Art Therapy Integration: Drawing Your Tarot Reading

3 gennaio 2026

BY NICOLE LAU

"I don't know how to explain what I'm feeling."

The client sits across from me, frustrated. We've pulled the Three of Swords—heartbreak, pain, grief. She knows intellectually what it means, but she can't access the feeling. The words won't come.

"Don't explain," I say, sliding paper and colored pencils across the table. "Draw it."

She looks at me, uncertain. "I'm not an artist."

"You don't need to be. Just let your hand move. Draw what the Three of Swords feels like in your body."

She picks up a red pencil. Hesitates. Then begins to draw—jagged lines, dark scribbles, a heart shape torn apart. The pencil presses harder, the red becomes black, the lines become violent.

She stops. Stares at what she's created.

"That's it," she whispers. "That's exactly what it feels like."

Tears come. Not from talking about the pain, but from seeing it, expressing it, making it visible outside of herself.

This is art therapy with Tarot—using creative expression to process, integrate, and transform what cards reveal.

This article explores integrating Tarot with expressive arts therapy:

Art therapy fundamentals and the healing power of creativity
Why drawing Tarot readings deepens integration
Techniques for visual processing of cards
Working with clients who "can't draw"
Specific art directives for Tarot work
Clinical applications and case examples
Integration protocols for art therapists and counselors

Note: This article is for licensed mental health professionals. While art therapy certification is ideal, these techniques can be used by therapists trained in expressive/creative modalities.

Art Therapy Fundamentals

The Healing Power of Creative Expression

Core Principle: Art-making accesses and expresses what words cannot.

Why Art Heals:

1. Bypasses Verbal Defenses

Right brain, not left brain
Emotion and image, not logic and language
Can't intellectualize when you're drawing

2. Externalizes Internal Experience

Invisible feelings become visible images
Can see, examine, work with what's externalized
Creates distance from overwhelming emotion

3. Accesses Unconscious Material

Symbols and images emerge spontaneously
Hand knows what mind doesn't
Unconscious speaks through art

4. Provides Safe Container

Can express rage, grief, fear safely on paper
Art holds what's too big to hold inside
Containment without suppression

5. Facilitates Integration

Creating art = active processing
Not just talking about experience, but transforming it
Integration through creative act

Key Art Therapy Concepts

1. Process Over Product

Not about making "good" art
About the experience of creating
Healing happens in the making, not the finished piece

2. The Image Speaks

Don't interpret for the client
Ask: "What do you see?" "What does this mean to you?"
Client is expert on their own imagery

3. Resistance is Information

"I can't draw" = fear, perfectionism, control
Explore the resistance, don't push through
Resistance itself is therapeutic material

4. Art as Witness

The artwork witnesses the client's experience
Therapist witnesses the art-making
Double witnessing = powerful validation

Why Drawing Tarot Readings Deepens Integration

The Problem with Passive Reception

Traditional Tarot Reading:

Cards are pulled
Meanings are discussed
Client receives information
Session ends

What's Missing: Active processing, embodied integration, creative transformation

The Power of Drawing the Reading

When Client Draws Their Reading:

1. They Become Active, Not Passive

Not just receiving interpretation
Creating their own meaning through art
Empowered, not dependent

2. They Process at Deeper Level

Looking at card → Thinking about card → Drawing card = three levels of engagement
Each level deepens understanding
Drawing requires sustained attention and emotional connection

3. They Discover New Meanings

While drawing, new insights emerge
"I didn't realize the figure was looking away until I drew it"
Art-making reveals what wasn't conscious

4. They Create Tangible Record

Can take artwork home
Visual reminder of session insights
Can return to and reflect on over time

5. They Transform the Energy

Drawing difficult card (Tower, Devil) = processing the energy
Not just witnessing, but metabolizing
Creative act transforms psychic material

Art Therapy Techniques with Tarot

Technique 1: Direct Card Reproduction

Directive: "Draw the card you pulled, in your own way"

Process:

Step 1: Select Card

Client pulls: The Tower

Step 2: Observe

Therapist: "Look at The Tower. What do you notice? What stands out?"

Client: "The lightning. The people falling. Everything's destroyed."

Step 3: Draw

Therapist: "Draw your version of The Tower. Don't worry about making it look like the card—draw what The Tower means to you."

Client: [Draws—maybe abstract, maybe literal, maybe completely different]

Step 4: Reflect

Therapist: "Tell me about your Tower. What did you discover while drawing?"

Client: "I made the lightning bigger. That's what it feels like—the shock, the sudden destruction. And I drew the people with their arms out, like they're trying to fly, not just falling. Maybe there's... freedom in the fall?"

Benefit: Client's interpretation emerges through creative process, not imposed meaning

Technique 2: Emotional Response Drawing

Directive: "Don't draw the card—draw how it makes you feel"

Process:

Step 1: Select Card

Client pulls: Nine of Swords (anxiety, worry)

Step 2: Feel

Therapist: "Look at the Nine of Swords. Where do you feel that in your body? What's the sensation?"

