Author(s)

Jiahua Wang^*, Azizah Binti Abdullah

School of Education, College of Arts & Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia.

Although traditional psychotherapy is effective, it has some limitations, such as long treatment period and unstable efficacy. Creative interventions have more benefits than traditional interventions. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the research findings of expressive arts therapy (EXAT) and painting therapy, and to explore their development, theoretical basis, application fields, and mechanistic studies, in order to provide more effective intervention approaches and therapeutic methods for improving the public's mental health. Consequently, this paper reviewed and summarized a large body of literature that provides an overview of the development, theoretical foundations, and areas of application of EXAT and painting therapy. It is found that EXAT and painting therapy are widely used in the fields of psychotherapy, rehabilitation nursing, and education, and have achieved significant therapeutic effects. Nevertheless, the current research still has limitations and shortcomings. In the future, it is necessary to further study the mechanism and optimize the treatment plan, to provide more effective intervention approaches and treatment methods in the field of mental health.

Expressive Arts Therapy, Painting Therapy, Mental Health

Wang, J. H. and Abdullah, A. B. (2024) A Summary of Expressive Arts Therapy and Painting Therapy. Creative Education, 15, 278-288. doi: 10.4236/ce.2024.152016.