Through creating art and reflecting on the art products and processes people can achieve many benefits. These benefits include increasing awareness of self and others, coping with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences, enhancing cognitive abilities; and enjoying the life-affirming pleasures of making art.

Play therapy is a form of psychotherapy generally used with children aged 3 through 11 and provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings. As children’s experiences and knowledge are often communicated through play, it becomes an important vehicle for them to know and accept themselves and others.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel and/or act better even if the situation does not change. By helping the client to become aware of distorted or negative thinking, the cognitive-behavioral therapist allows the client to view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way.

Solution Focused Therapy targets the desired outcome of therapy as a solution rather than focusing on the symptoms, seeks to find solutions to the problem. This technique only gives attention to the present and the future desires of the client, rather than focusing on past experiences. The therapist encourages the client to imagine their future as they want it to be and then the therapist and client collaborate on a series of steps to achieve that goal.