Art Therapy for IDD: A Brief Overview

By Isabella Dy-Liacco

Despite significant social and policy progress toward both inclusion and aid for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), many people continue to struggle with complex emotional and psychological challenges. Some of these include facing persistent stigma, isolation, and difficulty being understood (Harpazi et al., 2024; Power, 2008). As a result, measures for supporting the everyday well-being and quality of life for those with IDD must be taken (The Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, 2019).

Although traditional psychotherapies are often in place, they typically rely on advanced verbal and cognitive capacities that individuals with IDD may not be able to engage with effectively (Harpazi et al., 2024). Because of this limitation, alternative forms of therapy that emphasize nonverbal and creative communication can be especially valuable. This is where art therapy comes in.

Art therapy is a specialized mental health profession and practice that uses the visual arts and creative process within a psychotherapeutic relationship (Greeley, 2022). This article will introduce the utility of art therapy for clients with IDD, provide a brief overview of its goals and practices, and showcase documented benefits, particularly in strengthening self-esteem, resilience, and emotional expression for adults with IDD.

Understanding Art Therapy

Understanding art therapy begins with the ultimate goal of any successful therapy session: to be present with clients and attentive to their personal circumstances and needs in order to support them in the best way possible. In other words, therapy should always be individualized (Harpazi et al., 2024).

Art therapy is a practice that can be customized to each person’s specific needs rather than their blanket diagnosis. This allows for flexibility in both theoretical and practical approaches to treatment, promoting personal strengthening of the self and stimulating creativity. In “‘Being attentive’: Art therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities” (Harpazi et al., 2024), six main goals are outlined in this practice:

Relationship Holding: Refers to the foundational connection between a client and their therapist. By establishing a trustworthy relationship, individuals can express and internalize emotions and build self-esteem.

Strengthening the Self: Building upon relationship holding, art therapy supports the emotional well-being of adults through tangible projects. This may help them recognize the validity of their existence and feelings.

Expanding Emotional Range: Art therapy provides a wide variety of materials and techniques for clients to express emotions through creative means.

Integrating Imagination and Reality: For individuals with ID, distinguishing between reality and fantasy can be difficult. By bridging imaginative states and ideas with tangible skillsets, they may recognize their true abilities.

Achieving Independence: As the former goals outline, growing self-esteem, cultivating real skills, and expanding emotional range all contribute to greater independence for adults with ID.

Strengthening Functional Skills: Art therapy also improves day-to-day regulatory abilities and interpersonal interactions between clients, therapists, and the creative community around them.

With these six fundamental goals, art therapy can be applied using a wide range of techniques, art mediums, and forms of expression depending on the individual. It can take place through painting, drawing, collage-making, sculpting, photography, and many more creative outlets. Other creative art therapies include dance movement psychotherapy, drama-therapy, and music therapy (local Mind, 2025).

Example Methods of Art Therapy

Painting & Drawing

Painting or drawing uses simple materials that are accessible to everyone. Pencils, pens, finger-painting, or brushwork allow artists to experiment with a variety of colors, shadows, textures, and shapes (Greeley, 2022). These techniques can help express feelings or emotional states that are difficult to articulate verbally.

For example, in a study measuring an “Express Arts-Based Intervention (EABI)” group—referring to participants who received an intervention compared with a control group—the results showed that the EABI group tended to leave less blank space on the drawing page and used a greater spectrum of colors (Harpazi et al., 2022).

Collage-Making

Collage-making involves bringing together images or paper items in an artistic and highly individualized way. This can help people express themselves through an organized, structured creative process while making use of meaningful scraps or photos.

Sculpting

Sculpting is a hands-on, tactile therapeutic activity that involves shaping or molding clay into objects in art therapy. Although traditional clay requires kiln firing, more accessible, quick, and beginner-friendly alternatives are available worldwide. These include air-dry clays, molding dough or “Play-Doh,” and materials like kinetic sand that hold temporary shapes.

Compared to drawing or painting, sculpting engages one’s sense of touch, or haptic function, which stimulates sensory receptors and immediately sends feedback to the brain (Kreijen & Abbing, 2024). Additionally, intentional concentration and mindful engagement in sculpting often help people enter “flow states,” which are essential for both physical and mental relaxation.

Photography / Phototherapy

Photography is a creative outlet that combines modern technology with personal vision. Instead of more “direct” methods such as drawing or painting, photography is a reflective activity that allows individuals to capture meaningful or aesthetic moments in time.

In The Handbook of Phototherapy and Therapeutic Photography (Del Loewenthal, 2023), phototherapy is described as the use of photographs within psychotherapy, emphasizing the “emotional-communication qualities of photographs and people’s interactions with them” (p. 7). From a therapist’s perspective, understanding photos as a psychoanalytic tool to uncover one’s unconscious can reveal repressed projections.

