Art Therapy and Culture: Meeting Clients in a Shared Space of Meaning

By Daphna Arbell Kehila (PhD., REAT).

In my work as an art therapist, I’ve learned that every creative encounter is also a cultural one.

This reflection explores how art-making can bridge languages, beliefs, and worlds—especially when words alone can’t hold the full story.

When we step into an art therapy session, we step into more than just a creative process—we enter a shared cultural space. Every image, colour, and material a client chooses is influenced by personal history and cultural context. For therapists-in-training, it is essential to understand that art is never created in isolation. It reflects a dynamic system of values, practices, and identities that shape how people see themselves and their world.

One of the great strengths of art therapy is its openness to non-verbal expression. Many clients find it difficult to put their emotions or cultural experiences into words—sometimes because language is inadequate, sometimes because words themselves feel unsafe. In these moments, art provides another language.

Culture is not a static backdrop. A symbol as simple as a circle may represent eternity in one tradition, the self in another, or unity in yet another. White may symbolize purity for one person, but mourning for another. Therefore, in art therapy, we do not offer interpretations but rather invite clients to share their unique voice. Our role is to ask, not assume: “What does this mean for you?”

During my work with migrant workers in Singapore, I witnessed how art became a bridge back to home. Many of them carried deep feelings of longing for their families and the lands they had left behind. Through painting, stitching, and collage, they found ways to reconnect with memories of place, ritual, and belonging. The images they created often reflected both separation and resilience—a reminder that art can hold the complexity of identity across distance and time. For me as a therapist, this experience reinforced how art-making can become a space where cultural memory and emotional truth meet.

This interaction between therapist and client often resembles communication between two cultures. Each person brings their own meanings, assumptions, and ways of relating. The art object itself becomes a bridge—a third space where new understanding can emerge. Respecting that space requires humility, patience, and cultural curiosity.

The therapist asks questions, listens deeply, and remembers that what matters most is the client’s experience, not an imposed definition.

In many ways, the art therapist’s role is similar to that of an anthropologist or ethnographic researcher entering an unfamiliar culture. Rather than arriving with fixed theories, the therapist observes, listens, and participates respectfully in the client’s symbolic world. Each session becomes a kind of fieldwork: noticing rituals of making, observing body language, understanding how materials carry significance, and allowing meanings to arise from within the culture of the client’s imagery. This stance requires deep respect for difference, an ability to tolerate ambiguity, and a willingness to learn directly from the client’s lived experience.

Ultimately, working with culture in art therapy is less about mastering a set of rules and more about cultivating openness and awareness. When we treat each session as a meeting between two cultural worlds—brought together by the art—we create space for stories to be expressed, identities to be honoured, and healing to take place.