Client: "In my chest. Tight, constricted, like I can't breathe."

Step 3: Express

Therapist: "Don't draw the card. Draw that feeling. What does 'tight, constricted, can't breathe' look like?"

Client: [Draws—maybe spirals, scribbles, dark colors, chaotic lines]

Step 4: Witness

Therapist: "What do you see?"

Client: "Chaos. Everything's tangled. There's no way out."

Therapist: "That's your anxiety. It's not you—it's this (pointing to drawing). Can you see the difference?"

Benefit: Externalizes emotion, creates separation between self and feeling

Technique 3: Dialogue Drawing

Directive: "Draw a conversation between two cards"

Process:

Step 1: Select Two Cards

Client pulls:

The Devil (addiction, bondage)
The Star (hope, recovery)

Step 2: Set Up Dialogue

Therapist: "These two cards represent different parts of you. The Devil is the part that's stuck in addiction. The Star is the part that wants recovery. Draw them talking to each other."

Step 3: Create

Client: [Draws two figures, adds speech bubbles or symbolic communication]

Step 4: Voice the Dialogue

Therapist: "What is The Devil saying?"

Client (as Devil): "You can't survive without me. I keep you numb."

Therapist: "And The Star?"

Client (as Star): "I can give you real hope, not just escape. You don't need The Devil anymore."

Benefit: Visualizes internal conflict, facilitates parts dialogue

Technique 4: Transformation Series

Directive: "Draw the journey from one card to another"

Process:

Step 1: Identify Start and End

Therapist: "Where are you now? Find a card."

Client pulls: Five of Cups (grief, loss)

Therapist: "Where do you want to be? Find a card."

Client pulls: The Sun (joy, healing)

Step 2: Create Series

Therapist: "Draw the journey from Five of Cups to The Sun. What are the steps? What happens in between?"

Client: [Creates series of drawings showing transformation—maybe 3-5 images]

Step 3: Narrate

Therapist: "Tell me the story of this journey."

Client: "First, I'm mourning (Five of Cups). Then I start to notice the full cups behind me. Then I turn around. Then I reach for them. Then I drink from them. Then I'm in The Sun—whole again."

Benefit: Creates roadmap for healing, makes transformation visible and achievable

Technique 5: Collage Integration

Directive: "Create a collage combining the card with your own images"

Materials: Magazines, scissors, glue, markers, card image (photocopy or printout)

Process:

Step 1: Select Card

Client pulls: Strength

Step 2: Find Resonant Images

Therapist: "Look through magazines. Find images that represent Strength for you—not the card's version, but yours."

Client: [Cuts out images—maybe a mountain, a mother holding child, a tree with deep roots, words like "courage" "gentle" "powerful"]

Step 3: Combine

Therapist: "Create a collage. Combine the Strength card with your images. Make it your Strength."

Client: [Creates personalized Strength collage]

Step 4: Reflect

Therapist: "This is your Strength. What does it tell you?"

Benefit: Personalizes archetype, makes it relevant and accessible

Working with "I Can't Draw" Resistance

Understanding the Resistance

When Client Says "I Can't Draw":

They're Really Saying:

"I'm afraid of being judged"
"I need to be perfect"
"I don't want to look foolish"
"I'm afraid of what might come out"
"I don't trust the process"

Responses to Resistance

Response 1: Normalize

Therapist: "You don't need to be an artist. This isn't about making pretty pictures—it's about expressing what's inside. Stick figures are perfect. Scribbles are perfect. Whatever comes out is exactly right."

Response 2: Start Small

Therapist: "Just draw one line. That's it. One line that represents how you're feeling."

[Client draws one line]

Therapist: "Good. Now another. And another. Let your hand move without thinking."

Response 3: Use Non-Dominant Hand

Therapist: "Draw with your non-dominant hand. That way, it can't be perfect. It's supposed to look childlike."

Benefit: Bypasses perfectionism, accesses right brain

Response 4: Abstract Only

Therapist: "Don't draw anything recognizable. Just colors, shapes, lines. What does this card feel like in color and shape?"

Response 5: Explore the Resistance

Therapist: "What are you afraid will happen if you draw?"

Client: "It'll be bad. I'll look stupid."

Therapist: "And if it's bad and you look stupid... then what?"

Client: "I... I don't know. Nothing, I guess."

Therapist: "Exactly. Nothing. So let's try."

Specific Art Directives for Common Issues

For Anxiety

Directive: "Draw your anxiety (Nine of Swords), then draw what calm (Temperance) looks like. Put them side by side."

Benefit: Visualizes contrast, creates image of desired state

For Depression

Directive: "Draw what depression (Five of Cups) looks like. Then, in a different color, add what hope (The Star) would look like entering the image."

Benefit: Introduces possibility without denying current pain

For Trauma

Directive: "Draw a safe container (box, circle, vessel) and put The Tower (trauma) inside it. The container holds it so you don't have to."

