Art Therapy

Art therapy is a counselling-based therapeutic approach that uses creative process as a way of exploring experience, relationship, and meaning.

Rather than relying solely on words, art therapy works with image, movement, sensation, rhythm, and material engagement. These forms of expression offer another way of listening to what is present, particularly when experiences feel layered, confusing, or difficult to articulate.

At Rain & Me. Children’s Therapy, art therapy is approached as relational work. The focus is not on producing artwork or working toward particular outcomes, but on how creative expression unfolds within relationship, context, and lived experience.

When Art Therapy Is Often Sought

Art therapy is often chosen when words don’t quite reach what is happening inside.

For children, this may be a time of big feelings, shifting behaviour, intensity, withdrawal, or difficulty finding their place in fast or demanding environments. For some, play, image, and movement simply feel like a more natural language than talking.

Adults may be drawn to art therapy when experience feels embodied, sensory, or hard to put into words — or when talking alone feels limiting. Some come during periods of transition, grief, overwhelm, or quiet questioning, wanting space for expression without needing to explain or perform.

These experiences are approached not as problems to be fixed, but as meaningful responses that can be explored through relationship, creativity, and time.

How Art Therapy Is Practised Here

Art therapy sessions are held as creative and relational spaces, shaped by attunement to what is unfolding between people.

Creative materials such as paint, clay, drawing tools, found objects, and movement may be offered as part of the work. These materials are not used as techniques to direct change, but as shared language that can support expression, exploration, and meaning-making.

Some sessions may feel quiet and reflective. Others may be more playful, sensory, or expressive. What guides the work is not an agenda, but attention to relationship and to how expression is taking shape in the moment.

Interpretation is not imposed on what is created. Meaning is understood to belong to the person making the work and may emerge gradually, relationally, or not at all.

Who This Work Tends to Suit

Art therapy may be a good fit for people who are drawn to creative or non-verbal ways of exploring experience, or who find that words alone do not fully capture what they are living.

Choosing art therapy is less about presenting a particular difficulty and more about resonance with a way of working that values relationship, expression, and inquiry.

frequently asked questions

  • Art therapy is a counselling-based therapeutic practice that uses creative process as a way of exploring experience and meaning within a therapeutic relationship. The focus is on process rather than artistic skill or finished work.

  • Art classes focus on learning techniques or producing particular outcomes. Art therapy takes place within a therapeutic relationship and attends to expression, meaning, and relational context rather than skill development.

  • No. There is no expectation to be creative, skilled, or artistic. The focus is on exploration and expression, not on how something looks.

  • Sessions vary depending on what is present. They may include art-making, play, movement, conversation, or quiet reflection, and are shaped in response to the person and the moment rather than a set program.

  • Confidentiality is approached with care and respect. Information shared in sessions is held thoughtfully, with attention to the child’s dignity and to appropriate communication with parents or caregivers where needed.

  • Art therapy and counselling-based supports may be funded through the NDIS for self-managed or plan-managed participants when aligned with individual plan goals and funding approval. Funding decisions are made by the NDIS.

Related RESOURCES

Important information

Rain & Me. Children’s Therapy offers arts therapy and counselling-based therapeutic supports. Art therapy and creative modalities are used as primary therapeutic processes within a counselling framework. Services are evidence-informed and may support functional goals such as emotional regulation, social engagement, communication, and coping skills, where appropriate.

Therapeutic supports are tailored to individual needs and developed through collaborative care planning. Therapeutic outcomes vary and cannot be guaranteed. Supports are selected based on individual goals, needs, and evidence-informed practice.

NDIS services are available where appropriate and when aligned with participant plans and funding approval. Rain & Me. Children’s Therapy works with self-managed and plan-managed participants.