You Want to Use Art to Help Anxious Children. But You Are Not an Art Therapist. So Where Do You Start?

You Want to Use Art to Help Anxious Children. But You Are Not an Art Therapist. So Where Do You Start?

For the STILL Method blog, thestillmethod.co.uk/news

Meta title: Using Art to Help Anxious Children in Schools | Therapeutic Art Training | The STILL Method
Meta description: You can see art helps anxious children calm down and open up, but you are not an art therapist. Learn what is safe to do, what to avoid, and how to get properly trained without going back to university.
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You have probably already seen it happen.

A child who will not talk about what is bothering them picks up a crayon and draws something that tells you more than a whole conversation. A teenager who has been shut down for weeks suddenly opens up while making something with their hands. A young person in care who flinches at every question calmly fills a page with colour and, for the first time, looks settled.

It is hard not to want to use that properly. Not as a distraction, not as a filler activity, but as a structured way to help anxious children feel safer, express what they are carrying, and start to regulate.

If you want to see what that kind of structured training looks like, start here: the STILL Art Practitioner course.

The sticking point is always the same. You are not an art therapist. You are already in the room with these children every day, as a teaching assistant, a support worker, a SENCO, someone in a childrens home, a parent, a youth worker. And you do not want to cross a line or do harm by accident.

That uncertainty keeps a lot of good people stuck. So let us untangle it.

Art therapy and therapeutic art are not the same thing

This is the part that causes the most confusion, and it is worth getting clear before anything else.

Art therapy is a regulated clinical profession. In the UK, you cannot call yourself an art therapist unless you have completed an HCPC approved postgraduate route. That usually means a Masters, supervised clinical placements, and a significant commitment of time, money, and emotional energy. It leads to a protected title and the ability to work clinically with complex mental health needs.

Therapeutic art is different. It uses creative processes to support emotional wellbeing, but it is not clinical therapy. It does not require an HCPC route. It is practitioner led, structured, and designed for people working in schools, care settings, community settings, and private practice.

If you want a deeper explanation of that difference, this guide spells it out clearly: what therapeutic art is and how it differs from art therapy.

What you can do without clinical training, and what you should not do

This is where people feel nervous, and that caution is healthy. You do not want to open something up that you cannot safely close.

Here is a grounded way to think about it.

You can use art to support safety and regulation

Creative work can help anxious children come out of the thinking loop and into the body. Colour, shape, texture, repetition, and sensory focus can support steadiness, especially when words feel too hard.

You can use simple, structured creative techniques to help children feel calmer, more settled, and more able to express what is going on inside. You can also use art as a bridge into conversation, without pressuring a child to talk.

You should not treat, diagnose, or interpret like a clinician

What not to do is just as important.

Do not interpret a childs artwork as if it is a clinical assessment. Do not treat trauma. Do not diagnose mental health conditions. Do not present your work as therapy, or as a replacement for clinical support. And always know when a child needs referring to clinical services or safeguarding processes.

A properly designed therapeutic art practitioner training should teach both sides, the tools and the boundaries.

Why just doing some art is not enough

It is common to think, art already happens in school or in the home, so why would training matter.

Because there is a difference between art as an activity and art as a therapeutic process.

When art is just an activity, the focus is on the doing. The painting, the making, the finished piece.

When art is used therapeutically, the focus is on what is happening inside the child. The art becomes a way of holding feelings that are too tangled, too big, or too wordless to express any other way. That shift changes everything.

It changes how you set up the space. It changes how you respond when a child creates something unexpected or distressing. It changes how you close the session so the child does not leave more unsettled than when they arrived. And it changes what you do with silence, tears, shutdown, or sudden fear.

Without training, those moments can feel frightening, for you and for the child. With training, those moments become manageable, and often meaningful.

A safe starting structure for using art with anxious children

If you are already using creative activities and you want them to be safer and more effective, this simple structure helps.

Step one: settle first, create second

An anxious child may not be ready to explore anything. Start with regulation. Simple prompts work best.

Choose one colour and fill the page with it.
Draw the weather inside your body today.
Make shapes slowly, without thinking, just noticing your breathing.

If your work is heavily focused on emotional regulation, we include our Emotional Regulation training alongside your therapeutic art course.

Step two: invite meaning, do not extract meaning

Instead of asking, What does this mean, try questions that keep the child in charge.

What part of the picture feels most like you today
If this colour could speak, what would it say
Is there anything on the page that feels safe

The aim is not analysis. The aim is agency.

Step three: close gently and clearly

Always close. Always bring the child back to the room.

Name three things you can see.
Choose one part of the page that feels steady.
Fold the paper, put it away, and decide what happens to it next.

Closing signals safety. It tells the nervous system, this is contained, you are not stuck inside it.

What to look for in therapeutic art practitioner training

Not all courses are equal. If you are choosing training, look for these features.

Emotional regulation, not just creative expression
Anxious children often need help settling before they can express anything. A good course teaches creative techniques that support regulation first.

A method, not just a pile of activities
Activities are useful. A method gives you a framework. It shows how to structure sessions, how to adapt for different ages, and how to respond when things get intense.

Clear scope and boundaries
The best training makes it obvious what is safe, what is not safe, and when referral is needed.

Accreditation
If you want to work professionally, accreditation can matter for credibility and for employer confidence.

Support after the certificate
Real confidence comes from practice, mentoring, and being part of a practitioner community.

If you want to see a training built around those principles, the STILL Art Practitioner course is designed specifically for people who are not artists and do not have a clinical background, but still want to do this work properly.

You do not need to be an artist

This needs saying plainly, because it stops people before they even begin.

Therapeutic art is not about talent. It is not about drawing skill. The techniques are guided and structured. Some of the most effective sessions use the simplest materials, paper, crayons, colour, shapes.

If you can hold a space with warmth and care, you can learn the method. The art is the vehicle. Safety is the outcome.

Where this leads

Teachers are using therapeutic art in pastoral sessions. Support workers are running creative groups in childrens homes. Youth workers are using it in community settings. Parents are using simple techniques at home to help children open up after a difficult day.

None of them are art therapists. All of them trained properly, know their scope, and use a structured approach that gives them confidence.

If you want the next step, the STILL Art Practitioner course is the most direct route. And if you want the deeper explanation of boundaries and terminology, read what therapeutic art is and how it differs from art therapy