How Art Therapy Helps Those Grieving Loss
When you’ve experienced a loss…
Art therapy provides a safe, structured, and supportive way for all ages to process the experience of grief and loss. Feelings, thoughts, and emotions surrounding loss and grief are processed through creative expression. The subconscious becomes conscious. What seemed intangible is tangible.
Adults benefit from art therapy just as much as kids and teens. It’s okay if you haven’t seen a crayon since elementary school. You don’t need to submit your work to the Smithsonian to be seen, heard, and understood. Art therapy is a collaborative process between the art therapist and the client within a private, confidential space that helps you hold what feels beyond your capacity until you can gradually build the capacity to carry it.
Art therapy is highly process-based, so it may be perceived as less invasive and intimidating for some. Teens don’t have to share more than they are willing to; kids find words in their art making that they may not know how to share. Adults don’t have to worry about finding the “right” words or figuring out how to say everything within the session time. What matters most is the willingness to be open, curious, and committed to showing up for yourself in this process.
Art Therapy Helps When You Are:
Struggling to find the words to describe what happened and what you lived through. Images can help guide you toward finding your voice.
Needing relief from intense emotions and distressing thoughts
Wanting to reconnect after disconnection
Finding art meaningful, comforting, or reassuring
Grief and loss affect several aspects of life for many people, and art therapy provides support and meets people in their time of need. Some common experiences include difficulty processing emotions and experiences, challenges with emotional regulation, and shifts in identity. Roles, positions, and relationships have changed, and adjusting to all of that is not easy. There are books, seminars, podcasts, films, shows, and countless shared experiences about grief and loss, yet everyone has a unique experience.
Benefits of Art Therapy For Grief and Loss
Expressing feelings without needing words, “Art speaks a thousand words before one is spoken.”
Processing memories and experiences at a steady, manageable pace
Overwhelm becomes less constricting and more contained
Creating clarity from confusion and uncertainty. Clarity shapes calm and focus.
Exploring and discovering your inner world with willingness and openness
Building adaptive coping skills and practicing to match real life
Feeling seen, heard, and understood. What you create is validating to your experience. Your experience is the evidence of things that have happened. That’s enough.
Privacy and safety in art making, which can feel reassuring and help build trust in the creative process and self-compassion.
Reducing reactivity and increasing responsiveness. This isn’t about being calm, cool, and collected; this means being able to pause, slow down, and breathe.
Not having to perform or add pressure—your art doesn’t need to be “pretty” or “aesthetically pleasing.”
When to Seek An Art Therapist
While grief is a natural response to loss, there are times when you need additional professional support. You may consider seeking an art therapist when:
You’ve tried other forms of therapy before and want to try a different approach.
You are a parent or caregiver for a kid or teen who likes art or is starting to gravitate towards making art. They may struggle to talk about difficult experiences or emotions, even when you know they need support.
You have worked with an art therapist before in a community setting, like an IOP program or group. You may want to continue in individual sessions or process more in-depth what couldn’t be addressed in a group or program.
You are a mental health professional and may prefer to work with someone not in a similar work/field.
You prefer using art in therapy treatment. You like working with what you can actually see, hold, and feel that represents your lived-in experience, and want to work with someone who understands how to integrate that.
You enjoy art, your loved one enjoys art, or you identify as an artist—art therapy may feel like a natural fit for you.
You enjoy working with your hands, making things, and being creative, and art therapy feels like a good fit for you.
You are an art therapist. You may be seeking a supervisor, mentorship, or your own art therapy.
When support is needed and sought out with an art therapist, art therapy can make a meaningful difference, especially when processing grief and living with loss. It may be the alternative you’re looking for, and choice matters in mental health.
It’s okay to seek out art therapy for the death of a loved one or when you need to process different forms of grief and loss. All of these listed are valid forms of grief and loss. Grief and loss are not always about the death of a loved one or someone you cared about:
Types of Grief and Loss People Experience
Grieving the living. Estrangement and disconnection in relationships can feel and look a lot like the person actually died.
A breakup from a romantic relationship or long-term, highly invested relationship with a friend or someone close to you
Loss of a job, career, or life path
Loss of consistency, engagement, or adaptation in life. Feeling stuck lately?
Too many losses at once or the impact of the loss shows up later, and unexpectedly
You’re noticing that your experience may involve grief, loss, or deeper emotional pain in addition to anxiety or depression
Betrayal in relationships; both personal and professional
Your beliefs or values have changed, and there may be grief connected to a former version of yourself or your former life.
Grief and loss can look like separating from certain faith or religious practices, or questioning beliefs and values after experiencing a loss. This can also look like seeking more from your chosen faith or religious practice.
Grief connected to healing. The more layers you go through, perspective changes. Clarity can feel safe and rewarding, but also threatening.
Change and growth are a loss. Even when it’s beneficial or was the right thing at the time. You can mourn decisions and choices.
The loss of pets and beloved animals is deeply meaningful and worth honoring and remembering.
Adoption and foster care. Doesn’t matter if you were adopted as a baby or an older teen; relinquishment trauma is still trauma and is a lifelong loss.
Life transitions: moving, going back to school, divorce, marriage, committing to a cause, etc.
Chronic illness and disease. Even when well managed and maintained!
Grieving the loss of a support system, network, or mentorship
Living through major historical events and surviving difficult periods of history can also carry grief and emotional weight.
Caregiving, parenting, or taking on a new role/position.
Surviving a near-death experience or medical trauma such as a tsunami, car accident, fire, sickle cell attack, seizure, etc.
Not being given the support, tools, or resources you need or needed at a vulnerable time in your life
Surviving abusive, unhealthy, and toxic families, environments, and systems
Final Thoughts
All of this is valid, real, and is worth honoring and holding. Thank you for your willingness to consider the contents of this blog post, and I hope there is some remedy or reassurance for those reading this post.
If you’re interested in learning more about grief-focused art therapy or would like support processing loss, you’re welcome to reach out.
Feel free to email me here for inquiries or to schedule a free consultation call:
lindsaykdowns.arttherapy@the3brushes.com
The 3 Brushes offers grief-focused art therapy for children, teens, and adults in Gaithersburg and throughout Montgomery County.
