What is creative arts therapy?
‘Experiential and creative arts therapy’ is an experiential form of psychotherapy, done alongside a trained therapist, that honours and explores the cognitive, emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions of being.
It’s about the art of listening to oneself through image, movement, sound, and dialogue. Making use of any and all creative modalities—such as collage, scribbling, somatic movement, painting, writing, making sound, squishing clay, pulling tarot cards etc—alongside therapeutic dialogue, art therapy is for anyone seeking a gentle, embodied way to understand themselves. By engaging with the arts, we discover new ways of feeling, expressing, and being. In our own lives and in the wider world.
What can creative arts therapy help me with?
Arts-based therapy and holistic counselling can help with processing a host of experiences, such as:
Depression
Anxiety, stress and overwhelm
Grief, loss, and life transitions
Post-traumatic stress
Identity exploration
Neurodivergent experiences
Chronic illness and pain
Relationship challenges
What can arts therapy promote?
As an evidence-based form of psychotherapy and a recognised allied health profession under AHPA, creative arts therapy can promote well-being through:
Emotional regulation and resilience
Greater self-awareness and self-compassion
Enhanced communication and self-expression
Stress reduction and nervous-system balance
A sense of play, imagination, and possibility
Connection between mind, body, and spirit
Meaning-making through creative and metaphoric process
Renewed connection to one’s values and aliveness
What does a typical session look like?
A session at Virgil Therapy is gentle, slow, and tailored completely to your energy, preferences, and authentic ways of being. We begin by arriving—through breathing, noticing, or simply checking in— before letting ourselves be guided towards creative materials. There’s no right or wrong way to make art here; the focus is purely on the experience, not the outcome. Together, we gently experiment, play, and witness what arises for you as you engage with the materials; noticing what’s significant, potentially meaningful, and allowing your wise inner knowing to gently surface.
FAQs
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Not at all. Despite the name, “art therapy” focuses solely on the process, not the product. Art materials are simply tools to help you express and explore your experience, where words might not be enough. And often, using unfamiliar arts materials can yield the most meaningful process.
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No, I will never analyse or interpret your art for hidden meanings. In creative arts therapy, we stay descriptive; exploring what sensations the colours, shapes, or textures of your materials and art evoke for you. In this way, I offer a supportive container in which you can notice and explore what your art process feels like, without having it dissected. Here, you’re always in control of what you share and how.
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Yes. I work with self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants to provide arts therapy under Capacity Building. Please mention your NDIS participant status in your email enquiry or exploratory call. Referrals welcome.
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Medicare does not currently fund counselling and psychotherapy sessions, including creative arts therapy.
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No. Unlike an art class, creative arts therapy is a form of psychotherapy guided by a trained arts-based therapist, focused on emotional growth and wellbeing rather than skills and aesthetics.
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Creativity can take many forms. Sometimes it’s colour and image; other times, it’s language, silence, mindfulness, or the simple act of being witnessed. You are never under any obligation to engage with art materials in our sessions, despite it being named “creative arts therapy”. As a registered therapist, I can hold space for you as we weave the verbal, the somatic, and relational presence into our sessions—as well as any other holistic tools you’re drawn to, such as a Jungian approach to the tarot. It’s completely up to you.
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Online or teleheath sessions work just as they would in person. Held via Zoom, you’re invited to use any form of art materials you have on hand; pencils, markers, paper, objects found around the house etc. Nothing is lost in the therapeutic process by meeting online, and in fact, it offers clients an accessible way to work with me no matter their location and access needs.
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That’s never a problem. It’s a perfectly understandable nervous system response and it’s welcome here. The wonderful thing about arts therapy is that you never have to over-explain or behave in any supposedly “normal” way. The arts are here to support you when you lose your words, want to stim, or would rather hug a squishy than talk.
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While creative arts therapy is a form of psychotherapy focusing on emotional integration, self-understanding, and growth; my creative coaching services support creative small business or self-employed professionals take positive action and acheive their goals. As such, these two services support different groups using very different approaches and paradigms. Creative coaching clients should not be seeking arts therapy, or have an established therapeutic relationship elsewhere.
Thresholds
A newsletter by Virgil Therapy.
A companion for your journey inward, Thresholds is the Substack of Jerico Mandybur. A place where she offers regular essays, personal reflections, and creative practices exploring the art of inner life. Subscribe now for your FREE 20-min somatic centering practice.
