What is art therapy? Generally, it is art for therapeutic purposes. There’s an argument to be made that this applies to all art, but official art therapy usually takes place in a therapeutic setting with instructors well versed in both the arts and clinical mental health. In CooperRiis’ Farm Program, group art therapy and open studio time are important components of residential mental health treatment.
What is Art Therapy to Us?
Art as therapy is a central part of care at CooperRiis because we identify creativity as one of our seven core recovery domains. The seven domains represent facets of a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle, factors widely seen as instrumental in supporting whole-person recovery. CooperRiis supports and encourages creativity through various programs in our healing community.
Nurturing Creativity on The Farm Through Art Therapy
We nurture creativity on The Farm through a weekly art therapy group, in addition to open studio time. We use various materials to engage cognitive, perceptual, sensory, kinetic, symbolic and emotional expression, including:
- paints
- clay
- chalks
- linens
- yarn
- stained glass
Many residents come to us having either no experience with art or having not explored their artistic side since childhood. While conventional artistic talent is not an expectation or a goal in art therapy, residents do often discover unknown or forgotten talent. Art therapy is an opportunity to get in touch with our creativity and allow it to help us in challenges we may be facing.
Benefits of Art Therapy
The benefits of art therapy are vast and beyond the scope of this humble blog post, but to name just a few benefits that we see regularly among residents at The Farm:
- Emotional expression: Moving through feelings that are hard to verbalize.
- Stress relief: Lowering tension and increasing relaxation through creative focus.
- Self-awareness: Insight into thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns.
- Trauma processing: Safely exploring and integrating painful experiences.
- Improved mood: A better overall, daily state of mind.
- Enhanced self-esteem: Building confidence through creativity and accomplishment.
- Mindfulness: Improved presence and sensory awareness.
- Cognitive flexibility: Strengthening problem-solving and perspective-taking skills.
- Social connection: Growing communication and trust in group and therapeutic settings.
- Body–mind integration: Beginning to connect physical sensations with emotional states, thereby improving overall regulation.
We encourage residents to take creative risks in art making and put aside aesthetic thinking. Through this freedom, they can develop visual metaphors and gain new insight, transforming anxieties, symptoms, challenges, or trauma into art.
Furthermore, because art making is largely non-verbal, it is often an excellent tool for authentic self-expression. Letting down our defenses and expressing ourselves creatively, we often experience a creative connectedness with others. One resident in particular shared that, although she’d experienced art therapy in a former treatment center she’d been in, “it was nothing like the art therapy at CooperRiis.”
Art Therapy and Mental Health
In her article entitled, “The Path to Wholeness: Person-Centered Expressive Art Therapy,” Natalie Rogers, a pioneer of expressive arts therapy and the daughter of well known therapist Carl Rogers, states, “when using the arts for self-healing or therapeutic purposes, we are not concerned about the beauty of the visual art, the grammar and style of the writing, or the harmonic flow of the song. We use the arts to let go, to express, and to release….We can gain insight by studying the symbolic and metaphoric messages. Our art speaks back to us if we take the time to let in those messages.”
Indeed, another important part of mental health recovery at CooperRiis is this self-listening. Residents have the time and space, sometimes the first opportunity in their lives, to engage with their own thoughts, feelings, and expressions, so that they may understand the sources and impact of those forces. The relationship between art therapy and mental health in the CooperRiis Farm program can be likened to that of plumbing and showers. Art therapy is an important conduit for mental health recovery and resilience. While plumbing isn’t the only way to get a shower, it’s deeply appropriate and useful for the application.
Inspiring New Artists
CooperRiis celebrates artistic expression regularly. At Family Education Weekend, a four-day psychoeducational program offered to residents and their family members, we include an art show in which residents can show their work if they so choose. Some residents produced pieces specifically for the show, while others shared works created in art groups. Art on display included pottery, paintings, collages, jewelry, photography, sculpture, woodworking, knitting, and crocheting. Artists had the option to place their work for sale and many pieces sold. Visiting family members noted the high level of talent, because even as we put aside aesthetics to create truly expressive art, beauty is sure to emerge.
In addition to art therapy’s therapeutic benefits in mental health treatment, studies have shown that art making alone can dramatically reduce stress, and increase relaxation in daily life. So, consider taking a cue from our residents, our staff, and Natalie Rogers: Go express yourself!
“What is Art Therapy” originally published on April 26, 2017 and was updated October 27, 2025.
