When words are not enough: drawing and creative techniques in Play Therapy
A sheet of paper, a few colours, a little clay. How children's drawing works therapeutically — and why it is not “read” like a test.
A blank sheet of paper, a few colours, a little clay or one simple line can sometimes open a route of communication that words have not yet managed to find.
Creative techniques hold a particular place in therapeutic work with children precisely because they do not ask the child to explain straight away what they are feeling.
They let the child create first.
Drawing as a way of expressing
Children's drawing has a long history in psychotherapeutic work.
Through a drawing, characters, relationships, imaginary worlds, fears or wishes can appear. That does not mean, however, that the therapist “reads” the picture like a psychological test, or automatically assigns fixed interpretations to colours and shapes.
What matters more is the child themselves:
What did they draw?
What story do they give the picture?
What happens to the characters?
What do they choose to change?
What do they want to add or rub out?
The drawing can in this way become the starting point of a story and of a conversation.
From a “scribble” to a story
One of the most characteristic examples of creative communication with children comes from Donald Winnicott and the well-known Squiggle Game.
The idea was extremely simple.
The therapist or the child would draw a spontaneous line — a “squiggle” — and the other would turn it into something recognisable. The roles could then be reversed.
A random line could become a face.
An animal.
A monster.
A house.
A whole story.
What mattered was not the child's artistic ability. It was the meeting and the making that happened through the process.
French psychoanalytic writing has also highlighted the Squiggle as a characteristic example of how drawing can work as a therapeutic mediation and open a dialogue with the child.
You do not need to be “good at drawing”
Creative techniques have no aesthetic aim.
The result is not judged as beautiful or ugly.
A child can draw, use clay, build something, make characters, or turn something abstract into a personal story.
And that has a particular value: something that until then was only a feeling can take form.
When something takes form, it can be observed.
It can change.
It can be transformed.
It can be given a different story.
Current literature on creative and art-based therapeutic interventions with children continues to investigate their usefulness across different populations and mental health settings.
The most important thing, though, remains perhaps extremely simple:
not every child needs to find the right words first. Sometimes they can first find a colour, an image or a story — and the words can follow later.
Sources & references (10)
- Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and Reality. Tavistock Publications.
- Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Therapeutic Consultations in Child Psychiatry. Hogarth Press.
- Klein, M. (1932). The Psycho-Analysis of Children. Hogarth Press / Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. La psychanalyse des enfants.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. Le dessin en psychothérapie de l’enfant. Conférences d’Introduction à la Psychanalyse de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent.
- Wainrib, S. (2003). L’efficacité symbolique de la psychanalyse. L’apport de la psychanalyse et du psychodrame d’enfants et d’adolescents. Société Psychanalytique de Paris.
- Malchiodi, C. A. (Ed.). (2012). Handbook of Art Therapy. Guilford Press.
- Bosgraaf, L., Spreen, M., Pattiselanno, K., & van Hooren, S. (2020). Art Therapy for Psychosocial Problems in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Narrative Review on Art Therapeutic Means and Forms of Expression, Therapist Behavior, and Supposed Mechanisms of Change. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 584685.
- Cohen-Yatziv, L., & Regev, D. (2019). The Effectiveness and Contribution of Art Therapy Work with Children in 2018 – What Progress Has Been Made So Far? A Systematic Review. International Journal of Art Therapy, 24(3), 100–112.
- Moula, Z. (2020). A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Art Therapy Delivered in School-Based Settings to Children Aged 5–12 Years. International Journal of Art Therapy, 25(2), 88–99.
This text is informational and psychoeducational. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace a session with a mental health professional.