Art Therapy

What is art therapy?

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses image making alongside talking. The British Association of Art Therapists says you do not need to be skilled in art.

It is not an art lesson. You need no previous experience.

The picture gives you and your therapist a third thing to look at together. Nobody marks it. Some people find that easier than sitting face to face and talking.

Sources: BAAT: art therapy, BAAT: what to expect

How it works

You make something, and then the two of you think about it together. Materials might be paint, pastel or clay, or you might make a collage.

You can work in silence if you would rather. Your therapist may sit quietly, or make art alongside you.

You make something first. You think about it together afterwards. Sometimes the making carries more than the talking does, and sometimes it is the other way round.

Sources: BAAT: art therapy, IEATA: intermodal arts

What sessions look like

Art therapy runs one to one or in a small group. You might meet in a private room or online.

Like most therapy, a session usually lasts about fifty minutes. How long a course runs depends on you and your therapist.

You do not have to fill the time with words. Some sessions are mostly quiet. The making can carry the hour on its own.

Sources: BAAT: art therapy, BACP: counselling

Who it might suit

It can be a good fit if you:

• Find that words run out before the feeling does
• Have been in talking therapy and felt stuck in your own explanations
• Carry something from long ago that you have not yet described
• Would rather do something with your hands than sit still
• Are tired of hearing yourself tell the same story

A trust running arts therapies on the NHS says so plainly. You need not be good at art, or have done any before.

It may suit you less well if you want a structured course with tasks between sessions. Therapies such as CBT work that way.

Source: SABP: arts therapy

Who provides it

Art therapist and art psychotherapist are titles protected in law. The Health and Care Professions Council keeps the register. Using a protected title with intent to deceive is a criminal offence.

BAAT says the law requires an approved master's course. It lists eleven approved courses in the UK.

In September 2026 the register held about 6,200 arts therapists across all four titles. That one figure covers art, music and drama together, because the regulator does not split it.

Sources: HCPC: protected titles, HCPC: misuse of title, BAAT: becoming a therapist, HCPC: register summary

The evidence

The research is thin, and we would rather say so than dress it up. Cochrane's review of art therapy for schizophrenia found only two trials. Its authors concluded that the benefits or harms remain unclear.

That review was published in 2005 and has had no update since. Between them the two trials covered fewer than 140 people.

The largest UK trial randomised 417 people with schizophrenia. Its authors reported that referral to group art therapy did not improve mental health or functioning. BAAT answers that only a small share of those referred attended a group.

Newer work is warmer. A 2026 review of fourteen studies reported a fall in depressive symptoms. Its authors warned that the trials varied widely and carried a risk of bias.

NICE says to consider offering arts therapies to people with psychosis. It says offer for CBT in the same guideline, which is the stronger word.

NICE does not name art therapy in its guidance on depression. NHS Talking Therapies does not list it either, so the NHS route runs through community mental health services. An NHS trust running the therapy says there has been little research to show conclusively that it helps.

Sources: Ruddy & Milnes 2005, Crawford et al. 2012, BAAT: psychosis, Qiao et al. 2026, NICE CG178, NICE NG222, NHS England: talking therapies manual, ELFT: ERA trial

Expressive arts therapy

Expressive arts therapy works across several art forms rather than one. A session might move between drawing, movement, music and writing.

Expressive arts therapist is not a title the Health and Care Professions Council protects. We found no UK register for it. Ask a practitioner what they trained in and which body holds them to account.

Sources: IEATA: intermodal arts, IEATA: registered therapist, HCPC: protected titles

Sand tray and sandplay

You arrange small figures in a tray of sand to make a scene. Nothing has to be explained while you build it.

Sandplay grew from the World Technique of the English psychiatrist Margaret Lowenfeld. The Jungian analyst Dora Kalff developed it with Carl Jung's encouragement. The British and Irish Sandplay Society is the UK member of the body Kalff founded.

Sandplay is not one of the four protected titles. Ask which register a practitioner belongs to.

Sources: BISS: Jungian sandplay, BISS: about, HCPC: protected titles

Play therapy

In play therapy the play itself is the medium rather than the talking. The British Association of Play Therapists says it is most commonly used with children. The same body says it can support people of all ages.

Play therapist is not a protected title, and people may practise without being on a register. Two registers are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

We connect adults with professionals. If you are looking for help for a child, start with our page for under-18s.

If you are weighing up a few options, our guide to the different approaches sets them side by side.

Sources: BAPT: play therapy, BAPT: PSA accreditation, PSA: register search