If you’ve typed “expressive arts therapy near me” into a search bar, you might be picturing a kid with a glue stick, a pile of construction paper, and a therapist smiling nearby. It’s a fair guess. It’s also not what’s happening in the room.
Expressive arts therapy is psychotherapy. It uses drawing, painting, movement, music, drama, writing, and play as the language of treatment. A licensed or registered clinician leads it, assesses what’s going on, sets goals, and tracks progress, the same way they would in talk therapy. The art is the method. Feeling better is the point.
Below, we’ll walk through what expressive arts therapy actually is, what the research does (and doesn’t) say, what a session looks like, and how to tell whether the therapist you find is doing real clinical work or just running a craft table.
So What Is Expressive Arts Therapy, Exactly?
Expressive arts therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses several art forms, often in the same session, to help people work through what they feel and what they’ve been through. The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) describes it as an approach that uses multiple senses, cognitive processes, and areas of the brain and body at the same time. They call it intermodal.
In plain terms, a session might start with a drawing, shift into a bit of movement or role-play, and end with a few written words about what came up. That freedom to move between art forms is what sets it apart from related approaches:
Art therapy usually centers on visual art, like drawing, painting, and sculpture.
Music therapy and drama therapy each focus on one art form.
Play therapy uses toys and play as a child’s natural way of communicating.
Expressive arts therapy moves between all of these, following whichever form helps a person say what words can’t.
This isn’t a wellness trend, either. Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts started what it describes as the first master’s program of its kind in the United States back in 1975. It brought dance, theater, music, poetry, and visual art together with the practice of psychotherapy.
One thing worth knowing as you search: “expressive arts therapist” is not a California license. IEATA offers a credential called REAT (Registered Expressive Arts Therapist) for people who complete specific training and supervised experience. To provide psychotherapy in California, though, a clinician needs a state license or registration, such as an LMFT, LCSW, or LPCC, or must be an associate working under a licensed supervisor. Every therapist on our team at Little Dove Counseling is licensed or registered with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
The Line Between a Craft Hour and a Clinical Session
A craft class cares about the finished product. Therapy cares about the process, and a trained therapist is watching it closely.
How does your child start on a blank page? Do they freeze, or dive in? What happens when a line goes “wrong”? Which colors, characters, or stories keep showing up week after week? None of that is random. It’s clinical information, and a therapist uses it the same way a talk therapist uses what you say out loud. If a child draws a storm cloud over every house, the therapist might invite them to give the cloud a voice, act out what it wants, or draw what the house looks like once the storm passes. That’s not decoration. That’s treatment.
Structure matters too. At Little Dove, expressive arts therapy starts with a 4 to 6 session assessment period. After that, your therapist shares what they found along with a written treatment plan that has measurable goals and the steps to reach them. Regular check-ins track whether those goals are actually moving. A craft hour has none of that.
What the Research Says (and Where It’s Still Growing)
You don’t have to take our word for it. A few findings stand out:
Making art lowers stress hormones, even for non-artists. In a Drexel University study, 39 adults spent 45 minutes making art with markers, clay, or collage materials. About 75% had lower cortisol levels afterward, and prior art experience made no difference.
Art therapy reduced anxiety in kids and teens. A 2024 meta-analysis of 6 randomized controlled trials, covering 422 children and adolescents, found art therapy significantly improved anxiety symptoms. Twice-weekly sessions showed a stronger effect than once-weekly ones.
The arts play a real role in mental health care. A World Health Organization scoping review led by researchers at University College London pulled together findings from over 3,000 studies. It concluded the arts can help people living with mental illness and may help prevent it.
A fair caveat: much of this research looks at art therapy broadly rather than expressive arts therapy specifically, and many studies are small. The meta-analysis authors said so themselves. We’d rather be upfront about that. The evidence is promising and growing, and it’s strongest when the work is done by a trained clinician with clear goals. If you like digging into the research, we took a similar look at play therapy in The Case for Play Therapy: Clinical Foundations, Mechanisms, and the Evidence That Backs Them.
What Actually Happens in an Expressive Arts Therapy Session
First, the question almost every parent asks: does my kid need to be artistic? No. Not even a little. Stick figures, scribbles, and half-finished clay blobs all count. Remember that Drexel study? Past art experience had nothing to do with who benefited.
Every session is shaped around the person in the room, but one might go something like this:
Checking in. Your child shows how their week felt, sometimes with a color, a shape, or a song instead of a sentence.
Creating. They draw, paint, collage, build, sculpt, write, move, or play out a scene, with the therapist guiding and paying attention to the process.
Shifting forms. A drawing might turn into a story. The story might turn into a dress-up scene or a short role-play. Each shift gives a feeling a new way out.
Reflecting. The therapist helps your child notice what came up and connect it to life outside the room, at a pace that feels safe. Some kids talk a lot here. Others don’t, and that’s okay.
The space matters more than people expect. Our expressive arts therapy room in Walnut Creek was set up as a creative space for children and teens, and every toy, game, and art material in it was chosen on purpose. Kids walk in and see an invitation, not an interrogation.
Parents aren’t left in the waiting room wondering what’s going on, either. We work closely with caregivers throughout treatment, and some families also add parent therapy so they have support of their own while their child does this work.
