Why Art Can Heal: Drawing Big Feelings, Dreams, and Transformations
As a psychotherapist and artist, I’ve long been fascinated by the ways art helps us explore and transform life’s deepest themes: dreams, traumas, and our biggest, boldest questions about existence. My own artistic journey has led me to create visceral images—my father in his coffin, my mother as a giant cake, and symbols of suffering that morph into erotic transformation. These aren’t just “artworks”; they are portals into understanding and healing.
The good news? You don’t have to think of yourself as an “artist” to draw, paint, sculpt, or otherwise create from your heart. Artistic expression is a birthright, a tool available to every single one of us to work through emotions and open ourselves up to deeper layers of experience.
Art as a Bridge Between Worlds
In the psychology of C.G. Jung, art was central to his self-exploration. Jung drew his dreams and feelings as a way of connecting with archetypes—the universal symbols and patterns that shape human experience. He knew that living in both the archetypal world (the realm of myths, symbols, and collective stories) and the material world is essential for psychological wholeness.
Art allows us to inhabit multiple worlds at once. Through creation, we bridge the gap between the inner and outer, the personal and the universal. When you make art, even just doodling your feelings on a scrap of paper, you’re tapping into this timeless practice of connecting to something greater than yourself.
Why Art Matters for Emotional Healing
Life brings us “big feelings”—grief, rage, love, despair, joy—that often feel too overwhelming to put into words. Art is a way to hold those feelings, giving them shape, color, and meaning. It externalizes what’s inside, so we can see it, sit with it, and, eventually, transform it.
I’ve seen this in my own work and in the lives of my clients:
- Drawing grief can turn it into a space for honoring.
- Painting anger can help you discover its hidden energy.
- Sketching erotic transformation can reveal the power of joy and connection beneath shame or fear.
You don’t need a polished product. This isn’t about creating “good” art—it’s about showing up with whatever materials you have and letting your hands move.
How to Start Drawing for Your Heart
- Begin with a Feeling or Dream: Close your eyes, take a few breaths, and ask yourself, What’s alive in me right now? Maybe it’s a memory, a recurring dream, or just an overwhelming feeling.
- Choose Your Tools: It can be as simple as a pen and paper or as elaborate as paints and canvas.
- Let Go of Perfection: Forget about “getting it right.” The point is to express, not impress.
- Reflect: When you’re done, look at what you’ve made. Ask, What do I see here? What does this teach me about myself?
- Share If You Want: Sometimes showing your work to someone you trust can deepen the healing process.
Living in the Archetypal World
We often get stuck in the material world, focusing on to-do lists, bills, and external appearances. But art invites us into the archetypal world—the realm of symbols, myths, and the unconscious. Here, we can engage with the universal patterns that have always guided humanity: the Mother, the Hero, the Lover, the Shadow.
In my practice, I encourage people to explore this archetypal world because it offers new perspectives on their struggles and joys. When you draw, paint, or sculpt, you enter this realm, where every line and color becomes a story about who you are and who you’re becoming.
For All Who Want to Create
This post is for anyone who’s ever felt the tug of a creative impulse and dismissed it because they didn’t think they were “an artist.” Let me tell you: If you have a heart, you can draw for it. If you have dreams, you can bring them to life on paper. And if you have pain, you can turn it into something beautiful, raw, and true.
Art doesn’t just help us process—it helps us live. It reminds us that we’re more than our circumstances, that we belong to a vast, archetypal story, and that we have the power to transform our feelings into something meaningful.
So grab that pen, pencil, or paintbrush. Start small, but start. The archetypal world is waiting for you—and it has so much to teach us all.