Art Therapy Worksheets

What Is An Art Therapy Worksheet?

Our  provides a structured art project to help your clients engage with their emotions, and become comfortable sharing their feelings with you. This worksheet incorporates an Emotion Wheel, which is a widely used device, particularly for teens and children, that serves as a great ice-breaker for your client.

Encouraging creativity through art as therapy can help build trust between client and practitioner, and provide an outlet for feelings that a client may otherwise struggle to convey verbally. The true degree to which making art benefits those struggling with mental health conditions can be hard to quantify, and will undoubtedly vary between individuals, but many find the process to be a soothing outlet, an invaluable coping mechanism, or even a welcome distraction.

Talking through the completed worksheet for art therapy is an important part of the therapeutic process and can serve as a great gateway to productive conversations with your client. If you want a document that can vary depending on the specific kind of treatment a patient is receiving and the clinical outcomes they hope to achieve, you can refer to the therapy worksheet template.

How To Use This Worksheet For Art Therapy

Once you’ve downloaded the therapy worksheet using the link on this page, just follow this step-by-step guide to get your clients started on their masterpieces.

Name and Date

The first step is for your client to write their name and the date at the top of the worksheet in the spaces provided. 

Choose Eight Emotions 

Next, your client should select the emotions or feelings they want to put in the emotion wheel. We have provided a list of possible options, but they should feel free to choose any feelings they want, even if they aren’t on the list.

Write the Emotions in the Emotion Wheel

Once your client has chosen the emotions, they should write one in each segment of the emotion wheel. To see how to do this, take a look at our Art Therapy worksheet example template in the next section. 

Get drawing

Now for the main event. In each segment, your client should add color, drawings, shapes, symbols, or whatever they like to illustrate what the feeling means to them. This step can be done with any medium you prefer, whether that is colored pencils, paint, digital art, stickers, or multimedia, the options are endless.

Save the worksheet securely if applicable

This last step applies only to therapists who will be keeping a copy of the original worksheet, and that is to store this securely in the client’s record. Some clients may choose to keep their worksheet, in which case you may take a copy or simply write a summary of the activity in your client’s notes.

Who Can Use this Printable Art Therapy Worksheet (PDF)?

While the emotion wheel activity is particularly useful in children and teens, there is no age limit on this Art Therapy Worksheet and as such a variety of practitioners may benefit from incorporating this worksheet into their practice for their more creatively inclined clients. Some of these professions include:

1. Therapists
2. Counselors
3. Child Psychologists
4. Clinical Psychologists
5. Teen Counselors
6. Pediatric Nurses
7. Registered Nurses
8. Youth workers
9. Social workers

And many more!

Why Is This Form Useful For Art Therapists

This resource was designed with art therapists in mind to help save them time so they can get back to the important work that they do. Here are just some of the useful features of our Art Therapy Worksheet:

Pre-formatted

‍Save time drawing out your own emotion wheels and suggesting possible emotions to choose from. With our worksheet, it’s all done for you.

Flexible Layout

‍We have kept this worksheet flexible in terms of which sections are which emotions, and even which emotions your client chooses to depict. This will allow for a more individual experience for your client.

Therapeutic device

‍The finished template is a great conversation starter for you and your client to work through. While the process of making art has many benefits, analyzing their work together can open up new avenues of conversation that may not have otherwise come to the surface.

Benefits of Art Therapy Worksheets

Monitor Progress Over Time

By having your client complete this Art Therapy Worksheet multiple times over the course of their treatment with you, you can get a visual representation of how their feelings have changed.

Engage your Creative Clients

Your clients will all have different hobbies and preferences in their day-to-day lives, and working with their interests to engage them in the therapeutic process is a smart idea. For your clients who are already creatively inclined, this Art Therapy Worksheet may be just the thing to help them open up and break the ice with you.

Structured Activity

Like any art project, it’s best to have an idea of what you want to achieve before setting pen to paper. Projects that are too vague or broad in their goal can be a lot more difficult than a specific task such as an Emotion Wheel. As such, our worksheet offers a simple, structured activity without your clients having to spend too much time deciding on the parameters of their projects.

Customizable

Your client has the freedom to select the emotions they wish to illustrate in their emotion wheel, making this Art Therapy Worksheet their own. We have provided a handy list of emotions for them to choose from, with no restrictions on which they must select.

Keep it Digital

If your client has access to a compatible device (tablet, iPad, touch-screen laptop, etc.) this art project can be completed digitally, greatly reducing clean-up time! Simply load the template into your PDF annotating software of choice and your client can start creating their digital masterpiece.