For Kids Who Can’t Find the Words (and Teens Who Won’t Use Them)
Young children often don’t have the vocabulary for what’s going on inside them. They can’t tell you they feel unsafe since the divorce, or that the new baby makes them feel invisible. But they can show you, and that’s exactly what expressive arts therapy gives them room to do. Our child therapy for ages 2 to 12 uses play and expressive arts for this reason.
Teens are a different story. Many of them have the words and simply don’t want to use them with an adult staring back across a couch. Working with their hands, a playlist, or a journal takes the spotlight off and lets the hard stuff come out sideways. If that sounds like your teen, our teen therapy for ages 13 to 18 can bring expressive arts into the work, and you might also find Your Teenager Is Not Broken, But They May Still Need a Concord Therapist Who Understands Adolescence Differently helpful.
Expressive arts therapy may be a good fit if you’re noticing things like:
Crying or sadness that seems out of character
Frequent tantrums, yelling, or big reactions to small things
Withdrawal or a flat, checked-out mood
Trouble making or keeping friends
Avoiding certain places, people, or situations
Difficulty concentrating, sitting still, or handling transitions
It can also help after big life changes, like a divorce, the death of a loved one, a move, a new sibling, a new school, a car accident, or an experience of abuse. Worry and stress are common threads too, and they don’t always look the way parents expect. We wrote more about that in Anxiety in Kids Looks Different Than You’d Expect, and That’s What Makes It Easy to Miss.
And adults aren’t left out. Plenty of grown-ups have spent years talking about their problems and feel stuck. Creating something can reach places that another conversation can’t.
Searching for Expressive Arts Therapy Near Me? Ask These Questions First
A search for expressive arts therapy near you will turn up everything from licensed clinicians to weekend art workshops with “therapeutic” in the description. Both can be lovely. Only one is treatment. These questions help you tell the difference on a first call:
Are you licensed or registered in California? Look for an LMFT, LCSW, or LPCC, or an associate working under a licensed supervisor.
What training do you have in expressive arts or play-based therapy? Ask how they learned the approach and how they keep building on it.
How do you assess my child before treatment starts? A real clinical process begins with understanding what’s going on, not with a project.
Will I get a treatment plan with clear goals? You should know what you’re working toward and how progress will be measured.
How do you involve parents? With kids especially, the work goes further when caregivers are part of it.
Which art forms do you use, and how do you choose them? A good answer sounds like “it depends on your child,” followed by an actual explanation.
Location matters more than people think, too. Weekly sessions are much easier to stick with when the drive doesn’t eat your whole afternoon. We dig into that question in Is a Concord Therapist Close Enough, or Does Location Actually Matter for Kids?
Expressive Arts Therapy in Walnut Creek
Little Dove Counseling is located at 1901 Olympic Blvd, Suite 240, in Walnut Creek, and we see families from across the East Bay, including Lafayette, Martinez, Danville, and Oakland. Our expressive arts therapy serves kids, teens, and adults. For younger children, it often works alongside family play therapy, which can bring parents, and sometimes siblings, into sessions too.
Getting started is simple. Reach out through our contact form, and our intake coordinator will get back to you within one business day to match you with a therapist and schedule a first session. You’ll also get a free 15-minute phone consultation to talk through your family’s needs and make sure we’re the right fit.
Frequently Asked Questions About Expressive Arts Therapy
What’s the difference between art therapy and expressive arts therapy?
Art therapy usually focuses on visual art, like drawing, painting, and sculpting. Expressive arts therapy uses several art forms, including visual art, movement, music, drama, writing, and play, and often moves between them in a single session.
Does my child need to be good at art?
No. The therapy is about the process, not the product. Research on art making has found that people benefit regardless of their past art experience.
Is expressive arts therapy evidence-based?
The research is promising and growing. Studies have linked art making to lower stress hormones, and a 2024 meta-analysis found art therapy significantly reduced anxiety in children and teens. Many studies are small, though, so results depend a lot on having a trained, licensed clinician guiding the work.
Can expressive arts therapy help with trauma?
It can be part of trauma care. Creative work lets kids and teens approach painful experiences at their own pace, without having to put everything into words right away. A therapist will assess first and talk with you about whether it’s the right fit.
How long does expressive arts therapy take?
It depends on your child and your goals. At Little Dove, treatment starts with a 4 to 6 session assessment period, followed by a written treatment plan with measurable goals. Regular check-ins show how things are moving.
How much does expressive arts therapy cost at Little Dove Counseling?
Our Services and Rates page currently lists expressive arts therapy at $195 to $225 for a 50-minute session. We don’t accept insurance directly, but if you have a PPO plan, we provide complimentary superbill submission so you can seek out-of-network reimbursement.
Let the Work Start Where the Words Run Out
The paint, the clay, and the dress-up box are real tools in skilled hands. When they’re used with a clear assessment, a plan, and a therapist who knows what to look for, they help kids, teens, and adults work through things that talking alone hasn’t touched.
If your child keeps saying “I don’t know” when you ask what’s wrong, that might not be avoidance. They may just need a different language for it.
We’d love to help you find out. Contact Little Dove Counseling or call our new client line at 925-678-6249 to set up your free 15-minute consultation and learn whether expressive arts therapy is the right fit for your family.