Art Therapy for Adults

Meeting yourself and creating movement from within

It's commonly thought that art therapy is meant for children. But for adults, the opportunity to express themselves through art becomes a unique chance — to bypass verbal thinking for a moment, connect with the inner world, and discover through creation things that can't always be said in words.

Drawing doesn't require talent or experience. It allows a person to meet themselves directly — not through explanations, but through experience. Often the hand knows before the mind.

Concentric circles from a therapeutic process — inner circle as a core self — A circle with a dot inside

A Developmental Perspective in Adulthood

In recent years, I've been integrating my developmental observation approach from children's drawings into understanding adult drawings. The developmental continuum continues to be present in adulthood as well.

Primal shapes like circles, crosses, and triangles may reappear, and sometimes they express deep emotional states: emotional flooding, confusion, a search for separateness, expression of an inner core, outward movement, and an encounter with the sense of "self."

An Example from Therapy

For instance, Noa, age 30, came to therapy wanting to form a romantic relationship. At the beginning, her drawings were full of scribbles. From the spirals, a small circle began to emerge with an inner circle inside, representing her inner core.

Each time she saw it, she felt joy and confidence, as if a safe place had been created within her. Later, lines spontaneously appeared radiating outward from the circle, like sun rays.

"This is my breakthrough"

And indeed, this was the beginning of outward movement — both in life and toward forming a romantic relationship.

I wrote extensively about this process and about the stages of development in my book "Please Don't Disturb, I'm Drawing".

Explore the book

Watercolor flower painting — artwork by an adult art therapy client — Rays reaching outward

Returning to Early Stages

Adults generally have more awareness, depth, and complexity than children, but alongside these, a need sometimes arises to return to the earliest stages of creation.

Sometimes because they weren't fully experienced in childhood, sometimes from a desire to repair an experience, and sometimes from a longing for the primal, good place within us. Sometimes it's simply a natural cycle: returning to a more basic place from which one can grow again — in drawing and in life.

How the Therapy Works

Words accompany the process according to the client's wishes: some prefer to draw first and talk afterward, some need conversation to open the way to creation, and some sessions remain in conversation alone.

I also incorporate principles from the Focusing approach, which help deepen listening to the inner experience, bodily sensations, and allow processes, insights, and clarity to emerge from within.

The therapy offers a safe, non-judgmental, non-interpretive space where one can encounter emotions, dilemmas, and life questions through creation, conversation, or a combination of both.

Who Is This Therapy For?

The therapy is suitable for adults of all ages, even without prior experience in drawing or art. It may be especially fitting for those experiencing:

Feeling stuck, confused, or searching for direction
Emotional overload, stress, or anxiety
Difficulty making decisions or understanding what's right for them
Periods of transition or change in life
Feeling disconnected from oneself or loss of vitality
A need to process past experiences or significant relationships

And also:

Those who feel drawn to create and find that creation touches deep places
Students or those interested in art therapy who wish to experience the field from within
Art therapists who want to undergo a personal process and deepen through experience

If you felt these words resonate with you, I'd love to have a short, no-obligation conversation to explore together whether this therapy is right for you.

I'd love to hear from you