Expressive Arts in Therapy | Why Healing Sometimes Looks Like Art, Imagination, and Puppets
In therapy, people often come in expecting words.
We sit down. We talk. We reflect. And for some, that’s enough.
But for others, especially those carrying complex trauma, words can only go so far. That’s when we turn to something deeper, older, and often more surprising: creativity.
Expressive Arts in therapy is not about being artistic. You don’t need to know how to draw, write, or make anything perfect. It’s about engaging your imagination, your body, and your senses to access parts of yourself that may not yet have words. In my work with adult clients, these alternative therapy approaches often lead to unexpected insights and profound emotional shifts.
Sometimes healing doesn’t sound like a conversation. Sometimes, it looks like a puppet, a gesture, a color, or a metaphor.
Why Creativity Belongs in Therapy
Your mind isn’t the only place where your story lives. Experiences, especially overwhelming ones, are often stored in the body and nervous system. They show up in tension, silence, avoidance, or overexplaining. And when you’ve learned to stay in control or keep things neat and logical, talking alone might reinforce those protective strategies rather than soften them.
That’s where Expressive Arts in therapy open the door.
Expressive therapy techniques help bypass the analytical brain and give space to the emotions, sensations, and inner parts that live beneath language. By inviting play, movement, art, or metaphor into the room, we make space for something less filtered, something more true.
It’s not about distraction or regression. It’s about finding a different way in.
What Expressive Arts in Therapy Looks Like in Practice
Expressive Arts in therapy can take many forms. Some sessions may involve expressive writing or drawing. Others might include movement, role play, or sensory objects that evoke certain feelings or memories.
In my practice, I often use:
Art-based therapy elements like collage, guided imagery, or free-form scribbling to surface emotion without needing to explain it
Expressive arts therapy techniques that connect the inner world with symbols and metaphors
Creative prompts that invite imagination as a safe place to explore hard feelings, like asking “What would this emotion look like if it were an animal?” or “If this part of you had a shape or color, what would it be?”
These tools aren't used to avoid emotion. They’re used to get closer to it, gently, safely, and with your body on board.
Yes, I Use Puppets, And No, Puppets Are Not Just for Kids
One of the most common questions I get when people hear I use puppets in therapy is:
“Wait… isn’t that just for children?”
It’s a fair question. We associate puppets with childhood, and that’s part of their power.
Puppets in therapy offer something unique. They create just enough distance from your emotions or inner parts to feel safer engaging with them. They allow a conversation to happen with a part of you, whether it’s your inner critic, anxious self, or a long-forgotten protector, without needing to intellectualize it.
When we work with puppets, we’re not pretending. We’re making room for the emotional truth that lives beneath the adult version of ourselves. The part that might not have had a voice back then. The part that still carries fear, sadness, or anger. The part that’s ready to be met.
This isn’t play for the sake of play. It’s embodied storytelling. It’s giving shape to the unseen.
And often, clients are surprised by how much clarity, and compassion, emerges when we stop trying to explain and start expressing.
Why This Approach Works, Especially for Adults with Trauma
Many adult clients come into therapy after years of using insight to try to heal. They know their patterns. They understand their history. And yet… something still feels stuck.
That’s because understanding is only one piece of the puzzle. Real healing often requires experiencing something different, internally and relationally. When expressive arts are used intentionally, it creates a bridge between the past and present, the felt sense and the conscious mind.
You don’t need to “get it right.” You just need to be willing to get curious.
Who Benefits From Creative Therapy?
Creative approaches aren’t a fit for everyone, but they can be especially powerful for adults who:
Struggle to access emotion
Feel stuck even with insight
Are highly intellectual or analytical
Grew up in families where emotions were minimized
Experience inner conflict or emotional numbness
Carry trauma or complex histories that feel hard to verbalize
You don’t need to consider yourself creative to benefit. In fact, many of the clients who thrive with these techniques have spent their lives suppressing creativity in favor of control or safety. Rediscovering it in the therapy room often feels like reclaiming a forgotten part of themselves.
What to Expect When We Begin
If you’re curious about expressive arts in therapy, we’ll start slowly. You’re always in charge. I’ll never ask you to do something that feels silly or unsafe.
Sometimes it may look like using objects or imagery to explore an emotion. Sometimes it means picking up a puppet and speaking from a part of yourself you usually keep hidden. And sometimes, it means simply noticing what arises in your body when you stop trying to explain.
The goal isn’t to perform, it’s to connect. Not to analyze, but to access something meaningful, healing, and fully yours.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been searching for alternative therapy, art therapy, or creative counseling and feel like traditional talk therapy hasn’t quite reached the places you need it to, you’re not alone.
Expressive arts in therapy for adults offers another way in, one that honors your inner complexity and helps you feel less stuck, less alone, and more fully alive.
I offer in-person sessions in Columbia, Maryland and telehealth therapy across Maryland. If you're curious about how creativity might support your healing, I’d love to talk with you.
You don’t have to have the right words. Just a willingness to begin.
About the Author
I'm a licensed therapist at Cordial Counseling in Columbia, MD, where I work with adults who are untangling the lasting effects of family dynamics, trauma, and self-doubt. My approach is rooted in parts work, creativity, and trauma-informed care.
I believe that healing doesn’t come from fixing what's “wrong” with you, but from building a relationship with all the parts of you that have helped you survive. In my writing and in my work, I hope to offer a sense of clarity, compassion, and hope.