Benefit: Creates sense of containment and safety

For Grief

Directive: "Draw the Three of Swords (heartbreak). Then draw what you're grieving—give it form, color, shape."

Benefit: Externalizes and honors the loss

For Self-Compassion

Directive: "Draw the harsh Inner Critic (King of Swords). Then draw the compassionate Self (The Empress) holding or comforting the wounded part."

Benefit: Visualizes self-compassion, creates internal resource

Clinical Case Example

Case: Complex Grief, Difficulty Expressing Emotion

Client: "Rachel," 52, loss of spouse 6 months ago, "stuck" in grief, alexithymia (difficulty identifying/expressing emotions)

Presenting Issue: "I know I should be sad, but I just feel... nothing. Numb."

Intervention: Art Therapy with Tarot

Session 6 Excerpt:

Therapist: "Find a card for how you're feeling right now."

Rachel: [Pulls Four of Cups] "This. Numb. Disconnected. Nothing matters."

Therapist: "I'm going to give you paper and pastels. Don't draw the card—draw what numb feels like. What color is numb? What shape?"

Rachel: "I don't know how to draw feelings."

Therapist: "You don't have to know. Just let your hand move. Pick a color that feels like numb."

Rachel: [Picks gray pastel, begins to draw—slow, heavy strokes, filling the page with gray]

Therapist: "What's happening as you draw?"

Rachel: "It's... heavy. The gray is so heavy."

Therapist: "Keep going. Let the heavy out onto the paper."

Rachel: [Draws more intensely, gray becomes black, strokes become harder, faster]

[Suddenly stops, stares at the page]

Rachel: "It's not numb. It's... it's rage. I'm so angry he left me."

[Begins to cry]

Therapist: "Yes. The numbness was covering the rage. Your hand knew before your mind did."

Rachel: "Can I keep drawing?"

Therapist: "Yes. Draw the rage. Let it out."

Rachel: [Draws for 15 more minutes—violent strokes, red and black, tearing the paper, crying throughout]

[Finally stops, exhausted]

Rachel: "I didn't know that was in there."

Therapist: "It needed to come out. The art held it so you could release it."

Outcome: Rachel continued art therapy with Tarot for 4 months. Drawing became her primary way of accessing and processing emotion. Grief moved through stages (Five of Cups → Three of Swords → Six of Cups → The Star). She created a visual journal of her healing journey.

Integration Protocols

Session Structure

Art Therapy + Tarot Session (60-75 min):

Check-in (5 min): How are you today?
Card Pull (5 min): What wants attention?
Art Directive (5 min): Explain the creative task
Art-Making (30-40 min): Client creates, therapist witnesses
Reflection (10-15 min): Discuss the artwork and process
Integration (5 min): What did you discover? What are you taking with you?

Materials Needed

Basic:

Paper (various sizes)
Colored pencils, markers, crayons
Pastels (oil and chalk)
Tarot deck

Advanced:

Paints (watercolor, acrylic)
Collage materials (magazines, scissors, glue)
Clay or playdough
Mixed media supplies

Documentation

With Client Permission:

Photograph artwork for client's records
Client can take original home or leave in session folder
Track progression of images over time
Notice themes, colors, symbols that recur

Ethical Considerations

Informed Consent

Before Starting:

"I sometimes use art-making as part of therapy. This isn't about artistic skill—it's about expressing what's inside through images and colors. You don't need to be an artist. Would you be open to trying this?"

Boundaries

Don't:

Interpret client's art without their input
Judge the artistic quality
Force art-making if client is resistant
Display client's art without explicit permission

Do:

Ask client what they see in their art
Appreciate the creative process
Respect resistance as information
Protect confidentiality of artwork

Conclusion: Making the Invisible Visible

Tarot reveals. Art expresses. Together, they transform.

When you draw The Tower, you're not just understanding destruction—you're metabolizing it, processing it, transforming it through creative act.

When you draw your grief (Five of Cups), you're giving it form, witnessing it, honoring it, and beginning to release it.

Art therapy with Tarot is not about making pretty pictures. It's about:

Making the invisible visible
Giving voice to the voiceless
Transforming psychic energy through creative expression
Integrating insight through embodied action
Healing through the act of creation

The cards show you what's there. The art helps you work with it. And in the space between seeing and creating, transformation happens.

Your hand knows what your mind has forgotten. When words fail, images speak. When thoughts tangle, colors clarify. When emotions overwhelm, art contains. The Three of Swords isn't just heartbreak—it's red and black and jagged lines and torn paper and tears falling while you draw. The Star isn't just hope—it's yellow and gold and light breaking through darkness and your hand moving with purpose and possibility. This is not fortune-telling. This is art therapy. This is making the invisible visible. This is healing through creation. The cards are the catalyst. The art is the transformation. And you—you are the artist of your own healing.

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This concludes the Tarot Therapy series. From theoretical foundations to clinical applications to technical integrations, we've explored how Tarot can be used as a legitimate therapeutic tool—not for fortune-telling, but for projection, externalization, embodiment, and transformation. May these tools serve your practice and your clients' healing.