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Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED) are serious mental health conditions that manifest as disordered thoughts and behaviors around food, eating, and body image. Several therapies can help ease these symptoms and lead to recovery, including art therapy.
Art therapy is a form of experiential therapy that involves interactive experiences, as opposed to talk-focused therapeutic techniques. When used to treat eating disorders, it incorporates visual arts, music, drama, and/or dancing and movement elements to enhance or add to cognitive counseling.2
Forms of art therapy have been used for thousands of years. However, the official term “art therapy” wasn’t used until 1942, when a British artist named Adrian Hill began connecting the beneficial effects of drawing and painting while recovering from tuberculosis.1
Indeed, many people may inadvertently—or intentionally—use art to express or move past upsetting situations. Art therapy formalizes the process. An art therapist often has a master’s degree or higher in art and counseling and guides patients through exercises meant to extract and explore deep-seated emotions.
While practicing art in general has many therapeutic benefits, art therapy differs from regular art classes.
Traditional classes focus more on general outcomes, such as learning or improving technique or creating a particular piece. On the other hand, art classes are targeted specifically at individuals, helping them develop a physical interpretation of their inner feelings.
An art class assignment is usually made to help students practice specific skills. In contrast, an art therapy prompt is generally used as a starting point for further analysis, such as asking a patient to draw a self-portrait to better understand how they see themselves.
It’s often said that artists are using their “right brain,” and, in many senses, this is true. The right side of the brain is more closely associated with imagination, intuition, and—most importantly, in this case—feelings.2 And this is the side of the brain that's more active during periods of creativity.
By activating this side of the brain, people can more readily connect to and convey deep feelings such as depression, powerlessness, rage, or loss. Bypassing the need for verbal communication can also help people express themselves in ways that words won't allow, especially for those who aren't as strong verbally.
Channeling a person’s experience through these more emotional circuits is the primary goal of treating mental health conditions, including eating disorders, with art therapy.
Art therapy interventions can be done in a group or individual setting and can be used to help patients express feelings that are difficult to explain. Rather than demanding them to recount their emotions, as many talk therapy sessions do, it allows patients to feel and embody their emotions, which can help someone bypass defense mechanisms and tap into feelings they aren't consciously aware of.2
Therapists are trained to read body language, eye contact, and other cues to help patients analyze their creations or performances. They search for themes or other markers of the patient’s psychological state.
Further, physically identifying these root causes can help people with eating disorders gain a different—and, hopefully, helpful—perspective and give them access to a new vocabulary, both visual and verbal, to help explain or further understand their situation.
The creative process extends beyond the act of making art to include reflective discussions about the created artwork. After the art-making phase, therapists and clients engage in verbal processing, where clients are encouraged to talk about their artwork, the art-making process, and any thoughts or emotions that emerge during creation. This dialogue allows clients to gain deeper insights into their feelings and experiences, facilitating self-exploration and personal growth. By externalizing their emotions through art, clients may feel less judgment and/or shame toward themselves.
Art therapy and other creative therapies can incorporate music, dance, drama, and visual arts, with each medium featuring different art therapy techniques and art therapy activities for eating disorders.
Musically, a patient can play a piece in a group or by themselves or be asked to write music to convey their feelings. This works as a tool for further analysis—with the therapist mindful of themes or difficulties that may come up during the process—and as a way for a patient to safely and productively experience and process emotion.2
There are many art therapy ideas for eating disorders involving visual arts. Drawing, painting, sculpting, and other visual art mediums can be used to construct self-portraits, express one's feelings, or depict scenes important to the patient. Eating disorder patients with body dysmorphic disorder or issues around body image may find this medium especially helpful, as it can be used to literally and figuratively draw differences between how they see themselves and the reality of how they look.2
Dance and movement therapy and drama therapy can be used in similar ways. Patients can perform, choreograph, or write a scene to help them express how they feel or follow through on prompts given by a therapist. Role-playing games have also been helpful creative outlets for many patients.