Phototherapy can include the therapeutic use of photographs, taking therapeutic photographs, creating photobooks, planning actions through photography, or implementing therapeutic portraiture. Each of these practices offers specific benefits for individuals with ID, particularly in alleviating stress, anxiety, self-image issues, depression, and improving comfort with expression.

Dance & Performing Arts

Dance and performing arts therapies allow for emotional expression using the entire body. Movement is crucial for maintaining mental and physical health and can offer further benefits to individuals with ID. The focus required for body control and memorization of routines allows for emotional expression while decreasing tension simultaneously.

According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, dance therapy can improve self-concept and esteem, reduce symptoms of depressive states, and increase communication skills; these effects can be attributed to the release of endorphins in the brain, which promote well-being (URMC, 2025). Furthermore, performing in front of others can build confidence for further expression in other art forms.

Overall, art therapy provides individuals with IDD a meaningful and accessible avenue for self-expression, communication, and emotional growth. Through diverse modalities such as painting, collage-making, sculpting, photography, and movement, people can practice self-exploration in ways that transcend verbal or individual limitations. These creative processes not only promote self-esteem and independence but also foster emotional regulation and resilience. Most importantly, the adaptability of art therapy allows therapists to tailor each session to their patient’s strengths, needs, and comfort levels, ensuring that treatment remains holistic and effective. Given these demonstrated benefits, it is equally important for everyone to be aware of the existing professional associations and organizations that uphold high standards and support structures of art therapy around the world.

Recognized Associations

These practices have made significant strides worldwide, especially in the UK, where the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT), Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK (ADMP UK), British Association of Dramatherapists (BADth), and the British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT) act as professional bodies registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

In the United States, the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) is a leading non-profit organization that offers support for therapists, students, and educators. Other international bodies aligned with the United States include the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA) and the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA).

In the eastern regions, the Australian, New Zealand, and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA) converges support for a range of countries. Further information about available resources and associations by region can be found in the references or appendices below.

International

• International Expressive Arts Therapy Association

• Art Therapy Without Borders

Africa

• South African Network of Arts Therapies Organizations

Asia

• Art Therapists’ Association Singapore (ATAS)

• Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists (HKAAT)

• Taiwan Art Therapy Association (TATA)

• Korean Art Therapy Association

• Holistic Art Therapists Association India (HATA)

Australia & New Zealand

• Australian and New Zealand National Art Therapy Association (ANZATA)

Europe

• British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT)

• European Federation of Art Therapy

• French Federation of Art Therapists (FFAT)

• Art Therapy Italiana Association 

• Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapists

• Icelandic Art Therapy Association

• Germany Association of Art Therapy

• Polish Association of Art Therapists

• Romanian Association for Expressive Therapies

• Swedish National Association for Art Therapists (SBRT)

• Federation Vaktherapeutische Occupations (FVB)

Middle East

• The Israeli Association of Creative and Expressive Therapies (ICET)

North America

• American Art Therapy Association (AATA)

• National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA)

• Association of Art Therapists of Quebec (AATQ)

• Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA)

• Ontario Art Therapy Association (OATA)

• The British Columbia Art Therapy Association (BCATA)

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South America

• Associação de Arteterapia do Rio de Janeiro (AARJ)

• Associação de Arteterapia do Rio Grande do Sul (AATERGS)

• Associação de Arteterapia do Estado de São Paulo (AATESP)

• Colombian Art Therapy Association

References

American Art Therapy Association. (2022). What is Art Therapy? American Art Therapy Association. https://arttherapy.org/what-is-art-therapy/

Greeley, S. (2022, January 18). Benefits of Art Therapy for Individuals With Disabilities. Covey. https://covey.org/art-therapy/

Harpazi, S., Regev, D., & Snir, S. (2023). What does the literature teach us about research, theory, and the practice of art therapy for individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities? A scoping review. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 82(101988), 101988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101988

Kreijen, P., & Abbing, A. (2024). Case report on clay sculpting of Platonic solids for anxiety: Exploration of effects and mechanisms of change. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 91, 102219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2024.102219

Loewenthal, D. (2023). The Handbook of Phototherapy and Therapeutic Photography. Taylor & Francis.

Shir Harpazi, Dafna Regev, & Snir, S. (2024). “Being attentive to them”: art therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Art Therapy, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2024.2347898

University of Rochester Medical Center. (2024). Art Therapy, Dance Therapy, Music Therapy, and Imagery. Rochester.edu. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?contenttypeid=85&contentid=p07338