Introduction

Cathy Malchiodi is a psychotherapist, researcher, and one of the most recognized figures in the field of Art Therapy and Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy.

For decades, she has worked with children, adults, and trauma survivors, and her books are considered essential resources in this field.

Malchiodi’s central idea is that:

✨ Art is a neuropsychological tool for healing — a nonverbal language that enables emotional regulation, the reconstruction of safety, and the restoration of meaning.

Unlike Natalie Rogers, who viewed expressive arts as a free-flowing process for growth and self-expression, Malchiodi takes a more clinical approach. She explains why art can be safer than words for people who have experienced trauma:

Because images and colors can reveal emotions without the need for explanation;

because the hands and body are engaged, allowing the nervous system to calm through movement and touch;

and because creativity helps the brain build new pathways for flexibility and resilience.

Malchiodi emphasizes that in art therapy, the artistic result itself doesn’t matter — the focus is on how the image or shape becomes a safe container for emotions that words cannot carry. For this reason, art can be an effective tool for healing trauma not only in children but also in adults.

Key Concepts in Malchiodi’s Work

1. Art as a Nonverbal Language

Malchiodi stresses that many traumatic experiences cannot be expressed in words. Image, color, and form provide an alternative language for communicating what spoken language cannot hold.

2. Emotional Regulation through Creativity

Painting, collage, or sculpture can calm the nervous system. When a person engages in artistic activity, breathing and heart rate slow down, and the body enters a state more conducive to healing.

3. Art as a Safe Container

The artwork created can act as a “safe container” — an external space where difficult emotions or memories are placed. This safe distance allows the person to see and touch their feelings without being overwhelmed by them.

4. Imagination and Play as Sources of Resilience

Malchiodi believes that imagination is vital not only for children but also for adults. Playing with colors, forms, or imaginary images can awaken hope and flexibility, even in difficult times.

5. Accessibility of Art

No artistic skill is required to engage in art therapy. Every human being has an innate creative capacity. Malchiodi repeatedly emphasizes:

“In art therapy, artistic quality doesn’t matter; what matters is that the artwork carries the person’s experience and feelings.”

✨ In summary, in Malchiodi’s view, art serves three essential functions:

• Nonverbal expression

• Emotional regulation

• Creation of a safe space for rebuilding safety and resilience

Working with Trauma through Art Therapy

Malchiodi believes that trauma blocks language, but the body and emotions still hold the experience. Art provides a safe path to unlock this.

Nonverbal Expression

Trauma survivors often cannot — or do not want to — speak about their experiences. But drawing or making a collage can convey the same feelings without requiring direct narration.

Regaining Control

During trauma, control is lost. When someone picks up a brush or chooses a color, they experience again the sense that they can choose — the color, the shape, the movement.

This sense of agency is essential for healing.

Rebuilding Safety

The artwork acts as a safe container. The person can place a painful memory or feeling within an image, view it from a distance, change it, or even tear it apart. This allows for the recreation of an experience that was once frozen or overwhelming.

Integrating the Experience

Art helps individuals bring together the fragmented pieces of traumatic experience. Even a simple visual journal can guide the process of transforming “scattered memories” into a coherent personal narrative.

✨ For Malchiodi, art therapy for trauma is not merely a creative activity — it is a neuropsychological tool for restoring safety and flexibility in both body and mind.

Simple Art Therapy Exercises

1. Your Color Today

Choose a colored pencil or marker that best represents how you feel today. Fill the page with that color — scribbles, dots, or simple shading.

👉 Goal: Awareness of your emotional state in the moment, without words.

2. Safe Collage

Find magazines or pieces of paper and create an image that represents your safe space — real or imaginary: a room, a landscape, or just colors and shapes.

👉 Goal: To create an external image of internal safety.

3. Painting an Emotion

Choose a specific feeling (anger, sadness, joy, fear). Let your hand move freely to bring that feeling onto the paper through lines, colors, or shapes.

👉 Goal: Externalizing emotion and experiencing safe release.

4. Visual Journal

Take a notebook. Each day, fill one page with images, colors, or even a single line. Words are optional, but you may add short notes if you wish.

👉 Goal: Building a visual narrative of daily emotions and strengthening psychological coherence.

✨ Note: In all these exercises, the artistic outcome doesn’t matter. There is no “right” or “wrong.” What matters is that the image helps you feel and express your emotions.