Often, these are meant to help draw out a patient's feelings or provide a platform to better understand the disordered nature of their thoughts and behaviors.2
Like many forms of therapy, the first few sessions of art therapy may focus more heavily on a patient’s background. The therapist may ask more specific questions about the patient’s experiences to better understand where they’re coming from or what they’re dealing with.
Once the therapist and patient better understand each other, the therapist may ask the patient to start using their preferred medium. The therapist may then give the patient a specific prompt and the rest of the session to work through their creative process or ask them to continue working on their piece at home. Some sessions may be dedicated solely to interpreting the pieces patients have created.
Questions may include what they were thinking about or feeling while working, whether making the art triggered a change in their mood, or whether the final product brings up any memories or immediate reactions. Patients may also be asked to start a journaling routine to help them incorporate and internalize everything they learn in their sessions.
Art therapy is still a relatively new addition to the therapeutic pantheon, and much evidence-based research is still needed to address how and who it can best help. But, many people with mental health conditions have found some form of solace in creative expression.
Studies on how art therapy is best used for treating eating disorders specifically are rare and have been on the smaller side when performed. Still, what evidence has been found has prompted interest from the psychiatric community to investigate the subject further.4
More general studies on the efficacy of art therapy are more common. Some found that the technique had positive results when used on patients with various psychiatric issues in general and depression specifically.5 In these studies, patients underwent art therapy sessions for eight to fifteen weeks. Although the findings were vague, the results found art therapy to be “effective” for most of the group.5
A broad analysis was also conducted on various studies examining art therapy as a way to treat anxiety, depression, and various phobias. It found that most of these studies ultimately saw art therapy as effective compared to patients in control groups.5
Disclaimer about "overeating": Within Health hesitatingly uses the word "overeating" because it is the term currently associated with this condition in society, however, we believe it inherently overlooks the various psychological aspects of this condition which are often interconnected with internalized diet culture, and a restrictive mindset about food. For the remainder of this piece, we will therefore be putting "overeating" in quotations to recognize that the diagnosis itself pathologizes behavior that is potentially hardwired and adaptive to a restrictive mindset.
Disclaimer about weight loss drugs: Within does not endorse the use of any weight loss drug or behavior and seeks to provide education on the insidious nature of diet culture. We understand the complex nature of disordered eating and eating disorders and strongly encourage anyone engaging in these behaviors to reach out for help as soon as possible. No statement should be taken as healthcare advice. All healthcare decisions should be made with your individual healthcare provider.
Creative expression has long been considered a way to improve mental well-being. When it’s used as an experiential form of therapy, some studies show art therapy can help patients learn how to tap into and adaptively manage their emotions.4 This is a particularly helpful strategy for eating disorders, as they tend to be long-term conditions, often driven by emotional triggers.2
This method may also be beneficial for patients who are particularly struggling with their disorder, unwilling or unable to explain their behavior.
Art therapy can break down more traditional barriers that may present in verbal psychotherapy. There’s less room for patients to use excuses, rationalizing, or other defense mechanisms that often prevent them from processing their emotions on a deeper level.4 A patient may also be unable to access their emotions and memories, as many people who have eating disorders have experienced trauma of some kind and use food as a coping mechanism to numb painful emotions or avoid feeling them.
It can also help break down perfectionism, which is another common theme among those with eating disorders.
Anyone can try art therapy, regardless of age, background, or health condition. A patient doesn’t need any artistic background to enjoy or benefit from art therapy.
Art therapy may help patients more effectively identify and manage their emotions. While that’s a large part of recovering from an eating disorder, it’s not everything.
Numerous other factors can—and often do—come into play with eating disorders. Social triggers and anxieties, as well as family dynamics, often play a huge role in either the establishment or perpetuation of an eating disorder.
For a patient to recover from an eating disorder, it’s often considered essential to address these other issues with a team of care providers that may include nutritionists, therapists, or other medical professionals.
Despite its other benefits, art therapy has a limited capacity to achieve this goal. Still, as with most types of therapy, art therapy is more likely to be successful when used in tandem with other therapeutic techniques.
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