Materials and Colour in Art Therapy — the Expressive Therapies Continuum, Fluid and Resistive Media, and Research on Colour and Emotion

Choosing materials is a therapeutic decision

In art therapy, which material you hand a client is not mere preparation but a therapeutic intervention. Even on the same theme, the feelings and sense of control that arise differ when painting with watercolour versus drawing with a pencil.

The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC)

The Expressive Therapies Continuum, proposed by Kagin and Lusebrink (1978) and developed by Hinz (2020), divides art experiences into four levels. Lower levels involve simpler, more sensory processing; higher levels involve more complex cognitive processing.

Level	One pole	Other pole	Example activities
Creative	Creative experience integrating all levels		Free work
Cognitive/Symbolic	Cognitive: planning, sequencing, problem solving	Symbolic: personal meaning and metaphor	Structured collage / drawing a personal symbol
Perceptual/Affective	Perceptual: form, line, composition	Affective: direct expression of emotion	Contour drawing / paint pouring
Kinesthetic/Sensory	Kinesthetic: rhythm and movement	Sensory: touch and texture	Pounding clay / finger painting

Therapists watch whether a client is stuck at one level. For a client overwhelmed by emotion, a perceptual activity that gives shape can help them settle; for a client who controls everything intellectually, a sensory activity can help them approach their feelings.

Fluid and resistive media

Materials form a spectrum according to how easily they are controlled.

Medium	Properties	Therapeutic use	Caution
Pencil, coloured pencil	Resistive, easy to control	Structure and safety, fine detail	May limit emotional expression
Oil pastels, crayons	Intermediate	Intense colour, can be blended
Watercolour, tempera	Fluid	Flow and release of feeling	Loss of control; may prompt regression
Clay	Between resistive and fluid; three-dimensional	Tactile, bodily experience; safe release of aggression	Possible sensory overload

Fluid media can help release feelings, but for clients who have experienced trauma or are easily overwhelmed, they can increase anxiety instead. So therapists often build safety with controllable materials early on, then gradually widen to more fluid ones.

Colour and emotion: what the research says

Pairings like “red means anger, blue means depression” are common. What does research show?

Jonauskaite et al. (2020) asked 4,598 people in 30 countries about links between 12 colours and 20 emotions. They found similar patterns across nations, such as red with love and anger, yellow with joy, and black with sadness. At the same time, countries closer in language and geography had more similar patterns, and how strongly white was linked to sadness, for example, varied by culture — easy to understand when you recall that white is the colour of mourning in East Asia.

An important distinction follows.

• Association research shows “which emotions people think of when they see this colour.”
• But it provides no basis for diagnosing an individual’s state from colour use, as in “this person used lots of red, so they’re full of anger.” Colour choice depends not only on mood but on available materials, personal taste, developmental stage and culture.

In art therapy, then, colour is a starting point for conversation, not the answer key to interpretation. The principle is to ask clients about meaning: “Is there a reason you chose this colour?” “What feeling does this colour give you?”

Using media and colour in sessions

• Offer choice: letting clients choose materials and colours in itself increases control and autonomy.
• Emotion colour map: have clients fill a body outline with colours for what they feel now, and let the client decide what each colour means.
• Switching media: moving to another medium when stuck lets clients experience a different level of the ETC.

Check questions

Question 1. In a first session with an adult client who was recently in an accident and becomes anxious easily, the therapist suggests pouring watercolour paint freely across a large sheet. What’s the problem?

Answer. Watercolour is a fluid medium that can heighten a sense of losing control and raise anxiety. Early on, it’s better to build safety with controllable media such as pencils or coloured pencils.

Question 2. A child used a lot of black in a drawing. Can we interpret this as “a sign of depression”?

Answer. No. Colour–emotion associations are group-level tendencies; there is no basis for diagnosing an individual from their colour use. The child may have chosen black because it’s the darkest and most visible, or because it’s a favourite character’s colour. Ask the child first.

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References

• Kagin, S. L., & Lusebrink, V. B. (1978). The expressive therapies continuum. Art Psychotherapy, 5(4), 171–180.
• Hinz, L. D. (2020). Expressive Therapies Continuum: A Framework for Using Art in Therapy (2nd ed.). Routledge.
• Lusebrink, V. B. (1990). Imagery and Visual Expression in Therapy. Plenum Press.
• Jonauskaite, D., et al. (2020). Universal patterns in color-emotion associations are further shaped by linguistic and geographic proximity. Psychological Science, 31(10), 1245–1260.
• Malchiodi, C. A. (Ed.). (2012). Handbook of Art Therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.