Creativity in therapy: different ways to explore your feelings

Sometimes it can be hard to talk about what we are feeling or thinking. Words do not always seem to capture or accurately translate what is going on inside us, especially when things feel confusing, upsetting or overwhelming. That is where creative approaches in therapy can offer another way of exploring our experiences.

What are creative approaches in therapy?

Instead of relying solely on conversation, therapy can sometimes include pictures, movement, imagination, or other creative activities to help us explore what is happening inside us.

Violet Oaklander was a psychotherapist who developed a creative approach to working with children, using imagination, play and creative activities to help them express and explore their experiences. Although her work was originally developed with children, many of the principles she explored can also offer valuable ideas for adults.

Oaklander believed that creativity and self-expression could help people become more aware of aspects of themselves that might be difficult to express through words alone.

The beauty of creative approaches is that you do not need to be an artist. Creativity in therapy simply means finding different ways to explore your inner experience. This might include drawing, using colours, working with objects, exploring movement, working with images or imagining different scenes. It does not expect us to be actors, singers, dancers or painters.

The goal is not to make something beautiful or perfect. It is about what you notice, think, and feel while engaging in an activity you will have chosen in collaboration with the therapist.

How can creative activities help?

A therapist might invite you to explore an image or drawing by asking questions such as:

• What do you notice in your drawing?
• What does this colour make you think of?
• What is happening in this scene?
• How does this part of your picture feel?
•  If this image could talk, what might it say?
• What does it need?

There is no single 'right' answer. The meaning comes from your own thoughts, feelings and associations. This can be useful because creating something can sometimes make an internal experience easier to notice. For example, if you are struggling with a relationship but find it difficult to explain how you feel, creating an image might help you become aware of feelings such as distance, loneliness, or uncertainty.

The creative activity does not necessarily provide an answer. Instead, it can give you something to become curious about. This can encourage awareness of what is happening in the present moment: what you are feeling, what you notice in your body, what thoughts arise and what is happening around you.

The rosebush exercise

One of Oaklander's best-known creative activities is the rosebush exercise. In this activity, you are invited to imagine yourself as a rosebush and draw what you see. You might include whatever speaks to you as being part of your rosebush: roots, stems, flowers, leaves, thorns and the environment around the rosebush. There is no wrong way to draw it.

Afterwards, you might be invited to explore the different parts of your drawing by being asked questions such as:

• What is the environment like?
• Where are the roots?
• What do the roots mean to you?
• Are there flowers or thorns?
• What do they represent for you?
• Is the rosebush alone or surrounded by others?
•  What does the rosebush need?

You decide what everything in your drawing means. You choose what you want to focus on, and the therapist is just there to accompany your self-discovery.

For one person, roots might represent family, history or a sense of being grounded. For another, roots might represent their deep values. A missing flower might bring up feelings of loss, whether for a pet, a person, or a job. A new bud might represent hope, possibility or a sense of rebirth.

There is no need for the therapist to decide what your drawing means. Instead, the drawing becomes a starting point for you to explore your own experience. The meaning can be literal or metaphorical. 

This can provide a way to approach difficult subjects indirectly and at a pace that feels manageable, since you are in control of the activity. You choose what you want to represent and how you want to interpret it.

Exploring grief and difficult emotions

Creative approaches can sometimes be particularly useful when feelings feel confused, complicated or difficult to put into words.

Grief is one example. Whether someone is experiencing anticipatory grief or adapting to life after a bereavement, there can be many emotions that are difficult to express directly. Someone might create an image that feels empty, worn or isolated. Someone else might create an image containing signs of growth alongside sadness. Exploring these images may provide another way to talk about what is happening emotionally. A question such as"What does the rosebush need now?" could lead to a conversation about support, rest, connection, resilience or hope.

The intention is not to make grief disappear or turn it into something that needs to be fixed. Grief is a deeply personal experience, and everyone responds to loss differently. Creative exploration may simply provide another way to acknowledge and make space for what is already there.

When words are difficult

For some people, putting an internal experience into words can be particularly challenging. This may be particularly relevant for some neurodivergent people, although everyone's experience is different. Abstract emotional language, direct questioning or being expected to explain an experience immediately can sometimes feel demanding. For this reason, creative activities may offer another route into communication and self-expression.

For example, someone might use colours to represent different emotions, draw a sensory experience, use objects to explore aspects of identity, or use a metaphor to describe something that feels difficult to explain directly. This does not mean that creative approaches replace verbal communication. Instead, they can expand the ways someone can communicate and explore their experience.

A therapist can also offer a greater sense of choice in creative activities, as they are limitless. You can decide:

• the resources you want to use
• how you want to use them
• what you want to share
• what you want to explore
• what you would prefer to keep private

As well as not having to be 'good' at art, you do not have to share everything that the creative activity has brought to your mind.

One common concern about creative therapy is the belief that you need to be artistic. The great news is: you don't. If we think of therapeutic drawing, it is not an art competition. There are no expectations that the finished picture should look 'good', 'right' or 'sufficient'. A few lines, shapes or colours can be enough to begin a conversation. The value is in the process rather than the finished product.

Your drawing can be messy, abstract, unfinished or very simple. What matters is what you notice and experience as you create it.

Your choices remain important

Creative approaches work best when they are offered thoughtfully and collaboratively. A therapist should not assume that a particular exercise will be helpful for everyone. Some people may enjoy drawing, visualisation or working with objects, while others may prefer to talk. And it is absolutely fine. It is your space and your time. Your expression belongs to you.

A creative activity should be an invitation rather than something you are pressured to do. You can decide whether to participate and how deeply to explore what emerges. The therapist's role is to support you, remain curious about your experience and respect your choices. This can be particularly important when exploring sensitive experiences such as grief, trauma, identity, relationships or significant life changes.

What can Violet Oaklander's work teach us?

Although Oaklander's work began with children, her ideas offer a broader reminder that people do not always experience or communicate their inner worlds through words alone. 

Sometimes an image comes to mind before we can explain what we are feeling. Sometimes a colour captures an emotion more easily than a sentence. Sometimes a metaphor gives us enough distance to approach something that feels difficult to discuss directly.

Creative approaches can provide space for these experiences. If you are considering therapy, it may also be reassuring to know that counselling does not always have to consist entirely of sitting face-to-face and talking. Depending on your needs, preferences and your therapist's approach, therapy may include creative, embodied or experiential ways of exploring what you are experiencing.

You do not need to know exactly what you want to talk about before beginning therapy. You do not need to have the right words, and you do not need to be artistic. Sometimes, finding another way to express what is happening inside us can be the beginning of understanding it differently.

Violet Oaklander's work reminds us that creativity in therapy is not simply about making art. It can provide another pathway toward awareness, self-expression, and meaning-making, allowing people to explore their experiences in ways that respect their individuality, their choices, and their pace.