and permission to share creative work.

How to choose an art therapist: qualifications, experience and fit

A practical way to check a practitioner and compare services without relying on impressive promises.

Science & research

How to read art therapy research: from headline to careful conclusion

Comparison groups, effect sizes, uncertainty and the difference between an enjoyable experience and demonstrated change.

Science & research

Evidence and limits of art therapy: what can responsibly be claimed

A clinical example, the difference between a recommendation and a guarantee, and decisions when evidence is incomplete.

How art therapists train: education, supervision and credentials

Understand the US professional pathway and learn to ask precise questions about any training programme.

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Science & research

Making sense of AATA: a guide to professional knowledge

A way to distinguish professional standards, research, educational resources and personal stories, rather than simply a list of links.

Psychodynamic art therapy: the image within a relationship

Unconscious experience, associations and interaction without decoding a person from a drawing.

Person-centred art therapy: authorship of experience

Empathy, acceptance and meaningful choice within a humanistic approach.

The Expressive Therapies Continuum: a practical conceptual map

Movement, sensation, form, feelings and symbols: understanding children’s and adolescents’ creativity through ETC without brain myths.

Group art therapy and the open studio

How purpose, membership and interaction differ even around the same table.

Online art therapy and digital materials: assessing the format

Video meetings, tablet drawing, privacy at home and practical agreements to clarify before starting.

Art therapy, grief and loss: room for experience without demands to “let go”

Discussing creative support, respecting personal pace and distinguishing professional interest from evidence of effectiveness.

A cognitive-behavioural perspective: thoughts, actions and images

How visual methods can support cognitive-behavioural work, and why evidence for CBT does not automatically validate any creative activity.

Narrative approaches and visual storytelling: who authors the story?

Identity, externalising, alternative stories and cultural context in image-based work, without manufacturing a happy ending.

Attachment and relationships in art therapy: looking at interaction

A secure base, expectations of others, mentalizing and shared creativity: what a relational lens explains and what research has tested.