“But… Why Is My Child Drawing in Therapy?”
Have you ever wondered:
“Why is my child drawing in therapy?”
“How is playing with sand supposed to help?”
“Why are they listening to music?”
“Are they actually doing therapy?” 👀
The answer is yes!
Expressive arts can be a meaningful part of the therapeutic process, especially when working with children and teens.
So, what are expressive arts?
Expressive arts involve using different creative forms such as art, music, movement, writing,
play, storytelling, and other forms of creative expression to help clients explore and
communicate their thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
They can be integrated into different counseling approaches and may be used when working with concerns such as:
✨ Anxiety and stress
✨ Trauma
✨ Grief and loss
✨ Emotional regulation
✨ Life transitions
✨ Self-esteem and identity
✨ Difficult emotions
✨ Experiences that may be difficult to put into words
And here's something important:
You do NOT have to be “good at art” to use expressive arts. 🎨
There isn't a right picture to draw, a perfect song to choose, or a “correct” way to create.
The focus is often the process not the finished product.
Why can expressive arts be helpful for children?
Children don't always have the words or the developmental ability to sit down and explain everything they're feeling.
Adults may be able to say:
“I'm feeling overwhelmed because I'm experiencing anxiety about school.”
A child might communicate that same experience through play, drawing, movement,
storytelling, or another creative activity.
Play is a natural medium of communication for children, and play therapy specifically uses play therapeutically to help children express and explore their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and behaviors.
In other words…
💖 Sometimes play is the language.
Expressive arts can give children another way to externalize their inner experiences, explore emotions, and communicate with their therapist without relying solely on verbal communication.
“Okay… but what does this actually look like in therapy?”
It can look different for every child!
A therapist may incorporate:
Music
Dance & movement
Writing
Drawing & painting
Sculpting
Collaging
Books, poetry & storytelling
Journaling
Puppetry
Role-play
Sand or other sensory-based activities
The therapist may use a directive activity, where there is a specific therapeutic goal, or
a nondirective activity, where the child has more freedom to lead through their own expression.
And no, it isn't simply: “Here are some crayons. Have fun!”
There is still therapeutic intention behind the work. The therapist may be helping the child identify emotions, develop coping skills, explore experiences, practice regulation, build communication skills, or process difficult experiences.
The creative activity is the tool. The therapeutic relationship and clinical work are still at the center.
What about trauma?
This is one area where expressive arts can be particularly helpful. Sometimes talking directly about a difficult or traumatic experience can feel overwhelming or a
person may not have the words to describe what they're experiencing.
Expressive arts can provide another avenue for expression by incorporating sensory, movement, visual, and nonverbal forms of communication.
Expressive arts approaches can also incorporate body-based and bilateral activities when
clinically appropriate. These approaches are intended to support engagement with experiences that may be difficult to access through verbal processing alone.
This does NOT mean that drawing a picture magically “fixes” trauma. Rather, creative expression can become one part of a thoughtful, individualized therapeutic
process.
What about teenagers?
Let's be honest… Sometimes asking a teenager:
“So, tell me how you' re feeling.”
gets you:
“I don't know.”
“Fine.”
“Nothing.”
Expressive arts can create another doorway into the conversation. For teens, creative activities may support:
✨ Identity exploration
✨ Emotional expression
✨ Processing difficult experiences
✨ Building rapport
✨ Coping and regulation
✨ Externalizing emotions
✨ Communicating things that are difficult to verbalize
✨ A greater sense of choice and empowerment
Sometimes it's easier to make something, listen to something, move, write, or create before trying to explain exactly what's happening inside.
AND YES… ADULTS TOO!
Absolutely!
There are simple, everyday ways parents and caregivers can incorporate creativity, movement, and sensory experiences into connection and regulation.
💃🏽 DANCE PARTY!
Have your child pick a favorite song and have a quick dance party.
Let them jump.
Spin.
Shake.
Move.
Be silly.
Try it:
✨ After school
✨ After a difficult day
✨ During a transition
✨ When they need a reset
The goal isn't perfect dancing. It's movement, connection, expression, and fun.
🖍️ COLOR WALK!
This can be a fun activity for kids and teens.
Go on a walk, pick a color and see how many things you can find around you that match it.
Want to make it competitive? See who can find the most!
This type of activity encourages attention toward the environment and sensory awareness, which can be a simple way to help someone shift their focus toward the present moment.
And the best part? It doesn't have to feel like therapy. Sometimes connection happens when we're simply doing something together.
🎧 And for the adults…
Put on a song.
Take a little space.
Move your body.
Shake out your hands, arms, legs, or shoulders.
Dance it out.
Shake it off.
Yes, I'm absolutely going to sneak a Taylor Swift reference in here.
Movement-based expressive activities can be incorporated into approaches that attend to the body's experience of stress and emotion.
So, the next time your child says…
“We just played in therapy.”
That doesn't necessarily mean they “didn't do therapy.”
That play may have been how they communicated. That drawing may have helped them express something they couldn't say. That sandtray may have helped them explore something that felt overwhelming. That movement activity may have helped them practice regulation. And that creative activity may have helped them feel safe enough to talk.
Play therapy and expressive arts are not about avoiding the therapeutic work.
✨ Sometimes, they are the way we get to the therapeutic work. ✨
Creative expression is all around us.
And when used intentionally and appropriately within therapy, it can give children, teens, and adults another language for the experiences that words don't always capture.
References
1. Association for Play Therapy. (n.d.). What is play therapy? Retrieved August 20, 2026,
2. GoodTherapy. (2026). Expressive arts therapy: Evidence-based benefits, techniques
&clinical applications.https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/expressive-arts-therapy
3. Landreth, G. L. (2002). Play therapy: The art of the relationship (2nd ed.). Brunner-
Routledge.
4. Malchiodi, C. A. (2021, February 1). Working bilaterally via expressive arts to resolve
trauma. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/arts-and-
health/202101/working-bilaterally-expressive-arts-resolve-trauma
5. National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2024, February 7). Expressive arts therapy: A
sensory approach to trauma healing. https://www.nami.org/other-treatments/expressive-
arts-therapy-a-sensory-approach-to-trauma-healing/
6. NEUROFIT. (2025, February 23). Somatic shaking: How to do it. https://neurofit.app/learn/en/somatic-shaking/
7. School of Allied Health Professions, LSU Health Sciences Center. (n.d.). About play
therapy: Why play? Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://alliedhealth.lsuhsc.edu/clinics/playtherapywhatis.aspx
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