Creative Therapy Techniques
Using art and creativity to explore the parts of you that words can’t explain.
Sometimes, there aren’t words for how you feel. Creative therapy offers a way to explore and express what's inside through colour, shape, symbol, and image, especially when the pain or confusion is layered, complex, or spirals around through the use of words.
This kind of therapy is gentle, playful, and non-judgmental. It’s about expression, and is especially helpful in IFS and parts work, where you’re learning to understand and connect with the different parts of you.
What Creative Therapy Might Look Like in Session
Creative therapy can look different for everyone. Sometimes it’s structured like mapping parts or drawing emotions, other times it’s intuitive or guided by what you’re feeling in the moment.
Here are some of the ways we might work creatively:
Expressing Emotions
Through Art
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Art is a way we can map how different feelings live in your body, or sketching the “parts” of you that show up in certain situations, art can help bring your inner world to life and a way to creatively explore what wants to be seen.
Externalising Parts
and Inner Dialogue
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Externalising emotions or
“parts”, might look like writing a letter from your inner critic, or drawing the protector part that keeps you safe. This process supports you to step back, reflect, and relate to your internal world with more curiosity and compassion.
Imagery,
Metaphor & Symbols
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Using guided imagery and symbolic language could involve visualising your “inner landscape,” connecting with a younger part of you, or exploring metaphors that represent how you’re feeling. These techniques open up insight to the deeper stories behind your emotional patterns.
The Intention of
Creative Therapy
Creative therapy offers a gentle, expressive way to reconnect with yourself and the emotions that feel overwhelming, confusing, or too complex to put into words. If you’ve ever felt stuck in your head, emotionally shut down, or unsure how to explain what’s going on inside, creative therapy gives those feelings a safe space to be seen and understood.
Rather than over-explain or overthinking what to say, this approach invites you to explore through art, imagery, and writing. Creative expression helps you process what’s been buried or blocked, supporting you to reconnect with the parts of you that feel young, quiet, or hidden. Over time, this process builds self-trust, emotional clarity, and compassion. It’s not about being an artist, it’s about giving voice to the parts of you that want to be seen, heard and felt.
Creative therapy is a doorway into your inner world, encouraging healing from the inside out.
Who Might Find This Helpful
Creative therapy techniques may be support for you if:
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You find it hard to explain how you feel as words don’t always capture it, but you desire a way to express what's going and be understood.
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You get stuck in your head, overthinking or over-explainng and are looking for a more embodied, grounded way to process what’s going on.
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You express yourself better through drawing, writing, or through visuals than talking about feelings directly.
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You want therapy to feel less like pressure and more like exploration, a space where there’s no “right” way to heal.
